Meet Peter Phillips’s new girlfriend Harriet Sperling, who has already met King Charles and Queen Camilla, and was spotted with her beau at Wimbledon – so could an NHS nurse join the royal family?

He was reportedly spotted hand in hand with Harriet Sperling at the Badminton Horse Trials in May alongside his children, 13-year-old Savannah and 12-year-old Isla. A source who was at the event told British tabloid The Sun, “They looked completely smitten and he was grinning from ear to ear.” According to Hello!, he had introduced Sperling to Queen Camilla in May, and then to the king at Royal Ascot in June.

Indeed, the new couple appeared very affectionate at Royal Ascot, where they were seen kissing. Sperling wore an elegant pink dress by Beulah London (one of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh’s favourite brands, per Hello!) and accessorised with a Nicola de Selincourt headdress.

So, what do we know about Harriet Sperling who, according to The Sun’s source, looked “very happy and relaxed in [Phillips’s] company and pleased to be shown off”?

Harriet Sperling is an NHS nurse

Harriet Sperling, 44, is a paediatric nurse specialist for the National Health Service and also a freelance writer. According to her bio on Woman Alive, she is “passionate about early brain development in babies and seeing children thrive”. If things go well and Sperling marries Peter Phillips, she will be the first NHS nurse to marry into the royal family.

She is a single mother

Like her new boyfriend, Sperling has been married and divorced; she is also a single mother.

Sperling wrote about her life and struggles as a single mum in a piece on Woman Alive, in which she references comedian Katherine Ryan and “explains why Katherine’s words touched her”.

“The unique relationship between a single mother and her child is forged in the fires of struggles and victories,” Sperling wrote. “My daughter and I journeyed 10 years with only each other. I liken us to an island and it has often felt hard to imagine anyone joining that island.”

However, it seems Phillips and his kids successfully made that leap. According to Town & Country magazine, the pair were at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire following their debut in May, and were joined by Savannah, Isla and Sperling’s daughter.

She is a devout Christian

In her Woman Alive article, Sperling also ponders the bond between a single mother and her child, and the “special kind of love that develops when it’s just the two of you against the world … As a Christian, I see this bond as a reflection of God’s unwavering love for us. It teaches us about sacrifice, about the depth of love that is costly and willing to give without expecting anything in return. This journey has deepened my faith, teaching me to trust in God’s plan and to find strength in his love.”

She has aristocratic roots

The Telegraph reports that Sperling, born Harriet Eleanor Sanders, has connections to the British aristocracy.

Sperling’s mother is Mary Hoskins, and her father (who died last year) was solicitor Rupert Sanders. Sanders was the son of Eleanor Sandors and Major Geoffrey Sanders, who was the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.

Eleanor Sanders, who is Sperling’s great-grandmother, was the daughter of Dorothy Courage, which means she is linked to the Courage brewing dynasty. Also, Dorothy Courage’s brother Raymond Courage was the owner of Edgcote Manor, the iconic property that served as Netherfield Park in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Sperling is also related to the Duke of Gloucester through former marital ties.