For your information, Pippa Middleton doesn’t like the term “socialite.” In fact it “really irritates” her. Thanks.
The younger sister to the mother of the future king of England recently sat down with the Daily Mail for an interview about her new cookbook, Heartwise, a fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation, but also her engagement to financier James Matthews. They got around to the recipes eventually, but not before this opener: “Pippa Middleton’s engagement ring is impossible to ignore. It’s enormous – a sumptuous three-carat diamond surrounded by 12 smaller stones. Every time she moves her hand and it catches the light, the effect is dazzling.”
When she wasn’t blinding the reporter with her SUMPTUOUS, DAZZLING engagement ring, Pippa expressed her hopes that Heartwise would improve public perception of her: “People see me as someone privileged who has used my position to advantage; that I don’t really work, that I am a socialite – that word really irritates me – and that I’m a party girl without any substance.”
No offense to Pippa, but it’s probably just that “socialite,” like “consultant,” is one of those terms you default to when you’re not exactly clear on what somebody does for a living but know they are rich. She writes columns, yes, but her career as a media sensation never really took off after her first book, Celebrate was widely panned. Philanthropy is very nice but it’s not exactly not associated with socialites.
She does make it sound like a real pain in the ass to be royal adjacent without the full privileges of the gig, however:
‘I have had a few years of being in the public eye and I have developed something of a thick skin,’ she says. ‘But managing it all on my own has been quite hard. I have quite a lot thrown at me, such as being followed by people hiding behind cars and jumping out with cameras. It can be unnerving.’
Unlike her sister, she doesn’t have any security guards or media minders.
‘There’s always something cropping up and that has to be managed on my own. It’s been a real eye-opener for James. There have been quite a few hurdles to negotiate,’ she says carefully.
“A date has still not been set for next year’s nuptials, but the presence of William and Kate will surely make it the wedding of the year – unless the couple are upstaged by Prince Harry or Princess Eugenie beating them to the altar,” the Daily Mail notes. Rude!
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