PLATELL’S PEOPLE: Is Pushy Pippa the new Fergie
By Amanda Platell
Published: 19:29 EST, 27 June 2024 | Updated: 20:40 EST, 27 June 2024
From the moment that Kate Middleton stepped into Prince William’s world, she has behaved impeccably.
Despite a few wardrobe malfunctions and a rather ill-advised £4 million of taxpayers’ money spent doing up their 20-bedroom palace, she has been a perfect princess, a redoubtable duchess, a doting wife and now devoted mother.
She has worked hard to play by the unspoken royal rules — a daunting task for anyone, but especially for a young woman not born into the upper classes.
Matt Lauer interviews Pippa Middleton in London for the Today Show
So it must be with great unease that she prepares to watch her sister Pippa’s ‘exclusive two-part interview’ with NBC’s Matt Lauer, which airs across the U.S. next week.
In the titbits released yesterday, we were told that Pippa will reveal that she and Kate are ‘very close’, still seeking out each other’s opinions and support.
It’s merely the latest publicity-seeking salvo from a sibling who, ever since her celebrated posterior sashayed into view at Kate’s wedding, has sought to milk her royal connection for all its worth, setting her on the fast-track to becoming the new Fergie.
Prince Andrew’s former wife, of course, became a pariah when she used her royal links to make millions with a cringe-making career in America. But at least she had given birth to a brace of princesses. Pippa, on the other hand, is merely an in-law.
But oh, how she’s exploited it. First came her universally derided book Celebrate, which despite a £400,000 advance sold just 18,000 copies. Then came the newspaper and magazine columns, the public speaking engagements and the sponsored sporting events, which have helped raise the public profile of one cause in particular: P Middleton Inc.
Now comes the next stage of Project Pippa: her TV debut. On top of next week’s interview, it has been reported that NBC is to offer Pippa a special correspondent’s role. For what better candidate could there be for a future Barbara Walters than a woman who writes a blog for Mummy and Daddy’s party firm?
If Pippa truly has her sister’s interests at heart, then she should consider how much embarrassment this shameless free-loading causes. Certainly, Kate deserves better than this ruthlessly ambitious little madam opening up the entire family to ridicule.
Memo to Pippa: if you want to keep that close sisterly relationship, keep your mouth shut and for heaven’s sake, get a proper job. There may be a seat for you in the royal box at Wimbledon, but there’s no room for you in the Royal Family.