Queen Elizabeth II herself stated regarding 1992: "This has been an annus horribilis." Everything had happened. Windsor Castle caught fire, and the marital separation of Prince Charles and Lady Di, Prince Andrew with Sarah Ferguson, and Princess Anne with Mark Phillips.
The latter were the supporting characters on June 6 because their firstborn, Peter (48), remarried Harriet Sperling, a pediatric nurse in the National Health Service, at Kemble Church, a picturesque village in the Cotswolds area where some famous millionaires like theBeckhams, Kate Moss, Simon Cowell, and even King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain have homes.
At this family event, it was not missed, for obvious reasons, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and of course, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who still have many issues to address due to their association with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Furthermore, there was another notable absence, although not expected, with a much higher blood relationship weight compared to the groom and the rest of his relatives. This is Felicity Tonkin (40), a stepsister on the father's side, the result of the clandestine relationship of Captain Mark Phillips (77) while still married to Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter with New Zealand art teacher Heather Tonkin.
Her name is banned in the court and even more so in the presence of Mark Phillips, who, since learning the news, has been conspicuously absent. The events date back to 1984 when the British equestrian was visiting Auckland, New Zealand.
They had a single night of love in a nearby hotel, where they could maintain their anonymity. The young woman knew which room to enter because her lover had left his riding boots as a signal at the door. When Heather found out she was pregnant, she called Gatcombe Park, the royal residence where at that time Mark and Anne (75) lived with their respective children, Peter and Zara Tindall (45). The future father didn't pay much attention. He casually suggested to his former lover to have an abortion, but she refused. Felicity was born in August 1985.
One of Mark's assistants warned the new mother that "when this gets out of control, your daughter's life will be ruined," but she ignored the advice. Out of fear that this scandal would come to light, Mark Phillips bought her silence for £6,000 annually for five years, which officially appeared as royal expenses under "equestrian expenses," as reported by the Daily Mail.
Suddenly, the cheques stopped coming, and Heather ran out of patience. Therefore, in 1991, she spoke out to the Daily Mirror exclusively. "I am doing what I do for my daughter. I hope and pray that Mark does the right thing and makes a legally binding agreement for her," highlighted the Daily Mail in recalling the story.
Following her lawyers' advice, Heather recorded up to five conversations with the monarch's son-in-law. In one of them, an employee can be heard saying: "If you want to cause a scandal, everyone will deny it," the British media reported.
Buckingham Palace panicked. They didn't need this news on top of dealing with the scandals of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York.
Heather went to court to demand a DNA test, which was granted and came back positive. Mark Phillips was undoubtedly the father. However, this did little for the young mother as the equestrian flatly refused to sign the birth certificate. He has always been clear that he wanted nothing to do with his daughter, they have not met, and they do not keep in touch.
Until the age of eight, Felicity believed her father had passed away. But everything changed, according to the Daily Mail, when she was tasked with a family history project at school, and that's when Heather felt compelled to reveal the truth.
She then gave her a biography of her father written by news presenter Angela Rippon. The young girl even took a photo with the book, which has been published on occasion.
Following the paternity test and to settle the matter publicly, Mark agreed to a one-time payment of £350,000, which allowed the Tonkin family to have a comfortable life as Felicity could receive a private education, and some of the money was used for profitable real estate investments to secure her future.
In her four decades of life, Felicity has had no contact with her father or her stepsiblings. However, several experts and various English newspapers claim that she does have a relationship with Stephanie, the daughter Captain Phillips had in 1997 with his second wife, American Olympic equestrian Sandy Pluege, from whom he separated in 2012.
Princess Anne rebuilt her life with the then Royal Navy officer whom she married in 1992. The couple has no children.
Felicity currently works as an equine veterinarian, has been married since 2015 to British polo player Tristan Wade, and they have a 9-year-old son named James. Due to her husband's work, Felicity has been in the same circles as her father, but they have always kept their distance.
The couple and their young son live in New Zealand in a property valued at £1.5 million.