Here come the grandkids, marrying up a storm. After a quiet two-year stretch on the family wedding front, Queen Elizabeth II can look forward to the nuptials of grandson Prince William, set to marry Kate Middleton in April, and granddaughter Zara Phillips, who this week announced her engagement to rugby star Mike Tindall.
The two young Royals, though friends, are as different as their engagement pictures: Prince William and Middleton, both 28, released retouched photos taken by master lensman Mario Testino, while Phillips, 29, and Tindall, 32, chose casual outdoor shots of them wearing jeans. William is world famous, a heartthrob, formerly the most eligible man in England if not the world. Phillips has carefully cultivated a “Zara Who?” persona, which seemed to spring naturally from her mother, Princess Anne, who decided early on that her two children would not use any royal titles.
The lack of royal formality has not hindered Phillips, who has become a master equestrian in her own right, winning several titles and earning a BBC sports personality of the year award for her horsemanship.
She has not announced the time and place of her wedding etiquette suggests she will not schedule it close to William’s big day on April 29 and her wedding is likely to be a much smaller, more informal event.
“Zara Phillips doesn’t use the royal title, and that was reflected in the low-key way they announced their engagement, with no special photograph, no special hairdo, very laid back, so already the tone of their wedding is very different than Kate and William’s,” said Deborah Joseph, editor of Brides magazine.