PETER’S SHOCK DIVORCE
Thepairwill co-parent intheUK
Their 12-year marriage was always seen as one of the royal family’s happiest unions, but behind closed doors Peter Phillips and his Canadian wife Autumn had been struggling to make it work for almost a year before their shock divorce announcement last week.
While their decision to split is said to have “shocked and saddened” the Queen, the pair confided in pals that the rows had become so bad separating was their only option.
“When they first met, it was a classic case of opposites attract,” tells a pal. “They were enamoured by each other. But in recent years, resentment started to creep in and the arguments were becoming unbearable. Autumn has always felt she gave up so much for Peter and she was barely speaking to him for much of last year.
“They battled on but the tension in the house was miserable for all of them and it’s not the way they wanted their children to live.”
While it’s believed the couple – who share girls Savannah, nine, and Isla, seven – made the decision to part just before Christmas, news only broke last week and was hastily followed up with an official statement.
It read, “The decision to divorce and share custody came about after many months of discussions and is an amicable one.”
And while both parents are still living under the same roof on Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Estate in the Cotswolds, it’s believed that plans are underway for one of them to move to another house within the property.
Despite early reports that management consultant Autumn, 41, wanted to follow Prince Harry and Meghan’s lead with a return to Canada, sources say she’s committed to her UK life.
“She has no plans to take the kids away from the life they know and love,” insists a pal. “She has many close friends nearby.”
Peter – who was in New Zealand when news broke of the split, in his role as an ISPS Handa ambassador at the Halberg sport awards – met his future wife at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in 2003. They married five years later and brought up their children next door to Peter’s sister Zara Tindall and her family. Peter was the first of the Queen’s grandchildren to wed, and now divorce.
The couple are believed to have broken the news to the Queen before Christmas.
Tells the source, “The Queen urged them not to make a hasty decision, but it seems it was too late.”
Said to be a favourite of the Queen, Peter has been a regular at the bedside of his ailing grandfather Prince Philip, 98.
And last month he was the only other family member present at Sandringham as the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William struck the agreement with Prince Harry that allowed him to walk away from his royal life.
It was a royal double date last week when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at a visit to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.
The senior royals took the train from London to Loughborough together, where they toured the facility and learned about the organisation’s efforts to help injured military personnel.
Prince William, 37, even joined in a game of wheelchair basketball. After missing a series of shots, his father gave him an encouraging squeeze on the shoulders, which seemed to do the trick.
“It was lovely – he then managed to shoot the hoop and everyone cheered,” tells an onlooker.
Sources say William and his 71-year-old dad’s relationship is stronger than ever after they supported each other through the shock of Prince Harry’s decision to quit royal life.
The two heirs’ bond is unbreakable, says our source. “They know that whatever crisis is going on around them, their commitment to the monarchy is unwavering.”