Zara's Kiwi half-sister not invited to wedding

As guests gathered for the royal wedding of Zara Phillips, her New Zealand half-sister stayed on this side of the world, uninvited.

The Queen's eldest granddaughter, 30, and the rugby star Mike Tindall, 32, tied the knot in Edinburgh early today in what was Scotland's first royal wedding in almost 20 years.

However, Phillips' half-sister, Felicity Tonkin, 25, did not make the guest list.

The Auckland-based vet didn't watch William and Kate's wedding and was unlikely to watch that of her half-sister's, said her grandmother Shirley Tonkin in the Mail newspaper.

Tonkin is the love child of Captain Mark Phillips.

She was conceived after Phillips, who was married at the time to Princess Anne, met art teacher Heather Tonkin when she attended a riding clinic he held in New Zealand in 1983.

In spite of Felicity's royal links, she has managed to stay under the radar and grown up largely in anonymity.

She attended Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom and Massey University, where she studied vet science.

In 2008 she posed nude in Massey University's prolific Barely There calendar, which was never reported.

Each year vet students strip and pose for a series of photos to raise money for charity.

Zara Phillips dated All Black Caleb Ralph briefly in 2004 after the pair met in Australia during the Rugby World Cup.

The following year she rolled up her sleeves and worked at Huntly's River Mill Bakery to raise money for charity Catwalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust.

Phillips and Tindall hosted a pre-wedding party on the royal yacht Britannia, on Friday night.

Yesterday a private afternoon ceremony was followed by a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Among the guests believed to be attending were The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Catherine, and Prince Harry.