Phillips attended the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix where, while interviewing with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, she met Peter Phillips, who was, at the time, working for Williams F1. She did not know until six weeks later, when she saw him on television, that he was Queen Elizabeth II's grandson. She then moved to the United Kingdom, living with Phillips in a Kensington, London, apartment and a cottage on the Gatcombe Park estate. Before meeting Phillips, she had accepted a job with an American computer firm in England, and later worked as a personal assistant to broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson, while also attending royal events, such as the dinner party at the Ritz Hotel for the Queen's 80th birthday.