Queen's grandson spotted in bizarre Chinese milk ad
The Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips has been spotted starring in a television advertisement for a Chinese milk brand.
In result, controversy has sparked on whether there is an issue with The Firm using their royal connections to generate a private income.
41-year-old Mr Phillips is the son of Princess Anne and her ex-husband Captain Mark Phillips, however he is not a working royal and has never had a royal title.
He has become the poster boy over the years to prove royal family members can have private lives, despite belonging to one of the most famous families in the world.
Throughout his adulthood, he has held prominent positions with Jaguar and a Formula One racing team. He is married to Canadian Autumn Kelly, and the couple share two daughters together who don’t have royal titles.
Mr Phillips’ latest public endorsement features him dressed to the nines in a dinner jacket and black bow tie for a 30-second ad for China’s state-owned Bright Dairies.
In the advertisement he can be seen peering out the window of a stately country house in Britain’s Wiltshire. A replica of a horse-drawn royal carriage pulls outside the home and then a butler approaches Phillips.
In the ad he is described as “British Royal Family member Peter Phillips.”
“Bright Dairies has got a fantastic reputation all over China and outside of China as well, for producing high quality dairy products,” Mr Phillips says in a separate, behind-the-scenes video.
“As children, we used to spend a lot of time down at the dairy. There was a herd of Jersey cattle at Windsor and we were brought up on it.
“And it was always much fuller of flavour, much creamier, than other milks that we had growing up. That has something to do with the way the cows are bred.”
Peter and Zara have been free to pursue their own careers as non-working members of the royal family. Zara, 38, is a champion equestrian who also earns a comfortable living as an ambassador for luxury brands, including Rolex and Land Rover, while Peter is the managing director of a sports and entertainment agency.
The ad has been released in the midst of a huge debate surrounding both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who recently announced their intention to step down from their position as senior royal to seek a more “private life” and generate a private income.
Buckingham Palace announced that the couple would no longer formally represent the Queen nor be able to use their HRH titles.
However they will remain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as it was titles given to them as a wedding present by the Queen.
They have also already applied to trademark their Sussex Royal brand.
The couple already have the username Sussex Royal on their website and Instagram account, which has 11 million followers.
The trademark will allow Prince Harry and Meghan to release their own personal line of branded products, including books, calendars and clothing, in the future.
The couple are rumoured to also be moving into content creation and could possibly sign deals with the likes of Netflix or do further work with Disney.
Thomas Woodcock, a senior adviser to the Queen, told The Times on Tuesday that he didn’t believe the name Sussex Royal was right to keep.
“I don’t think it’s satisfactory. One cannot be two things at once. You either are [royal] or you’re not,” he said.
Royals must be meticulous in making sure they’re not seen exploiting their royal connections or tarnishing the family’s tightly guarded brand.
Mr Woodcock, who is the Garter King of Arms, aids the Queen in being a principal adviser on ceremonial matters and heraldry.
He is also part of ensuring that commercial concerns do not make illegitimate use of royal symbols.
“It is such unusual times that it is a matter of waiting and seeing how things develop,” he said.
The Telegraph’s royal editor Camilla Tominey also said she thinks the couple may be asked to rebrand by Kensington Palace who may be averse to idea of Harry and Meghan keeping Royal in their name.
“It remains to be seen whether they’ll be able to keep that royal aspect because for all intents and purposes, they are not carrying out any engagements on behalf of the Queen or their military appointments,” she told ITV’s This Morning program on Monday.
“They are keeping their private patronages and their charitable work to themselves as they go off and have this new life in North America.”
After a week of intense negotiations with the Queen, Prince William and Prince Charles, Harry was spotted travelling home to be reunited with his wife, Duchess Meghan and their 8-month-old son Archie.
They are expected to spend most of their time in North America.