Savannah Phillips has been asked by Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank to be a bridesmaid at their upcoming wedding on Friday. Here we take a look at the young royal, who is probably best known for upstaging Prince George each year at Trooping the Colour.
Savannah Anne Kathleen Phillips was born on 29 December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester, England. She was the first great-grandchild of Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and was 12th in line to the throne at the time of her birth (she is now 15th in line following the births of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis).
Her name was first used in public by Reverend Jonathan Riviere, the Rector of Sandringham parishes, in a service on 2 January 2011 when he mentioned ‘Peter and Autumn Phillips and their daughter Savannah’ in a prayer.
Savannah was christened on Saturday, 23 April 2011 at the church of the Holy Cross in Avening, Gloucestershire, which is quite close to Gatcombe Park, the home of her grandmother, the Princess Royal. Royals in attendance included the Princess Royal and her husband Timothy Laurence, Captain Mark Phillips, The Queen and Prince Philip, Zara (then Phillips) and her fiancé Mike Tindall.
For the christening, Savannah wore a cream-coloured lace and satin gown made by The Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly, and her team of dressmakers at Buckingham Palace. The gown is a replica of one made for Queen Victoria’s daughter in 1841 which was last used for the baptism of Lady Louise, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex. At that point, age necessitated its retirement and so a replacement was commissioned which features the same skirt, elaborate collars and bow as its predecessor.
Savannah became a big sister on 29 March 2012 when Peter and Autumn welcomed their second child (The Queen’s second great-grandchild) Isla Elizabeth Phillips. The Phillips family lives in London, largely out of the public eye.
Savannah’s only public appearance each year is at Trooping the Colour when she appears on the Buckingham Palace balcony with her sister and cousins.