Prince William attended the wedding of a former girlfriend today before enjoying an evening of fun with friends – just days after his brother’s Netflix series launched an unprecedented attack on the Royal Family.
The Prince of Wales, 40, looked dapper in a black tuxedo and matching bowtie as he slipped in discreetly through the back door to witness the nuptials of Rose Farquhar, 39, in Gloucestershire.
The pair previously dated back in the year 2000, after meeting at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire after Wills finished his A-levels at Eton – and were once rumored to have been caught by a farmer canoodling in a field.
Rose is generally considered the Prince’s first serious girlfriend, with him going on to date several women at university before meeting his now-wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in 2003.
The Prince of Wales, 40, looked dapper in a black tuxedo and matching bowtie as he witnessed the nuptials of Rose Farquhar, 38, in Gloucestershire
Ms Farquhar stunned in a white dress and fur shoulder detail as she tied the knot with George Gemmell at St Mary the Virgin church in Gloucestershire on Saturday
Despite their romance faltering, Rose and William have always stayed on good terms and have often seen each other at society weddings over the years due to their mutual friends.
After dating William, Rose headed to New York where she studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute.
She is a singer-songwriter who appeared on The Voice in the UK back in 2016, and currently works for the Duchess of Rutland’s Belvoir Castle in a business development role.
Ms Farquhar stunned in a white dress and fur shoulder cape as she tied the knot with George Gemmell at St Mary the Virgin church in Gloucestershire on Saturday.
Things almost went awry when their wedding car broke down en route, but Rose and her father Captain Ian Farquhar managed to arrive on time in an Audi instead.
News of today’s wedding was announced in September, much to the delight of her father – who is a former equerry to the Queen Mother and ex-Master of the Beaufort Hunt. He was once arrested for crashing his car as he left the wedding of Princess Margaret’s son Earl Snowdon.
The Wedding of Rose Farquhar to George Gemmell (pictured together) at St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Despite their romance faltering, Rose and William have always stayed on good terms and have often seen each other at society weddings over the years due to their mutual friends
Guy Pelly attends the Wedding of Rose Farquhar to George Gemmell at St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
He previously told the Daily Mail of her daughter’s groom-to-be: ‘He could not be a more charming son-in-law for the future.
‘The Gemmells have been friends of ours for years. We’re absolutely delighted.’
George Gemmel is currently studying to become a vet and is the stepson of Barbadian construction tycoon Sir Charles Williams, who passed away last year.
But Rose was not the only former flame of William’s present.
Olivia Hunt, William’s last girlfriend before he met Kate, attended with her barrister husband Nicholas Wilkinson, while Kate’s pre-William university beau Rupert Finch showed up with wife Natasha Rufus Issacs.
Also there was Prince Harry’s old ‘wingman’ Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, who caused a rumpus before the Sussexes wedding in 2018 by advising Harry and Meghan to live together before ‘doing anything more serious’.
Prince William’s outing came after the second installment of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary on Thursday, which accused the King of ‘lying’ and Wills of ‘screaming’ at his brother.
It also accused Buckingham Palace of aiding by using Meghan as a ‘scapegoat’ to divert the media away from damaging stories about other royals.
The Firm has so far decided not to comment on any of the claims made in the six-part series.
The senior royals have shown a united front in the days since, coming together just hours after the latest release for Kate’s Together At Christmas concert at Westminster Abbey.
Prince George of Wales, William, Prince of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales depart from the ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey
Singing from the same hymn sheet: (Front row left to right) King Charles III, the Queen Consort, the Prince of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, the Princess of Wales and the Countess of Wessex during the ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on Thursday evening
The key claims made in Harry and Meghan’s final three Netflix episodes
Here are the key points and revelations from Harry & Meghan:
Episode four
– Meghan said it was ‘really important’ for the King to walk her down the aisle at her wedding to Harry.
– Duchess recalled thinking about taking her own life, saying: ‘It was like, ‘All of this will stop if I am not here’.’
– Harry said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to see his brother’s communications office ‘copy’ the behavior of their father’s by ‘trading’ stories with the press.
Episode five
– Meghan broke down in tears as she described receiving death threats online.
– Harry said it was his decision to step back as a working royal, not his wife’s.
– Harry claimed the timing of a meeting with senior royals at Sandringham about the couple’s future was deliberately arranged so Meghan could not attend. Harry said his brother began to ‘scream and shout’ at him during their meeting about moving abroad.
– Harry said he wrote to his father in January 2020 to say that he and his wife would be willing to relinquish their titles if the couple’s plan to move to Canada as working royals did not work out.
– The Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the institution ‘blocked’ Harry from seeing his grandmother, the Queen, after they decided to step back as senior royals.
episode six
– Home video footage appeared to show the couple watching their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey before kissing.
– They claim they saw the interview differently to the world. Tyler Perry claimed they could have said much more.
– Other footage featured Harry holding up his phone to show Meghan a text from William and her reaction is to say ‘wow’ as she looks at its screen.
And William would have likely jumped at the chance to spend an evening with childhood friends tonight – including Guy Pelly, the godfather to Prince Louis.
The businessman and aristocrat were pictured among the guests tonight, also rocking a black tuxedo and bowtie.
The entrepreneur has run a string of nightclubs in London over the years, including Mahiki in Kensington, Public, Whiskey Mist and Tonteria.
Described by some as a ‘party animal’, he has been close to both Harry and William since childhood, having been the son of their mother Princess Diana’s good friend Lady Carolyn Herbert.
Guy is believed to have organized Wills’ stag do in 2011 and some royal commentators feared he had the potential to prove a bad influence on the brothers.
The Sussexes used their latest Netflix shows to wound Prince William and King Charles and claim that dark forces blocked the Queen from seeing them before Megxit.
Harry also said his family were upset and jealous of Meghan’s popularity so pursued a vendetta against her because she was ‘doing the job better’ and ‘stealing the limelight’ from ‘those born to do it’.
But despite the slew of incendiary claims in three hours of new interviews and footage, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace declined to comment on anything in the series.
Harry told of the ‘heartbreaking’ rift with his brother who he claimed had scared him in January 2020 while he ‘screamed and shouted’ at him in front of his father and grandmother when he tried to thrash out a deal to leave the UK.
The Duke of Sussex said: ‘They were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us’.
The Duke of Sussex said William and Charles refused to bless the couple’s request for a ‘half in half out’ Megxit that would allow them to earn a fortune while picking and choosing royal duties and keeping all their titles.
He alleged his older brother, now heir to the throne, scared him in January 2020 while he ‘screamed and shouted’ at him in front of his father and grandmother when he tried to thrash out a deal to leave the UK.
Harry also accused Charles of telling untruths to his face and Her Majesty of saying nothing at the now infamous ‘Sandringham Summit’.
He said: ‘It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, sit quietly there and take it all in.’
Pictured: Harry and Meghan speak in their Netflix docuseries, in which Harry told of the ‘heartbreaking’ rift with his brother who he claimed had scared him in January 2020 while he ‘screamed and shouted’ at him in front of his father and grandmother when he tried to thrash out a deal to leave the UK
The Duke of Sussex claimed: ‘I went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly, but once I got there I was given five options – one being all in, no change, five being all out. I chose option three in the meeting – half in, half out. Have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen. It became very clear very quickly that goal was not up for discussion or debate’.
Harry then claimed the Palace did not seek his permission to put out a joint statement denying claims William ‘bullied’ the Sussexes out of the Royal Family. Viewers said that Harry was implying that William did.
He said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that… [Meghan] burst into floods of tears, because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother… and yet they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.’
He also denied it was Meghan’s decision to walk away and move to LA. ‘In fact, it was my decision. She never asked to leave. I was the one that had to see it for myself. But it’s misogyny at its best,’ he said.
The final three episodes of the docu-series will particularly infuriate and upset William, who was accused of leaving his younger brother ‘terrified’ after allegedly yelling at him in front of the Queen and Charles during final Megxit talks at Sandringham in 2020.
