The party hasn't stopped for Pippa Middleton - A head-turning role at the royal wedding means all change for the younger Middleton sister too, says Zoe Brennan.
There were two stars launched into the celebrity stratosphere at last week’s royal wedding: the bride herself, of course, with her immaculate gown and flawless smile. But another Middleton also shimmied into the limelight, encased in a figure-hugging dress that clung to every curve and was “tighter than a coat of paint”, according to one onlooker.
Many joked that Prince Harry should follow the tradition of a romance between best man and bridesmaid – and indeed, he was duly observed telling Pippa, younger sister of Catherine: 'You do look very beautiful today – seriously’. Later, she appeared dressed for the evening: a green goddess in a long, emerald satin Alice Temperley gown that featured diamante detailing.
Since the nuptials, headlines have asked “Is Pippa the most eligible woman in the world?” Others have pronounced “Pippa goes global”. On Facebook, thousands joined a Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society where her gym-toned assets are praised. Others debate whether Pippa – now nicknamed “Her Royal Hotness” - had stolen the royal show.
Indeed, not since Cinderella descended from her glass carriage has a little sister managed to divert quite so much attention. So what does Pippa intend to do with her worldwide fame? And is she this very minute engineering her own fairy-tale ending?
There were two stars launched into the celebrity stratosphere at last week’s royal wedding: the bride herself, of course, with her immaculate gown and flawless smile. But another Middleton also shimmied into the limelight, encased in a figure-hugging dress that clung to every curve and was “tighter than a coat of paint”, according to one onlooker.
Many joked that Prince Harry should follow the tradition of a romance between best man and bridesmaid – and indeed, he was duly observed telling Pippa, younger sister of Catherine: 'You do look very beautiful today – seriously’. Later, she appeared dressed for the evening: a green goddess in a long, emerald satin Alice Temperley gown that featured diamante detailing.
Since the nuptials, headlines have asked “Is Pippa the most eligible woman in the world?” Others have pronounced “Pippa goes global”. On Facebook, thousands joined a Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society where her gym-toned assets are praised. Others debate whether Pippa – now nicknamed “Her Royal Hotness” - had stolen the royal show.
Indeed, not since Cinderella descended from her glass carriage has a little sister managed to divert quite so much attention. So what does Pippa intend to do with her worldwide fame? And is she this very minute engineering her own fairy-tale ending?
Big plans?: Pippa Middleton, younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge
Like her sister, Pippa was educated at St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne, then at Downe House, a girls’ boarding school in Berkshire, and finally at Marlborough College, Wiltshire. She then followed her sister to higher education in Scotland, Edinburgh University to study English Literature. She shared a house there with Lord Edward Innes-Ker, a son of the Duke of Roxburghe, and with Earl Percy, heir of the Duke of Northumberland. She then took a job at Table Talk, the London-based events organiser.
Often described as a socialite – she was named the Tatler “Number One Society Singleton” – Pippa, 27, is, like all the Middletons, extremely focused. A friend says: “She works hard and is a real London career girl. She does the PR for Table Talk and has a very easy-going manner. I think the Middletons’ work ethic is deeply ingrained. Pippa is quite ambitious.”
She works three days a week, in a team with Ruth Lawton-Owen, who is sales and marketing director. She also spends time at its sister company, Blue Strawberry, a wedding catering specialist.
Pictures on the company’s Facebook page show her in unfamiliar work attire: glasses, little make-up, a demure black polo neck jumper and without her trademark glossy blow-dry.
Other photos show her at the office party last summer, bare-legged and bronzed, watching colleagues play a raucous game involving a ball, a piece of string and a banana.
Her job title is PR and Marketing Co-ordinator and she courts A-list clients including the Royal Academy, Tiffany & Co, the National Portrait Museum and Somerset House. In the past year, among other events, the company has catered for the summer party at the Household Cavalry Museum and the Ralph Lauren Wimbledon bash. It also provided canapés for the Vogue Fashion Big Night Out, and served 1,500 guests at a party given by the US Ambassador.
Pippa also continues to help her parents run their company, Party Pieces, writing the brand’s online magazine, The Party Times. She shares a £720,000 flat in Chelsea, bought by her parents, with her brother James.
More outgoing than her sister, it has been said that the sparkly Pippa was thought likely to make a more glamorous match than that of the reserved Kate. Photos of her as a young woman wrapped in loo roll at a private party attest to her love of high-spirited frolics.
In 2009, Pippa – already a keen skier – took up tobogganing on the Cresta Run at St Moritz, with the multi-millionaire Trevor Baines as her instructor. She is also a good shot, and in 2008 bagged 23 birds in a day in Scotland. For several years, on Burns Night, accompanied by bagpipes, she has carried the haggis into a local Berkshire pub called the Old Boot Inn.
It has been reported that, at Kate’s request, she stayed out of the limelight during her elder sister’s romance with Prince William. One writer remembers that she often arranged interviews, and would then cancel them at the last minute – apparently, at the behest of her sister.
Now, however, the world is her oyster. As sister to a princess, Pippa enters a strange world, where she enjoys the glamour of being royal by association, but without the constraints.
The writer Plum Sykes says: “Pippa is the luckiest one of all. She gets the right sort of attention from men, fashion designers and hostesses, and doesn’t have any of the duties. She has become a princess without the bad bits.”
She also exists in a limbo – almost royal, but not quite. A spokesperson for Clarence House says: “Pippa Middleton is a private individual. Why should her life change? She is obviously the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister, but she is not represented by Clarence House. She has no press contact here. The Duchess of Cornwall has a sister, too, and she is not represented here. Why would she be?” The reality is, though, that Camilla’s sister can hardly be said to have attracted the level of interest suddenly bestowed on Pippa.
She could, of course, become her sister’s lady-in-waiting – which would give her an official role and would surely prove a crowd-pleasing move. Clarence House confirmed that this option was open to the Middleton sisters.
“If you look at the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, they tend to be taken from close friends and family. It is possible. It is, at the moment, hypothetical – whether or not she will have ladies-in-waiting in the future, who knows? The Duchess of Cornwall, for instance, does not.
“For now, the Duchess [of Cambridge] is spending a lot of time in Anglesey, supporting her husband. They are to tour Canada [and California] shortly. Other than that, no plans have been announced.”
JoJo Browner, Pippa’s boss, told The Daily Telegraph that the younger Middleton sister will continue to work at the company – which is obviously struggling to deal with the attention. She says: “Pippa is still here. We have been inundated with calls. I just can’t comment, I am so sorry. It is better that we are discreet at this stage.”
Undoubtedly, the royal wedding has provided Pippa with a springboard to set up her own party-planning company, perhaps in conjunction with her parents’ Berkshire-based firm. She certainly has the experience – she played a key part in organising the wedding and helped to stage the evening event for younger guests. And recent publicity will be no hindrance.
Then there is marriage: Pippa is dating former cricketer Alex Loudon, who is often described as “lantern-jawed”. Brought up in Kent, Loudon was educated at Eton. There he captained the 1st XI, and subsequently the Durham University 1st XI. He captained both the England Under-15 and England Under-19 teams, but his international career failed to take off, and he has turned to business.
At the time, he said: “If I’d been good enough to play for England, it would have been mad to give it away. But I wasn’t, and I know now – and I’m pretty sure for the rest of my life – that this decision was absolutely right for me.”
He is about to finish an MBA at the London Business School and works in the City. The 6ft 3in athlete is said to be smitten with Pippa, who has had a number of previous well-connected boyfriends, including Jonathan “J J” Jardine-Paterson, an heir to part of the Hong Kong Jardine Matheson property fortune; Scottish aristocrat Billy More Nesbitt; and diamond heir Simon Youngman.
“Alex thinks it’s hilarious that suddenly the world has discovered Pippa,” one insider reveals. “He’s madly in love with her. Of course, he was never going to do anything about it while she was helping Kate arrange her wedding.”
Although they have been dating for only a year, he is said to be waiting for the right moment to propose to Pippa. A friend says: “Alex can’t see himself spending his future with anyone else, and Pippa, although very picky, thinks Alex ticks all the right boxes — he has the family pile in the country, a smart job in London and he is very handsome.”
Only time will tell if Pippa feels he is her prince – or if she has raised her sights somewhat after her tantalising taste of fame. ( telegraph.co.uk)