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Montrealers, it can't hurt to start practising your bows and curtsies.

With the announcement over the weekend that the Queen's eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, 29, is engaged to Montreal native Autumn Kelly, 31, there's a chance a fairy-tale wedding will be held on the bride's home turf instead of at a palace, according to royal observers.

"I can't see why not," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine in the U.K. "It's a guessing game, really. This is very different - there are two continents involved. The mould may be broken for this one."

The couple already sits outside the royal template.

Mr. Phillips, Princess Anne's son, performs no royal duties - his mother turned down royal titles for he and his sister Zara.

He and Ms. Kelly met at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in 2003.

They live together on his mother's Gloucestershire estate, and are known to be low-key and private.

Mr. Little said if the couple married in Montreal instead of the U.K., fewer members of the royal family would attend - including the most famous invitee, the Queen.

"I can't think of a time in many a year that would involve the Queen travelling overseas to the wedding of a member of her family," Mr. Little said, because of the logistical and security issues that would arise.

Not to mention the protocol jitters the parents of the bride would face. For starters, would the Queen attend a rehearsal dinner?

"That would be an interesting, perplexing situation," said Robert Finch, head of the Monarchist League of Canada. "It's not out of the realm of possibility."

It's more likely, however, that the nuptials will take place in the U.K. "It won't be as high profile as William or Harry, but it will still attract a lot of attention," Mr. Little said. In that case, the Palace is inclined to take over planning, he said.

As Mr. Finch puts it: "When you marry into the royal family, it's a royal wedding."

Royal engagements tend to be short, planned by a fleet of experts who can pull off a wedding on short notice. An October or November wedding is likely, Mr. Little said.

You can rule out Nov. 20, the Queen and Prince Philip's 60th wedding anniversary. "People will not want to eclipse that," Mr. Little said.

St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle is a likely location, with a capacity of 600. There would be no foreign representation because it would not be a state occasion, just a "rather large-scale family wedding."

If it were held there, a reception could easily be held in the same apartments in Windsor Castle where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles held their reception in 2005.

"It's an ideal location because everything's contained within the castle, security's not a problem and space is not a problem." Mr. Little said.

Then again, he said, the big day could happen in a little church in Gloucestershire, with tents set up on the grounds of Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate.

In any event, the Kelly family may be able to sit back and let others do the planning, Mr. Little said, although he suspects they will be consulted for every major decision, along with the bride and groom.

And how can the Kellys prepare friends and family for the chance they may encounter the Queen at the reception?

Mr. Little said Buckingham Palace is unlikely to send protocol missives to the family; they'll be "left to their own sensibilities."