Ominous signs: Has Autumn Kelly been set up for a fall?

Since the news of the now infamous £500,000 Hello-magazine royal wedding deal hit the tabloids, there have been countless innuendoes and insinuations, all of which have had one unmistakable conclusion: such a shocking deal would never have been cut without the newcomer's explicit incitement or agreement, i.e., the new Mrs. Autumn Phillips somehow dragged poor Peter Phillips into making an ill-advised arrangement. For whatever reason (although prejudice and snobbery undoubtedly play a role in the débâcle), the blame for the magazine deal is being laid squarely at her feet. But is this really fair?

The rumblings began in earnest roughly a week before the wedding. "What was she to do?" asked ingenious 'sources'. "It's not as if her mother could afford the expenses involved in hosting a wedding like that." Other sources have claimed that Princess Anne "refused to pay" the reported £50,000 the wedding was estimated to cost (a low sum for a royal wedding). Sniffy sources claiming an ear to the ground in royal circles proclaimed their shock, and related the horror that reverberated, and continues to reverberate in royal circles at the revelation of the deal. "It's all a bit "WAG-ish really," they grimaced. "The Queen has been damaged" shouted one headline, with the Hello deal being described as "grasping and vulgar", while there were reports that Prince Harry was angry at some of the photographs that had been published. Slowly but surely, the scene that is being set is that a desperately publicity-hungry Autumn, acting on her own volition, went to Hello Magazine and engineered a "lucrative" deal in a cynical bid to profit from her newly minted association with the royal family, a family with which she has been intimately associated for a good four years.

But why is this particular angle being pushed? There are sufficient reports to suggest that Peter Phillips was very much in charge of the show. It was to him that the rights to the photographs were handed, not to Autumn. And as other royal sources have stated on the record, none of it would have taken place without the knowledge and consent of the Queen. So what lies behind the apparently newfound hostility that is being directed towards the newest (legitimate) member of the royal family? Might it have anything to do with the recent streams of bigoted remarks about Autumn's family and background? Is it a case of sour grapes that Autumn has succeeded in sealing a royal deal, while a certain on/off flame (namely, Prince William's main squeeze, Kate Middleton) has yet to do so?

Unwise as the decision may have been, there are several plausible scenarios that may have led to the decision to grant Hello Magazine exclusive access to what had essentially been billed as a private wedding.

• Peter and Autumn looked over their finances and realised that they were not as solvent as they would have liked to be in their position, in relation to the expected expenses.
• Peter wanted to surprise Autumn with a lavish honeymoon and did not wish to dip into his nest egg to do so.
• Peter realised that the Queen would never be as generous to them as she (or British taxpayers) would undoubtedly be if Prince William or Prince Harry were the ones getting married and that he was therefore pretty much on his own.
• Peter and Autumn turned down an opportunity to be funded by the Queen (accepting only her offer of the venue for the reception) in a bid to be independent.
• Autumn, being a woman of modest means and undoubtedly sensitive to continued jibes about her family background and lack of means, decided to establish her independence by starting off with a nest egg of her own, hence the Hello deal. She then persuaded Peter, who in turn persuaded his grandmother.

The latter scenario is doubtful. Autumn is obviously still very reticent about certain matters royal, and, mindful of the royals' aversion to certain types of publicity, would almost certainly neither have considered the possibility of an exclusive photo spread (much more tout it), nor taken such a bold step on her own. Thus it is much more likely that several senior royals knew about the arrangement, possibly from the word go. If the Queen, for example, had had a serious problem with it, then she most certainly would not have attended the wedding and the subsequent reception.

The murmurs over the past couple of weeks suggest ominous signs of things to come. If Peter's wedding to Autumn had been unpopular in certain circles before, albeit for arguably minor reasons, then the Hello deal has given substantial ammunition to Autumn's enemies, both close and distant, since she, and she alone, is increasingly being singled out for blame. It is already being suggested that had Peter married a more "suitable" bride then such a thing would never have occurred (such a bad influence, that Autumn girl, corrupting poor Peter like that - this is what happens when one marries below one's station, tut, tut, etc.). What is certain is that the new Mrs. Phillips appears to be set for a very bumpy ride in the next few months, facing tight-lipped disapproval in many "blue-blooded" and media circles. It will be interesting to see how well she copes.

Is this a sign of things to come? Has Autumn been set up for a fall? Was this one final, supreme test of acceptability (why did she not put her foot down and say no to Peter)? And if so, is this the beginning of the end for this once most discreet of royal couples? Perhaps it will be even more interesting to see how well her husband copes, and how much he supports her in what must be a very trying introduction to royal life.