Princess Anne's future daughter-in-law had 'down-to-earth' upbringing

The father of the Canadian beauty who is to marry Princess Anne's son has spoken for the first time about the match, insisting it will last because of his daughter's 'down-to-earth' upbringing.

Little has been known until now about Autumn Kelly, whose engagement to Peter Phillips, 29, was announced last week. Even her age has been a mystery.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, however, at his modest cottage in the Canadian factory town of Peterborough, Autumn's father, Brian Kelly, revealed proudly that her background could not be more different from that of her fiance, who is 10th in line to the throne.

While Gordonstoun-educated Phillips inherited a fortune from the Queen Mother, Autumn, who is also 29 – rather than 31, as reported elsewhere – attended state schools and supported herself at university by working as a barmaid.

Mr Kelly said: 'To be honest I knew very little about the Royal Family until Autumn met Peter. It's not something we follow that closely in Canada.

'My daughter and I are close and I've met Peter, of course. He's a nice, nice fella. And I met Princess Anne a year ago when I visited Autumn and Peter at Gatcombe Park [the Princess Royal's estate].'

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Mr Kelly, 57, a retired electricity company executive, and Autumn's mother, Kitty, divorced when their daughter was eight. The couple have two other children, Autumn's twin, Chris, and older brother, Kevin.

'We are treating the engagement as just any other, very private family affair,' Mr Kelly said.

'Of course, I've heard about Diana. I'm not going to discuss that. That's not my daughter. Autumn was not brought up in that environment, the aristocracy. She was brought up as a down-to-earth girl and she and Peter will be just fine, for that reason.'

As the newly engaged couple posed in matching polo shirts – with Autumn proudly showing off a large oval diamond ring thought to be worth £80,000 – at the Festival Of British Eventing at Gatcombe, there was no hint of the controversy that in some quarters has greeted their pairing.

Friends have suggested that the pretty blonde was an ambitious social climber who, in the words of one, 'set out to marry Peter', and, according to another, has now 'struck gold'.

And there have been concerns that, unless Autumn gives up her Catholic faith, Peter will have to renounce his claim to the throne in order to marry her.

Despite the doubters, however, Mr Kelly is convinced his daughter is deeply in love. 'We trust her judgment,' he said.