Autumn and Peter Phillips announced their split last year, in the middle of the Sussexit drama. Which meant that no one really focused on what was going on with them. They were able to keep people mostly in the dark about their divorce negotiations, although we do know that instead of some messy public divorce case, stuff was handled very discreetly in the end. Autumn got some kind of financial settlement worked out in June. We also know that Peter was likely banging other women, and it definitely felt like none of the British tabloids really followed through on that issue, nor did they closely examine his 460-mile booty call to Scotland. Peter has shady finances and a shady life, and he was willing to pay Autumn to keep it all quiet. So now Autumn is free! And she’s apparently taken up with an “old friend.” From the Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential column:
She’s no longer married to the Queen’s eldest grandchild, and now it seems Autumn Phillips has swapped royalty for riches. I hear the ex-wife of Peter Phillips is enjoying a passionate romance with super-wealthy Irish property tycoon Donal Mulryan. Their relationship is, however, complicated by the inconvenient fact that Donal, 52, is still married to his socialite wife, Louise Mulryan.
‘Donal wants to divorce Louise but he knows that it would cost him a fortune after 27 years together,’ one of her friends tells me. ‘He and Autumn have made no secret of their relationship and are very much in love.’
Autumn, 43, whose divorce from Princess Anne’s 43-year-old son was finalised last month, is said to have known Donal for years. Her new partner, who boasts that he’s led the creation of property schemes with a combined development value of £4 billion, lives in Monaco, as does his wife.
A close friend of Autumn confirms the relationship, telling me: ‘Autumn and Donal have been friends for more than 15 years. They are both single people. Donal has been separated from his wife for two years and is in the process of divorce.’
The romance will mean Autumn can still rub shoulders with royalty as Donal, a founding director of property giant Ballymore, is a close friend of Prince Albert of Monaco.
‘Donal can certainly treat her like a princess, ’ says the friend. Montreal-born Autumn Kelly was a management consultant when she met Phillips at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix.
Well well, Autumn getting some romance from a terribly wealthy old friend based in Monaco? Good for her! And even if this guy’s divorce is never finalized, who says this has to be forever? I hope Autumn dates and has some fun and lives her life. She managed to get away from that toxic cult free and clear and with a nice financial arrangement. I hope she goes out and gets hers.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
She’s giving me Amazing Amy vibes in that last photo.
Wait, is that a Gone Girl reference? LOL.
I imagine divorcing a billionaire takes time. The division of assets alone, and the fighting over %s, must take ages.
Sounds like Donal has no intention of getting a divorce.
Yeah, I was wondering if she’s pissed about him staying married and this is her way of outing them in the media so his wife will bail.
Ooh I do like the sound of that. Always here for a good gossip conspiracy.
ohhh, ala Marla Maples?
Wonder if they *both* had their long distance booty calls going on (before Covid, we only know about his *during*) and things came to a head? And we all know, affairs don’t have to be physical, she could’ve been crying to this “old friend” for years while her milk-shilling husband carried on his affairs. Who knows?
Still…good for her. Better for her daughters to be out of that toxic atmosphere. The girls were already being labeled in the press (especially the younger one) as “slyly leading George astray” with some mischief on the balcony (during a flyover, or was it one of Betty’s Birthdays? She has so many celebrations for it lol).
It was the older Phillips girl, Savannah, who was having fun with George on the balcony (playfully placing her hand over his mouth as he was singing) at Trooping a few years ago. Of course, she wasn’t leading George astray either. LOL. They were both just having fun, as kids do.
I remember Will TOB glancing at Savannah with an annoyed look on his face, as if saying, “Stop messing with the FFFK, you upstart.” Whatever, Savannah and George were cute together.
Isla Phillips is the younger daughter with lighter blond, nearly white hair.
She got her milk money and dipped.
“it definitely felt like none of the British tabloids really followed through on that issue, nor did they closely examine his 460-mile booty call to Scotland. ”
Because no one reading The Fail or commenting at The Fail really cares. Duh???
I wish Autumn all the best in her new life.
Good for her. Live your life Autumn. It sounds like this Donal guy is “married” but not really, which I imagine is pretty normal for the uber-rich if you want to avoid a messy divorce.
And if she runs out of money, I bet she would get paid a pretty penny for a royal tell-all.
As I mentioned in another thread, currently rewatching Downton Abbey and it’s such a waste that these women are so refined with such amazing wardrobes and have zero fun in life. The modern day aristos -however toxic their cult- at least get to live a little. Well, maybe not W & K but that’s on them. (I bet Charlotte is going to be fabulous.)
I love how they always say swapping royalty for money, are we supposed to believe that these royals are broke? Well some are but I am sure no white grandchild or child of Betty will ever suffer.
Eden’s pretending that the royals aren’t rich when the Queen is the largest landowner in the UK, owns a lot of horses and has many offshore accounts.
I’m not mad at her. Do you, girl. No regrets.
Dear kate,
It is not worth it, be like Autumn.
You are already a King’s mother, get out now while you are still young to grab a billionare and you dont have to pretend to be working anymore.
Be like autumn, kate.
That makes sense but she’d be giving up the titles. Wasn’t that the end game?
Her mother would kill her if she left PWT. Unfortunately, she’s stuck and after so many years too. Such a wasted life too.
Agreed it’s a waste, Chrissy, especially since she could improve her lot in life without actually leaving William. The world is full of people who don’t leave their spouses when their marriages peter out and of women who find meaning in their lives beyond their marriages. Her circle would be pretty tolerant of it if she and William lived mostly separate lives. She could get some therapy, take some lessons, learn some new things, find some new passions, make some new friends. No one forces her to be so directionless.
@Like
She wants desperately to be Queen.
The difference is that Kate is as dumb and uninteresting as a post whereas Autumn had a great career, is probably whip smart and very charismatic, so she brings something to the table. The only relevance Kate has, as Bettyrose says, comes from her titles and being FFQC. Without that, crickets.
There are plenty of boring, pretty women who have no trouble attracting men, so I don’t think that part would be a problem. I think Kate would struggle with being in a secondary position in the media, though. She might not like actually working, but she’s been in the public eye for her entire adult life, and I don’t think she could stand to be a wealthy nobody. She doesn’t seem to have hobbies or a strong sense of self, and her family certainly wouldn’t support the choice.
People who ditch the royals always seem to be living their best life.
Don’t they!! Now Autum and her children will be happy and free of the restriction of The Firm to do as they please!!
As for Donal being married, I do wonder how she plans to spin this in the press. It’s never a good look to be hooking up with a married man, period.
Their set don’t care if you are married or not. It doesn’t look good when plebs do it, but for them, it’s almost a rite of passage.
Look at her go! She got a glow up being married to a minor royal and has now traded up to a billionaire, even if technically he’s married to someone else ( is he really separated from his wife or is this some billionaire arrangement?). Hope he gives her some diamonds.
‘Donal can certainly treat her like a princess ’… by not divorcing his wife you mean? I don’t know, the wording of the whole thing is off, but I can’t tell exactly why.
I wish the best for Autumn and her family, now that she is no longer married to a person of some prominence, I hope she is afforded the privacy that her status allows. The Fail can also stop attacking her family, her province and country of birth. In other words mind their own business.
I hope that they can successfully co-parent their children and hopefully both of them find love again.
He is basically scheming to cheat his spouse of 27 years out of her fair share of his fortune. That just tells me that he is a scumbag that values money above all else, and that he would be one of those mean ex’s. I’d stay away, unless she is sure that she is just looking for some d (sorry to be crass:)).