Peter Phillips joins a long list of royals who've found love a second time round

A marriage break-up is anything but pleasant, and even worse when it is carried out on the world stage.

But when you are a member of one of the world's royal families, divorce brings added pressure, as does the possibility of finding love again.

Once considered impossible for a member of a royal family to divorce, let alone remarry, modern times has seen the relaxing of these rigid rules, with numerous examples of royals finding love again.

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King Charles and Queen Camilla

Of course, the most well-known example is the marriage of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Both had been married before; Charles had married the former Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, while Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles from 1973 to 1995.

Prior to marrying other people, Charles and Camilla had been in a relationship after first meeting in 1970.

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It is thought they rekindled their relationship even before Charles met Diana.

Either way Charles admitted himself in 1994 during an interview with filmmaker Jonathan Dimbleby that he and Camilla had been having an affair at least since 1986, but claimed it only began after his marriage to Diana had "irretrievably broken down".  

Charles and Diana's separation was announced in December 1992, but at that point it was feared a divorce would spark a constitutional crisis.

Charles was of course next in line for the British throne and therefore head of the Church of England.

The late Queen Elizabeth II was among those opposed to them ever divorcing, but had a change of heart after Diana's 1995 Panorama interview.

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Buckingham Palace confirmed just a month later that the Queen had written to both Charles and Diana advising them to divorce as soon as possible. Their divorce was finalised on August 28, 1996.

However, Charles' desire to marry Camilla was not straightforward due to church laws banning a divorcee from remarrying if their former spouse was alive.

Many experts still believe today it is unlikely they would have wed had Diana not died following a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.

It was eight years before Charles and Camilla married and even then they were denied a full church service.

Instead, they wed in a civil ceremony on April 9, 2005, which was followed by a Service of Prayer and Dedication that included a prayer in which the couple asked for forgiveness for their past "sins and wickedness" – not exactly the stuff of romance.

But their marriage, despite its rocky start, has stood the test of time and they recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

Anne, Princess Royal and Sir Timothy Laurence

Before Princess Anne married the late Queen's former equerry Timothy Laurence in 1992, she was married once before to Mark Phillips, the father of her two children, Peter and Zara.

Anne first met Phillips, who was a lieutenant in the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards, when she was 18, and the two wed in 1973 in Westminster Abbey in a televised event watched by an estimated 100,000 people.

Their separation was announced in August 1989 – around the same time reports emerged that private letters Laurence had sent Princess Anne had been offered for sale to British newspapers.

The letters were later handed to Scotland Yard and their contents were never published, however it was enough to ignite speculation about the nature of the relationship between Anne and the man who had then worked for her mother for several years.

Days after Buckingham Palace announced Princess Anne had filed for divorce from Philips, the divorce was finalised in April 1992.

Just eight months later, Princess Anne married Tim Laurence in a Church of Scotland church in Crathie.

It is the same church the royal family attends services when they are staying at nearby Balmoral.

The marriage took place in the Church of Scotland because the Church of England banned remarriage at the time.

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Princess Caroline of Monaco

The eldest daughter of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and his wife, Grace of Monaco, was first married in 1978 to Philippe Junot, then a Parisian banker who was 17 years her senior.

Both her parents were said to oppose the marriage, which ended in divorce less than two years later.

Princess Caroline found love again, marrying Italian businessman and powerboat racer Stefano Casiraghi.

They wed in a civil ceremony in December 1983 and went on to welcome three children; Andrea, Charlotte and Pierre.

Casiraghi was competing in a powerboat race off the coast of Monaco on October 3, 1990, when his boat flipped after hitting a wave while travelling at about 150 km/h.

Casiraghi suffered massive neck injuries and was trapped under the boat, where he died, plunging Princess Caroline into grief.

Shortly after his death, Princess Caroline found love again, this time with French actor Vincent Lindon, whom she dated for four years.

Then in January 1999, she married Prince Ernst August of Hanover, whose ancestors once ruled the United Kingdom.

The couple welcomed their only child, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, just six months later.

Princess Alexandra, a figure skater, was in the British line of succession until she converted to Catholicism in 2018.

Prince Ernst and Princess Caroline reportedly separated in 2009 but have never divorced.

Norway's Princess Martha Louise

Princess Martha Louise is the eldest child of Norway's King Harald and his wife, Queen Sonya.

But due to the country's male primogeniture laws at the time of her birth, her younger brother, Crown Prince Haakon, became heir to the throne.

In 2002, Princess Martha Louise married author Ari Behn.

The couple went on to have three children together, Maud, Leah and Emma, before the Royal House of Norway announced their separation on August 5, 2016.

They subsequently divorced in 2017, and the princess went on to find love with an American shaman, Durek Verrett, who is often described as Gwyneth Paltrow's 'guru'.

The two reportedly met through a mutual friend in 2018 and confirmed their relationship in May 2019.

On Christmas Day that year, the princess's former husband was found dead at his home in Norway, with his death ruled a suicide.

Princess Martha Louise and Verrett announced their engagement in June 2022 and wed in her native Norway on August 31, 2024.

Their decision to sell the photos of their wedding to Hello raised eyebrows in Norway.

The princess stepped down from official royal duties in November 2022 following a backlash over her business dealings involving Verrett and her 'alternative beliefs'.

They divide their time between homes in Norway and the US.

Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark

When Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark married Chrysi Vardinogianni earlier this year, it marked the second wedding of the son of Greece's late King Constantine II.

The prince's second trip down the aisle came just 10 months after his divorce from Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark was finalised.

Prince Nikolaos and the former event planner had been married since 2010. They did not have any children.

The couple announced the dissolution of their marriage in April 2024 and Prince Nikolaos announced his engagement to Vardinogianni in January 2025, with the two marrying just one month later.

The Greek monarchy was abolished during the reign of King Constantine in 1973, but the royal family remained beloved in Greece and enjoyed a close relationship with the British royal family.

King Constantine, who died in 2023, was a second cousin of King Charles through their fathers and was the godfather of Prince William.

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling

When the Princess Royal's son Peter Phillips announced his engagement this week to paediatric nurse and single mum Harriet Sperling, it was some welcome good news for the British family.

Phillips had been married once before to Canadian-born Autumn Kelly.

The couple reportedly met at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix, and their engagement was announced in July 2007. At the time, British laws meant the Queen had to give her blessing before their wedding took place in May 2008, after Kelly converted to the Church of England.

During their marriage they welcomed two children, Savannah and Isla, before separating in 2019. They divorced two years later.

Reports first emerged of a relationship between Phillips and Sperling in May 2024 when she accompanied him to the Badminton Horse Trials.

It has been reported the first two met at a sporting event involving their respective children – Sterling's daughter is the same age as Savannah.

Talk an engagement was imminent started in June when she attended Royal Ascot, where she rode in a carriage with Phillips. She was also pictured alongside him in the Royal Box at this year's Wimbledon tournament.

Their engagement was announced in a statement on August 1.

"Mr Peter Phillips, the son of HRH The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips and Ms Harriet Sperling, daughter of the late Mr Rupert Sanders and Mrs Mary Sanders of Gloucestershire, have today confirmed their official engagement," the statement said.

"Both families were informed jointly of the announcement and were delighted with the wonderful news of their engagement.

"Their Majesties The King and Queen, The Prince and Princess of Wales, have been informed of the announcement. No date has been officially set for the wedding."

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