Royal divorce: Queen Elizabeth's eldest grandson Peter Phillips, wife Autumn split

USA TODAY staff and wire reports | USA TODAY

Peter Phillips, the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife Autumn are divorcing after 12 years of marriage.

The couple said in a statement Tuesday that the separation was sad but amicable. They plan to share custody of daughters Savannah, 9, and Isla, 7.

The 42-year-old Phillips is the son of Princess Anne, the queen's only daughter, and will be the first of the queen’s eight grandchildren to divorce. Three of the monarch’s four children are divorced, including Anne, who split from Mark Phillips in 1992. (Anne subsequently married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.)

Phillips married Canadian management consultant Autumn Kelly at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2008. They met in Montreal the previous year.

She was Catholic and under the then-current rules, she had to renounce her faith and convert to the Church of England because Peter was in the line of succession. He is now 15th in line to the throne. (Nowadays, under new legislation passed before Prince George was born six years ago, members of the royal family are no longer forbidden from marrying Catholics.)

At their children's births, Anne and Mark decided not to seek titles for either of their children so they are just known as Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips Tindall.

Among other things Peter was a strong support to his younger cousins Prince William and Prince Harry when their mother was killed in a car crash in 1997. He is also a favorite of the queen.

Announcement of Peter and Autumn's separation comes after a tumultuous few months for Britain’s royal family. Last month the queen’s grandson Prince Harry and his wife, the former Meghan Markle, quit royal duties, saying they wanted to seek financial independence and spend more time in North America.

In a January speech, Prince Harry expressed "great sadness" over his and Duchess Meghan's decision to step back from their royal duties.

Speaking at a charity event for Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in 2006 to honor Princess Diana's support for those affected by HIV and AIDS, Prince Harry, 35, addressed the elephant in the room: He told attendees he wanted them to "hear the truth from me, as much as I can share."

Just weeks earlier, the queen’s second son, Prince Andrew, also stepped down from royal duties in November amid controversy over his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement announcing the change in his public role, Prince Andrew said he continued to "unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein."

Shocking headlines – and pictures – popped up in January 2015 when an American woman living in Australia, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 35, alleged in court documents that she was groomed by Epstein and his associates to sexually service Epstein's powerful friends when she was a young Florida teen.

Andrew emphatically denied knowing anything about Epstein's alleged crimes and to having any sexual contact with Giuffre.

Contributing: Maria Puente, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press