Zara Phillips' Kiwi half-sister not on royal wedding guest

When the Princess Royal's daughter, Zara Phillips, marries in less than a fortnight, her closest New Zealand relative will not be on the guest list.

Her half-sister Felicity Tonkin, love child of Captain Mark Phillips, will remain at home with her mother in this country, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported today.

The two women were born only four years apart and share a passion for horses - Zara is a world champion three-day eventer while Felicity is a specialist equine vet.

But it is understood they have never met despite numerous visits by Zara to New Zealand, where Felicity lives with her mother Heather on a smallholding in Whitford, Auckland.

Zara Phillips is already making plans to return to Auckland for the Rugby World Cup in September, when she will cheer on her new husband, England rugby captain Mike Tindall, the newspaper reported.

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

He was divorced by the Queen's daughter after 19 years of marriage in 1992, the year after a DNA test finally confirmed his paternity.

- NZPA