The Pippa Problem

People don’t say this often but… poor Pippa Middleton. No, seriously.

Pippa Middleton, the middle of Michael and Carole Middleton’s three children, is faced with a most unusual problem. She is, as we all know, the sister of The Duchess of Cambridge (nee Kate Middleton). She’s also, not a royal herself. Or even a member of the noble classes. In fact, she’s the daughter of  entirely industrious and upwardly mobile parents, who went from being perfectly average to increasingly wealthy after Carole started her own company – Party Pieces.

She also became an overnight sensation at the wedding of her sister. And she’s got to make her own living.

Pippa Middleton - Bridesmaid Dress

Her parents, as mentioned, are self-made. And that entrepreneurial spirit seems to existing with all of the Middleton children – or at the very least, with the youngest two. James, the only son, owns his own company called Cake Kit Company – which works in conjunction with his parents’ party supply party. Pippa, for her part, was a professional party planner prior to the wedding. She retained that position for a bit, until trying her hand at authorship, writing the much criticized how-to book, Celebrate. (By the way, we have – of course – read the book, and while it may be basic, it is not nearly  as poorly written as it’s claimed to be. After all, if someone is reading a how-to book for throwing parties, chances are, they’re reading it because they need the basic information and ideas.)

Unfortunately for Pippa, she also garnered a certain amount of celebrity that the rest of her family – with the exception of Kate – didn’t get. An amount of celebrity that the royal family is not pleased with. So while they insist on reminding the public and press that she is not a member of the royal family, and she is not under their jurisdiction regarding police protection or PR services, they also work very hard to control Pippa’s public endeavors. They’ve asked her to pull out of charity events, and refused to allow her to do any press to promote her book.

So, Poor Pippa has a problem. She has to pretend she’s a normal person, while having a royal sister, and a palace breathing down her neck. But she can’t do what any normal person would do – which is take any opportunity afforded to her and jump at the chance to make a name for herself.

It seems, though, that Pippa is getting sick of the rules and regulations the palace has put forth. She’s been seen hitting society events once again, and recently took that Editor-At-Large position with Vogue. She’s also started her own company which is, we presume, set up entirely to manage her finances.