Phillips attended the
University of Exeter before working at
Jaguar Racing. He is a managing director for SEL UK, a boutique sports management company. He married
Autumn Kelly, a Canadian management consultant, in 2008 in
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. They have two children together, separated in 2019, and divorced in 2021.
Phillips was
fifth in line to the throne at birth and remained so until the birth of his cousin
Prince William in 1982. His parents were said to have refused offers from his grandmother Queen
Elizabeth II that would have led to his being born in the
peerage. Phillips was the first legitimate grandchild of a monarch in more than 500 years to be born without a title or
courtesy title.[2][5] Phillips has a younger sister,
Zara Tindall (née Phillips; born 1981), and two younger half-sisters, Felicity Wade (née Tonkin; born 1985),[6] the daughter of Mark Phillips and his former mistress Heather Tonkin; and Stephanie Phillips (born 1997), the daughter from his father's second marriage to
Sandy Pflueger.
After his graduation in 2000, Phillips worked for
Jaguar as corporate hospitality manager and then for
Williams racing team, where he was sponsorship accounts manager.[7][10][11] He left Williams in September 2005, for a job as a manager at the
Royal Bank of Scotland in
Edinburgh.[10] In March 2012, he left RBS to take on a role as managing director at SEL UK.[12]
In the year leading up to June 2016, Phillips was responsible for organising the "Patron's Lunch", in celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday. It included a parade down
The Mall and a hamper picnic for 10,000 guests.[14]
In January 2020, Phillips appeared in an advertisement for Chinese company
Bright Food. In the video, he uses his status as a "British royal family member" to promote the company's milk, while surrounded by luxury.[15]
Personal life
Phillips with his mother in 2012
Phillips dated Elizabeth Lorio, a
cod liver oil heiress from the United States, for two years. In 2001 they lived together for eight months.[16] Later, he had a four-month relationship with Tara Swain, a
flight attendant.[17]
Kelly, who was raised in the
Catholic Church, was received into the
Church of England before her marriage. If she had been Roman Catholic at the time of the marriage, Phillips would have lost his place in the line of the succession to the throne because of since-repealed[20] terms of the
Act of Settlement 1701.[21][22][23] Shortly before their wedding, the couple were interviewed and photographed by Hello! magazine, and were reported to have been paid £500,000, resulting in some concern in royal circles.[24][25][26] They married on 17 May 2008 at
St George's Chapel in
Windsor Castle.[26][27] The service was conducted by
David Conner, the
Dean of Windsor.[28]
The couple lived in Hong Kong after Phillips changed positions within the
Royal Bank of Scotland and became head of their sponsorships activities in the region.[29]
Their first child, and the Queen's first great-grandchild, a daughter named Savannah Anne Kathleen, was born on 29 December 2010 at
Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.[30][31][32] The Queen was present for the baby's
baptism, which took place on 23 April 2011 at
Church of the Holy Cross in
Avening, Gloucestershire, near
Gatcombe Park, the home of Phillips' mother. Savannah was born 12th in the line to the throne and is now 19th.[33] On 29 March 2012, the couple's second daughter, Isla Elizabeth, was born at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. She was born 13th in the line to the throne and is now 20th.[34]
On 11 February 2020, Phillips and his wife confirmed that they had separated in 2019 and announced they were planning to divorce.[35][36] The divorce was settled on 14 June 2021.[37]
After his divorce, Phillips began a relationship with Lindsay Wallace in 2021, with whom he made his official debut as a couple at the
Epsom Derby in June 2022.[38] The two ended their relationship in 2024.[39]
On 17 September 2022, during the period of
official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, Phillips joined his sister and six cousins to mount a 15-minute
vigil around the coffin of their grandmother as it
lay in state at
Westminster Hall.[40] On 19 September 2022, he joined the Queen's children and other senior members of the royal family in walking behind the cortege in the state funeral procession.[41]
These arms were granted to Peter William Garside Phillips, the father of Mark Phillips and grandfather of Peter Mark Andrew Phillips, in October 1973. Mark used these arms differenced with a three-point label, and the younger Peter with a five-point label, until Mark inherited the plain arms in 1998.[44][45]
Coronet
Phillips is entitled to use the
coronet of a female-line grandchild of the sovereign.[46][45]
Crest
On a Wreath of the colours, a spur rowed upward or, winged argent, enclosing a lozenge encharged with a label gules.
Escutcheon
Per chevron azure and Or, in chief a horse courant argent, and in base a sprig of forget-me-not flowers, slipped and leaved proper.[44]
^As required by the
Royal Marriages Act 1772, wherein descendants of
George II have to seek permission from the sovereign to marry, Phillips asked for permission, and The Queen gave her consent to the marriage in a meeting of her
Privy Council on 9 April 2008.[18]