Have you missed Pippa Middleton? I have. She hasn’t been getting pap’d on a regular basis lately. Maybe she found a new way to go to work, or maybe her lawyers succeeded in threatening the British tabloids into leaving her alone. Whatever happened, these are some of the first photos we’ve had of Pippa since January! Pippa signed on to a cross-country ski race in Sweden called Vasaloppet (sound it out, it’s fun to say), all to raise money/awareness for a children’s charity called Magic Breakfast. Pippa placed 412th out of 1,734 women. And that’s not all – she spoke to a news outlet! At long last, we get to hear Pippa’s voice. It’s actually kind of nice:
She seems kind of bitchy and over it, which I enjoy. It just shows you that she’s not a royal – she doesn’t have to pretend to be nice to everyone. Plus, I feel like that’s her real accent, unlike her sister, who has so obviously had voice lessons to the point where her voice and accent seem very, very unnatural. Also note: Pippa did this epic ski thing all while keeping her beloved Middleton eyeliner in place! Huzzah.
In other Pippa news, you know how I keep ringing the “Pippa is going to be a duchess too, y’all” bell? Well, it’s on. All of Pippa’s scheming, plotting, angling, and sexual espionage (I’m assuming) has paid off – George Percy, the future Duke of Northumberland, is now her boyfriend. There’s a photo of George and Pippa embracing. And People Mag is calling it:
A kiss for good luck? As Pippa Middleton prepared to leave her London home for Sweden, where she competed in a charity ski challenge, she popped by for some support from off- and on-again beau George Percy.
The royal bridesmaid, 28, and the heir to the Duke of Northumberland were spotted smooching in front of Middleton’s BMW last Thursday, after she waited for Percy in front of his house.
Once he darted outside, Percy exchanged a warm embrace with Middleton that lasted “for five minutes,” according to an onlooker.
“They seemed inseparable,” the source adds, explaining that the close-knit couple “eventually broke themselves away from one another and Pippa got back in her car and raced off.”
And she continued racing Sunday, when she came in 412th place in the Vasaloppet – a 56-mile cross-country ski race.
[From People]
Oh, it’s on. Pippa landed him. Apparently, she’s been working on him for about nine months – she was working on him while she was still tangled up with Alex Loudon too. When Alex finally dumped her, I think she had already made significant inroads with George, and her plan (“The Duchess Pippa Scheme”) went full-speed ahead. God bless her. This girl has ten-times the balls-out ambition of her sister. My guess is that even if George ever wanted to extricate himself from Pippa, he would find it very, very difficult. He might as well just propose and get it over with.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame.
This entire article made me chuckle.
I like her accent too! And she was pretty charming, especially when she smiled.
Same here. Kaiser really brought the funny!
Could not agree more. The eyeliner, the sexual espionage…it was a grand slam with wit!
Wow! She’s in great shape. Congrats! I don’t know if she is really the person the press makes her out to be. I think she just wants to live her life and the press is just trying to make her more interesting for news stories.
Most people would be “funny and bitchy” if they relied upon their parents for a permanent and very wealthy gravy train ride.
It’s a rare person indeed who remains pleasant while making a name for themselves based upon their own success.
ha! excellent point.
Condolences to George Percy!
HAHAHA!
But People Mag, since when is a hug equivalent to a kiss?
After watching the clip all I can think is I wish I had dimples. They are so adorable.
Maybe I’m blinded by her dimples and that’s why I don’t find Pippa annoying.
In an earlier century, it would be just as smart for the Duke of Northumberland to want to wed the future queen’s sister as for the sister to want to marry the Duke.
Of course, in an earlier century, William would exile George to the Tower just in case George wanted to use “future uncle to the heir” in a northern counties power maneuver.
In an earlier century, the sister of the prince’s wife would also be from nobility (probably the daughter of another duke or prince), so the marriage with a duke would be a marriage amongst social equals.
In an earlier time, the likes of Pippa and Kate would never have been welcomed into aristocratic circles, let alone be allowed to marry the future King. Their money would have gained them entry to the poshest salons and most extravagant balls, but they’d always be looked down upon for their lack of prestigious bloodline and family name.
My goodness. What an accent. Very, very middle class. I bet Percy’s family is having a major breakdown. Unbelievable.
She only said like three words, how can you tell her accent is middle class? I’m genuinely curious. In the States, we can tell regional accents ( southerners have a drawl, mid-westerners speak with a twang, northerners shorten syllables). People from certain cities like New York and Boston have very strong, distinctive accents. Americans can also tell if someone is educated or not, but not usually by the accent, but by the words they choose. But we don’t really differentiate between rich accents or middle class accents, though. Does she sound uneducated, is that what you mean? I’ve been listening to the clip repeatedly trying to figure what a middle class accent is, lol.
In Britain, we can tell immediately. To us, it’s as distinct as your regional accents. It’s all sorts of little things, not just pronounciation but also pitch and tone of voice and choice of words in both slang and sentence construction.
EDIT: WIthout knowing their backgrounds, google the following talking in their natural voices: Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Hugh Grant or Adele vs Elizabeth Hurley
That’s very interesting, because I’m black and I sound “white”, having grown up around mostly middle class whites who were also very racist (and this was way up North, not in the South). My first name is Melissa, which is not usually thought of as a “black” name, and my last name is unusual, so people almost always assume that I’m white on the phone (black folks call this “phone passing”). The looks on the faces of people when they actually see me in person, in all my brown-skinned nappy-haired glory, are priceless!
Thanks, LAK…I will do that. to me, all British accents sound elegant, hee hee, so I guess that’s why I can’t tell the difference.
Similar experience to MST, but Melissa’s only my middle name and I’m from southern Ontario, not Yankee territory,. My last name is Scottish, so I’ve had some interesting phone experiences in my time, as have my two sisters. I grew up in a place that has a large (and growing) immigrant population, but is traditionally German. Most people are okay, but yes, there is a neo-Nazi movement there, that’s part of the reason why so many immigrants are sent there, to drown out the scum with an abundance of ethnicity.
I live in Toronto now, which is as diverse as you can get, but whenever there’s a chill in the air, some well-meaning but misguided people (not always old) ask me if the Canadian weather is a big adjustment, given what I experienced at home. Silently, I think to myself, ‘Yon hag, I’m from the snow belt, I transcend climate.’ But we all know that that kind of internet talk isn’t appropriate. I also get the ‘you speak so well’ overtures, as it seems that I would only be able to express myself through a series of clicks, whistles and semaphore, or with a five mile-deep black-cent, punctuated with intermittent ‘hey mon’s. I’m not offended, offensive is getting chased by a neo-Nazi (home, sweet cesspool), I just can’t be the negro that you need me to be, sir/madam.
Well the current duchess, George Percy’s mother is from a middle class background herself. So they may be calmer than we might think.
If any of this is true that is. The picture looks like two old friends hugging. However Kaiser may have some inside info the rest of us don’t know about.
she and kate are always looking sleep deprived
I like her 🙂 she is much more ambitious and hardworking than her sister. She seems smarter and more fun to be around. Waits is a dull bore while pippa is fun. I hope she lands her duke. Hehehe 🙂
Yep… much more interesting balls-out ambition and all!
Get that title, Pippa!
I don’t mind these girls at all. I don’t even mind their ambition.
You know what? I’m kind of funny and bitchy after cross country skiing for 7 plus hours. Seriously, I’m amazed she could give any interviews after that. I would have decked someone in the face after that long of a race at altitude. Not to mention that random volunteer who hands out finishing medals kissing her cheek. ew.
And no Crown Prince Frederick pictures? He was there to! In spandex no less! And still looked great.
Thats exactly what I was thinking!
I also think the “bitchy” comment is unfair. The interview was in the middle of her race at a water break. She was in a blurry to get on with it. I’ve never been cross country skiing but if someone tried to interview me at a water break during a marathon I guarantee I’d be “bitchy.”
Love her laugh at the end, “huuuur”. Made me laugh!
I had to re-watch it for the hurrr. Cute!
I don’t think I’d be able to utter 3 words after a race, much less a 56-mile race! She seems poised. She does appear to have a different accent than Kate, which makes me think Kate has been coached a lot.
KAte sounds posher than William which is such a hoot.
Of course she sounds posher than Wills. She has been spending every waking moment perfecting her “upper class” toney accent with all of her elocution lessons the past decade.
Yeah, the accent is a dead give-away that Kate had coaching because her sister does not sound as posh despite her sterling education. You can tell she must be quite charming though.
The media’s still trying to hype this girl up eh? I don’t get it.
I would be bitchy too if I was in the middle of a water/food break during a 56 mile trek and cameras were in my face lol. I think she looks good in athletic gear as opposed to some of her other outfit choices, she’s very sporty.
Her voice is irritating.
I don’t understand why Little Miss Privacy speaks to interviewers now but cries foul when pursued by the paparazzi? Surely that forfeits her right to privacy- the main reason that she complained to the PCC in the first place?
Clearly in this video and in another one (a longer video I might add) she didn’t even try to get away from the interviewers and was basking in the attention.
She only wants “good” press. It doesn’t bode well if the only places she’s photographed are parties and glamorous events, or shopping.
She may only want “good” press (which of us wants bad press?) However a 90km cross country ski race is hardly a glamorous event – it is hard.
She has said she understands that if she does something in public then she may be photographed. What she is asking for is the ability to have a private life where she is not photographed (like hugging a man outside his flat on a quiet London street – or just going for coffee.) Agree or not, she does have a case in British law, which is why her lawyers took her case.
I somewhat agree with you.
I would 100% sympathise with her if she desperately wanted to have a paparazzi-free private life, but she has always given off the vibe that she loves the attention that she gets. Even those who covered her daily walks in The Fashion Spot – who are mostly interested in the clothes and not who’s wearing them – noted how she revelled in the attention after the wedding. Compare her shit-eating grins while looking DIRECTLY at the paps to Chelsy Davy who really didn’t like being photographed and everyone knew it. She can’t have it both ways. (Of course arguments like these wouldn’t hold up in court but that’s beside the point.)
It was only when the media attention finally got out of hand (READ: the British press turned sour after her breakup with Loudon) that she finally had to ask for help from the PCC.
@ Alexa…I agree that this is not a glamorous event, which is why the coverage bodes well for her. For a period of time, she was only photographed at tennis matches, polo/cricket games, fashion shows, parties, and generally posh “society” events, regardless of what she might have been doing behind the scenes. When that reached a fever-pitch (after the break-up) is when she asked the paps to back off. The last thing the royal family needs is another middleton girl looking lazy and as though she is profiting from royal ties. The book deal caused a legitimate backlash.
I like Pippa and I don’t think badly of her for all this. My point is, even though she’s not royalty, she’s so close to Kate in the public’s eyes that her image is now being managed, hence the recent (and very public) charity outings. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
There is a huge difference between being hounded by the paparazzi as you go about your business and talking to the media at a public media event. That video makes it pretty clear that there was no way she could have physically avoided them or “run away.” Her only option would have been to ignore them and that would have come across as rude and petulent.
She seems perfectly nice and not at all bitchy.
http://tinyurl.com/72ypbrp
In this one-off event she was surrounded by reporters in the same way that she was constantly surrounded by the paparazzi back in England. Even then the paparazzi kept a safe distance from her.
Yet for this occasion she decided to acknowledge/talk to the reporters. She knew this was a good time for some good PR (remember she was doing this for some charidee!) so she might have felt inclined to talk to them. Yes it might have been rude to ignore them but acknowledging this reporters and talking to them goes against the grain of her so-called privacy issues.
That’s because this was a charity race! The more publicity the better. Not paparazzi stalking her on her way to work.
She’s kinda homely/mannish.
I agree. But at least she’s not wearing that awful orange self-tanner.
I don’t like the way she speaks at all. It sounds a bit provincial and I don’t like her voice. As for George Percy, I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t see the big deal about this girl at all and think he could do much better. Just my opinion.
very average looking girl.
I agree. Very average looking and uninteresting to boot. I don’t understand the fascination with her at all.
What ambition are you talking about?
To marry a guy with a title that has no relevance in our times?
If this “having no real career/ job” and just doing nothing/ leisure activities way of life of both sisters is considered an ambition, that her sister- Kate is the more abmitious one- she landed a guy who’s grandmother has a title which has no importance in our time.
Those British girls are just odd.
Most women their age in modern countries are busy working and/ or studying and pursuing a career and/or love.
She is very cute and her accent is kind of odd – it just sounds flat but what do you expect after a grueling race. I like her…at least she uses her position for good like charity events.
Good for her. Nordic skiing is really hard work. Jeez-56 miles!
As for sounding irritating, maybe it’s because she’s irritated for lots of reasons-e.g. like get the hell out of my face, reporter guy, I’m killing myself here….
Yes, she does have 10 times the balls of her sis. I am sure she scares the hell out of the Windsors. She’s my hero.
Yes, @Ravensdaughter…quite an accomplishment. I applaud her! She’s out there running races and cross country skiing….GOOD for her, she’s got her own thing going, right?
Thanks Kaiser for providing the video. I’ve never heard her speak or interviewed before. I think she handled the guy well. She came off as humble, no overt famewhoring here. I think I like her.
To hear her voice & see her demeanor is quite refreshing to me. It kind of humanizes her. She’s been painted as some upwardly mobile social climber…and she may be, but she does come off as cute & charming.
Again, I like it she has her “own things” going on, & that her slant is toward athleticism….good for her. Yes, I do like her, I think!
Oh yes, and Kaiser…’Pippa did this epic ski thing all while keeping her beloved Middleton eyeliner in place! Huzzah.’ Love your writing & humor!
totally agree with what u said. I have always liked her. I always thought it a bit strange how the paparazzi where chasing her every morning as she went to work. as of they can’t do to Kate what they did to Diana so go after the sister with the nice bum. she obviously has always been athletic & I think that is just her being her. She should be the next “Bond Girl”
She doesn’t sound bitchy, necessarily, just tired. More like she just ran a cross country race. So GTFO her face.
Maybe justified bitchy.
I like her accent, but I’m sorry, I just don’t get what’s so attractive about this girl.
And – sidenote – it’s so strange to me that the Percys still hold the Dukedom of Northumberland. I was just reading a book on Anne Boleyn, who wanted to marry Henry Percy, heir to the Earl of Northumberland, around 500 years ago. It didn’t work out, obviously. So, yeah. Good luck with that, Pippa.
she’s so fug… would actually look more presentable if she stopped with the damn eyeliner. and i don’t feel sorry for her because she’s just a famewhore who wants to snag herself a rich guy too
I thought she sounded like a brat. I mean don’t tell me she is shy she could have been gracious to the interviewer even if she did just ski 50 some miles. But, I think this Percy guy is using her equally since she is now related to the heir to the throne so they both deserve each other. And does she just not photograph well because she always looks like a leathered 48 year old woman.
It looked like he was trying to interview her on a water break–like she was still racing, not done yet. I think I’d also be impatient at that point.
What’s the fascination with Pippa? She’s no way as good loking as her sister and she she doesn’t seem to show much personality. She’s not fashionable or sexy, nor is a tearaway or notorious (like Prince Harry) – so what is the excitement about her?
Maybe I’m speaking out of place, but just wondering what all the hate for this girl is for? I mean, yeah, she appears to be upwardly mobile, a social climber…but her sis IS married to a possible future King…what’s she SUPPOSED to be doing? She allegedly “works,” has a JOB, seems to not be NEAR AS LAZY as Kate.
Girlfriend is OUT THERE…working, participating in athletic events, WTF? I have ALOT more respect for her than her sister. And the comments about how she’s not pretty, and MANNISH LOOKING?! Really? I think she’s cute. All this hate for her because she’s the sis of a recently married-into royalty?
I have way more respect for her than mannequin-ass sister, who waited YEARS, kissed the Royal family’s asses, & has basically made Diana to look even MORE SAINTLY than she previously was by just sitting around DOIN’ NOTHING. All Kate does is just “skate by.” A real lazy ass if you ask me.
In comparison, Pippa’s OUT there in life. Living it up, soaking it up…a real participant in the stream of life. Actually, I see NO comparison. Pippa, in my book, hands down has way more character & chutzpah.
Thank you! Jealousy can not be explained imo. People are just trying to find something bad to say about her. smh
Given the two, if I to choose, I’d take P.
They really are like something out of a sitcom. The older, ditzy, popular girl who people kind of accept as the more attractive one but is kind of vapid. And the younger, more acdemically-minded one, blah, blah, blah.
Why should we elevate and applaud this individual for her ordinary life? Yeah, she’s like you and me. Yet we’re not in the news for our ordinariness but she is? Your comment proves my point, trying to turn the ordinary into something exceptional.
Her accent just sounds exactly the same as any other British person..
Her voice is nasally. She can’t begin a sentence without saying “EH”. What’s up with that? Almost sounds like she has a touch of Tourette’s.
As nordic skeeing passionate myself I can tell it is very hard, congrats to her! Plus in other photos I’ve noticed we have the same solomon boots for skiing, I am a fashion girl 🙂
I am so glad someone is talking about Kate’s phony accent. It is grating. Pippa at least doesn’t pretend to be something she is isn’t. I think that is why Kate sounds so stiff when she speaks. She has to keep that accent in place.
Still don’t see the appeal of this woman.
English accents tell a lot about the speaker. It’s not like here in the US. My accent is tinged with American now and my friends and family in England make fun of me. Then I come back to America and everyone says my accent is stronger after going home.
Here accents are more about ethnicity and region.
“Pippa at least doesn’t pretend to be something she is isn’t.”
…but then you have other UK’ers saying that Pippa sounds so tragically middle class. Neither girl can win. If Kate spoke with her real accent, do you REALLY think she would be more accepted?
I like The Mids!! climb girl climb!!
I don’t get all of the bitterness that is directed at Pippa and Kate. Reading comments, they get critiqued for being too “lazy”, too “ambitious”, too “middle class”, too “coached” to not sound middle class…That all sounds quite contradictory to me!
It is all just too catty, IMO. If these girls are moving up in the world, more power to them! Will seems to truly love Kate, and that is a beautiful thing. Pippa seems thrust into the spot light simply by showing up to her sister’s wedding…I think some women are jealous of that. She didn’t have to do anything to get all of this attention.
it’s not a contradiction. you have to see it from the various aspects of life POV.
These girls come from super achieving parents and yet they don’t have any compunction to achieve anything beyond marrying well. Not even in the sphere of charity where they can pretty much pick and choose their hours.
Pippa appears to be from the same stock as her parents, so really this comment is about Kate.
That said, for both girls, their amibition seems to be in the realm of social setting. They are very, very and apparently unashamedly going to climb, climb, climb.
Do you know what their nickname in London is? The Wisteria Sisters.
i guess we are judging them because being top of the tree in a room of socialites doesn’t seem so important to the rest of the world, especially as KAte appears to have deliberately atrophied herself in order to be the top girl in the room. In a world where women are encouraged to strive for more than being a top socialite they are an affront to all of us.
I do understand that Feminism is about choice, and this is how they choose to exercise their choice, but given how many little girls look up to them [and you know they do inspite of what their parents tell them], it teaches a terrible lesson.
Finally, the class thing in britain isn’t as rigid as we are making it out, but we do hate a try hard, especially when that try hard pretends to be something they are not.
For that reason, we snark on Guy Ritchie for pretending to be working class cockney when he is a minor Aristocrat. And of course the annual debate about whether the Queen is sounding more middle class with the passing years.
I think with Pippa, the naked ambition to only befriend/date/marry an aristocrat is what spotlights her shortcomings. The accent of your class tells other people where you come from and what to expect from you, rules they will or will not adhere to etc. So saying She is middle class conjures up a background that is very, very different from someone who may be Aristocratic or working class. Generally being accused of being middle class isn’t an insult. It’s just that she appears to be setting herself up as an aristocrat and if not, next best thing date/marry one.
So she doesn’t have the same fake accent as her sister then? Waity needs to quit with the whole I sound posher than my boyfriend who’s as posh as posh can get.
I guess I’m one of the few that’s disgusted with the out and out social climbing. These girls were practically bred to marry the richest and most titled they can get their hands on. Shows they have no substance.
And please I don’t need to hear about Pippa’s “job”. Going in to PR is what all rich girls do (oh and being Art History majors which is a disgrace to those of us that acutally study Art History because we’re serious about it).
Kate didnt even know if Faberge Eggs are still being made or not. She asked that question when she was looking at the wedding exibit with the queen. For an art history major, you would think she would know that. She basically stalked Willy boy up until college. Im sure she didnt even do the work in school. Her mother wanted her to become a royal so bad, they probably payed someone to do all of Waitys work.
Pippa Middleton is certainly not ugly. She looks fine, but we would never have heard about her if her sister didn’t marry Prince William.
Well, this is all the proof we need to say that Kates accent is completely fake. Not that we already didnt know that! Kates accent is too forced and “posh” for a middleclass girl from Berkshire. She always sounds unnatural and stuffy.
Oh boy. I’m all Pippa’d out. I have no patience for golddiggers. I actually do like her sister Kate, as she seems genuine and sweet. But I truly don’t understand the need for royals (being an American) nor the need for them to constantly be in the paper.
The Duke of Northumberland? ahahaa Sounds like some sh-t out of Alice in Wonderland…
In that last picture she looks like Jennifer Garner. 🙂
Really no one cares about Pippa.
Now that I’ve heard her speak she sounds lovely.
Kate’s accent is way too snobby. The so called posh British accents sound really pretentious. Charles always sounds like he’s rolling marbles in his mouth the way he mumbles and he sounds like some Masterpiece Theater/Dinner Theater pretentious host or something.
Pippa’s accent sounds pretty and real.
I don’t get how the best accents in England sound the most fake.
To me, I hear Adele’s being kind of low class but that’s only because she sounds like Eliza Doolittle and you can barely understand what she’s saying if she’s being loud or has any enthusiasm in her voice. Watch her Chelsea Lately interview. I needed subtitles. I like the girl a lot but wtf was she saying?