Pippa Middleton became engaged to Terribly Rich™ James Matthews in July. The engagement was treated, in the British press, like a royal engagement, complete with pap strolls showing off the ring. We heard time and time again that James was so very Terribly Rich, and that James had been obsessed with her for years. The PR around it was sort of that Pippa “settled” for love with someone very rich and very in love with her. After that, it really did feel like the Middleton press machine quieted down a little bit. Almost like Carole and Pippa were suddenly aware that they might be in danger of scaring off poor Terribly Rich James. Some wedding details did leak out though, like Carole wants to use Pippa’s wedding as a showcase for Middleton Manor, and that Pippa doesn’t want Kate to steal focus as her matron of honor, and more. But all in all, relative quiet for a few months. It seems like that quiet was just enough to get James to set the date. The Terribly Rich wedding will be in May!
Big details on the big day! Pippa Middleton, who’s engaged to hedge fund manager James Matthews, caught the world’s attention with her figure-flattering bridesmaid dress at Duchess Kate’s 2011 wedding to Prince William. Now, Pippa’s planning her own ceremony, and Us Weekly has all the exclusive details on her date, along with the location, dress and more.
Middleton, 33, and Matthews, 41, will wed on May 20, 2017, at the St Mark’s Englefield in Berkshire, a source tells Us. They’ve already sent the save the dates out, too. After the pair of two years walks down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, guests will travel seven miles away to Carole and Michael Middleton’s home in Bucklebury for the reception. The party will be held in a luxury marquee in the garden, but the entire grounds of their home will be used.
And of course, the fete will be a family affair. “Princess Charlotte is going to be one of the flower girls,” the source continues. “They’re planning for Prince George to be a page boy.” While Duchess Kate won’t be a bridesmaid, she’ll likely do a reading at the ceremony.
We already have a good guess a few more important aspects of the main event. In November, celeb-loved designer Giles Deacon was spotted carrying garment bags into her home, raising speculation that he’ll be crafting her gown. And in September, Middleton visited Lavender Green florist in Chelsea, London, to view bridal bouquets and arrangements. “She was inside looking at bridal bouquet mockups for an hour,” a second insider says. “Very chic, very classic. Think antique, ivory, and a twist like adding lace. She hasn’t picked the final look, but it was important to explore her options before going for bridal gown fittings. She took lots of photos on her phone and was really excited. She has a folder of magazine cuttings and pictures she has taken.”
In fact, the source describes the bride-to-be as a hands-on kind of gal. “Pippa has a specific vision and feels she’s learned enough about planning to get stuck into it herself rather than handing it all over to a planner,” the insider adds. “She doesn’t want it to be too expensive or look gaudy. Classic and elegant are two of the words she used to describe it.”
I still think it’s gloriously passive-aggressive of Pippa to ask Kate to do a reading. Kate HATES public speaking with a passion. I hope Pippa gives Kate something really long to read. Extra hair tosses! As for the rest of it… a May wedding in the English country sounds nice, but I would worry about rain forecasts, especially with so much of reception being outdoors. While Middleton Manor is a big, fancy property, I also worry that Pippa isn’t going to have the classy, elegant wedding of her dreams if her mother is calling the shots. And trust me, Carole is going to be calling a lot of the shots if she’s the hostess for the reception. Here’s another worry: how will Carole ever have the time to prepare Middleton Manor for Pippa’s wedding while simultaneously running Party Pieces AND running Kate’s household AND being Kate’s “secret weapon?” Carole’s life sounds so exhausting. You know what would make it all worth it? A title!
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and Pacific Coast News.
I can’t believe she is only 33.
I know…why do British people age so poorly? They don’t get too much exposure to the sun.
She does. The endless vacations.
I think this might be more of a Middleton problem than a British one. Next to this story is the one about Keira Knightley and she seems to look pretty good.
I don’t begrudge Pippa a man. She’s looked so lonely and a bit sad the last few years but now she’s really been smiling and looking happy all over the place. I wish them much happiness.
Smoking and tanning beds. She’s basically jerky by now.
I’ve always thought Pippa was sort of “fetch” in the sense of never happening. She thought she was going to be Bianca Jagger or something, and she’s not even Solange’s plain friend.
Nothing ages your skin more than tanning.
And smoking and constant dieting.
That too. But Pippa doesn’t diet, does she? She has always seemed to be at a healthy weight.
She looks older than Kate.
My wedding date was suppose to be May 20th but now it is June 3rd. Kinda weirdly happy I don’t have to share a wedding date with Pippa.
I know it’s petty, but I hope it pours rain on their heads all day. Thunder, lightning, and gale force winds. I hope that luxury marquee f*cking blows away.
me too.
It’s mean but LoL.
Red Snapper, I embrace the Dark Side. Go with it!! 😀
Hehe, me three.
What has she ever done to you?
It’s just because I’m dead on the inside.
How do you feel about really evil folks?
@Red Snapper, I am so LOL!
She takes advantage of royal proximity – as does her mother – that’s what I have against her.
Same.
I wonder if he would love her, if not for her connections – or she him, if he were not Terribly Rich – .
Lmao.
Thank God. I thought this Middleton would never get married. Tired of hearing of her being the single sister. And yes to an especially long reading for work shy Kate, lol!
I LOL’d when I read about Kate giving a reading. It would be fun to watch what with her fake accent and inability to prenouce words properly. She has months to prepare though, so I hope she doesn’t embarrass herself.
me too … like a repeat of Downton Abbey.
James apparently bought £100k worth of shares in Boomf, a few weeks before proposing. Shady or a sign of commitment to being the Middleton ATM? Let’s not forget that the MM, despite their alleged verrrry deep pockets, is quite mortgaged to a bank in Sweden.
You mean Uncle Gary’s deep pockets – I guess he got fed up of continually bailing out his nephews failed business attempts.
I believe they have a lot of debt that they are desperate to hide – they remortgages their former home to pay for Kate’s wedding dress and contribute to the wedding.
So are you telling me that they aren’t worth the $50million? Or they aren’t as rich?
Ooh very interesting. I’m always curious about the machinations that keep the Good Ship Middleton afloat. Party Pieces seems to be a good little earner for them but it’s hardly a blockbuster business I wouldn’t think? And Boomf seems like the lamest idea ever. New son-in-law James Matthews is going to be VERY helpful to the Middleton Lifestyle.
@ Tourmaline
I would agree that the Middleton’s think that James Matthews will be their cash engine. But said Matthews has already put his foot on the ground and forbidden Pips and Carole to sell engagement stories to the press. I kind of think he will put his foot down with regard to the wedding photographs. No glorious Middleton home stories before the wedding and no pics from inside the party, I guess.
I saw that story in the DM! Quite a few comments about how a bag of marshmellows go for $1-2, but his are 13 pounds for a dozen?! Maybe Carole should semi-retire and just let James take over Party Pieces. His marsh mellows are never gonna make it big. Wasn’t that the point of his temporary move to Hong Kong?
I kind of think that James WILL take over the marshmallow business and then shut it down. It should be an embarassement to a successful investment banker to have such a business “in the family”.
The wedding isn’t going to be televised, right? So why would it be passive aggressive to get Kate to do a reading?
For siblings, most people do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do (i.e toasts, speeches, dancing, etc.). I think it would be harder to get Kate to eat cake than to do a reading.
So sad that her sister (Kate) cannot be happy, exultant, and eat cake! Fake teeth grins do not count!
“After the pair of two years walks down the aisle…”
Two years? I thought she broke up with Nico in the fall of 2015. As in last year.
They keep leaking the real details and hoping the public don’t notice.
Noco was done the minute he moved to Switzerland in 2014. Rarely seen in public with her whilst Pippa suddenly started doing all these extreme races on a regular basis. Previously, she did one or two a year. And in the background of all the photos was terribly rich James.
Nico
nah, I like ‘Noco’ 😉
But why keep it secret?
What makes me go hmmm, is that in like November of 2015, Pips and Nacho were pictured hugging, with him giving her a kiss. Maybe it was all for the cameras…
whatevs Midds. Pipps is marrying rich, so everything that was imperfect will now be perfect, and a life with no problems ever ever awaits her. Right?
I like Noco as well 😉
Sometimes I hate myself a little bit for knowing too much about these people LOL
I remember that hug/kiss. Soon after that came the official ‘nico/pippa have broken up’ story so am guessing staged.
Yet in October 2015 pippa was papped
exiting Terribly Rich James home one morning having been papped entering the previous night with her dog and no overnight bag.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/how-pippa-middleton-stays-best-6568814
Tough cookie: me too.
I wonder how rich James Matthews really is?
Bitchy: i think we can guess terribly rich since he is managing director of his own hedge fund, he lives in a £17M townhouse in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in London + his own private plane.
Good catch!
Something tells me that Carole can throw a great party.
Oddly, all this Meghan Markle backlash is making me warm to the Middletons. Because really, what have they ever done? We never hear a peep out of them. All the “pap-courting” accusations are speculation. And in some ways, they have to play the press game. For example, Pippa’s engagement roll out. It was going to be news either way; better to control the narrative.
It seems like they’re a super close family who likes to throw parties. Their business is even about parties. No harm, no foul.
Yes, they use the royal box at Wimbledon. A trifle concession for having to live out the rest of their lives in the public gaze. Let them watch bouncing balls, I say.
Yes. What have they done? /sarcasm
😉
Oooh! Who’s up for a walk down memory lane on all the Middleton shenanigans?
1. James using RPOs as parking valets.
2. Pippa using RPOs for her book promotion
3. The terrible book itself that was more of a cash grab than a serious endeavor.
4. Pippa using her royal connections to get out of her gun ruckus in France?
5. Middleton manor using tax payer money for renovations, and wasn’t there a rumor they helped themselves to furniture and paintings from the royal stockhold?
6. The Middleton women wearing freebies meant for Kate.
What else?
+1
– Using their royal connections to get free holidays, massive discounts on Audi car leases
– When the engagement was announced tried to flog a range of official and exclusive tat on the Party Pieces website before the idea was shut down by the palace
– Katie Nicholl (Daily Fail royal correspondent) is on record saying that she once spoke to Kate direct when she was in a hotel room on vacation with William – Kate suddenly hung up when William entered the room)
– Their fave pap, Tanna, has often hinted at getting info direct from them plus others in the press pack have hinted at this too
The list is very long and am sure there are other posters who have other examples
They totally play the press. You never hear about Sophie Wessex’s family. I don’t even know if she has siblings. They act like they’re celebrities.
Disgusting, isn’t it? Even Diana wasn’t allowed a family presence. I don’t think that Kate loves her family more than Diana did her own, yet here they are – William’s second family. I believe that Carole is a closeted Diana fan – that is, siding against the royals, for William’s sake, and Diana’s hurt feelings that William has to come to terms with. Carole is a kiss-up to the royal family, but even more so to William, who can grant royal favors in the future, if she plays it right – which quite amazing actually, to have manipulated a family into such power.
@HappyMom, exactly. Sophie’s widowed father is often invited to Sandringham for family occasions, but you don’t hear about it. Carole would kill for such invitations, but they never happen.
I’m getting married on May 20 as well! Prince George and I also share the same birthday. It’s so tough to have the royals copy your every move 😉
For the love of the queen, someone help this woman with her hair and makeup. The harsh eyeliner has.got.to.go.
Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day Mrs. Middleton got rid of her two (most/least) deserving daughters.
😂😂😂
Carole the control freak strikes again. She’ll manage those kids to death and George and Charlotte are a major coup. She really wants the Middleton brand to be the centre of the aristo universe in order to get that title.
I wonder which mag will win the bidding war to cover the wedding. You know it’s coming. It’ll be a great excuse to get Midd Manor into high society glossies and increase the Midd cachet.
Seems like Pippa can hold her own against Mama Middleton though. She does not seem like the retiring type—in fact Pippa seems to be a chip off the ol’ Carole block.
Hello Magazine
HA too true. She reeks of desperation and grasping. All the working class people I know have more dignity and gravitas that this lot of nouveau richettes.
George and Charlotte, are a major coup for the aristo-Middleton brand..
I find it shocking that children are in politics when three!
All the Middleton women have bad skin.
That’s what excessive tanning does to you.
Smoking.
Drinking.
Excessive dieting.
Excessive exercise to support the excessive dieting.
Somebody tell Pippa to calm down with the Fake Bake tan? She looks a Cheeto. Pass it on to her Mom, too.
Oddly, i think she’s less orange since she started dating terribly rich James.
Do you think that that is due to James Matthews’ influence? Perhaps he is capable of putting down his foot on all these Middleton antics.
Have to say the groom is not terribly handsome, is he. Going from Loudon and Nico to this guy is a serious “downgrade” in terms of looks.
I agree, but the flipside is his $$$$$$ looks really good.
Remember reading something about how Nico just could not keep Pippa in the lifestyle in which she very much wished to be perpetually accustomed. And that his move to work in a hedge fund in Switzerland was a bid to try to hook into big time money to keep Pippa interested.
Now that she will have the Mathews money, the private jets, the luxe property in St. Barts, she can stop flailing about pretending to always be on the verge of a great career (in books, magazine writing, on the Today show, being a celeb nutritionist, blah blah). What a relief.
Then there was a great shade comment from Guy Pelly about how he wasn’t rich or titled enough for Pippa – this was made in response to stories about W&K trying to set them up.
The groom is not unattractive he just doesn’t photograph well, like me.
The story is that he dumped her the first time as he felt she was too immature and didn’t like her fame seeking ways. I believe it was the thirst for fame that drove Loudon away.
I couldn’t find any estimation of his wealth. Does anybody know better? Links would be appreciated.
Bitchy: there has never been any outright estimate of his wealth, but given the toys he has eg a private plane, and the price of his home, terribly rich James is very wealthy indeed.
I find him sexy as all get out:) different strokes.
I was just coming in to comment similarly. He’s scrawny… looks like he’d break in two if things got too animated in bed.
He is an extreme sports fanatic of the marathin kind. Scrawny and strong.
He’s very athletic though, even more than Pippa. I doubt he’d break in two unless you’re being really hard on him, lol
The groom always looks uncomfortable in the spotlight. Like he wants to bolt out of photos.
That could be bracing tonic for the Middletons.
He and Mike can commiserate.
One of the wedding colors is definitely orange.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
If the Middletons invite Trump to Pippa’s wedding, he will blend right in. LOL
Oh Please, Kate could not steal the thunder even if she tried.
Pippa stole all the attention at her sister wedding.
That photo of her with the two phones never stops being funny.
The whole pack of them are tacky, desperate plebs. They could buy Pips some class for her wedding gift!
I wonder if the Middleton mamma and pappa are seeking out ultra rich alliances for James Middleton. Then, mamma Middleton can manage the lives of all three of her children and their households. Carole is the Queen of Momagers. Bless her heart.
…terribly rich Keanus movie John Wick 2 opens early feb 2017….n mega rich Cruises new Mummy movie dont open til June 2017 (sigh)…however…I have no wish to marry either of them even tho I love their movie star personas…cant wait…
I wish I had bought that gossip mag yesterday referring to Carole not keeping to royal protocol and today Duchess Sophie comes across as very normal and engaging in a Phillip Scofield interview on the subject of Prince Phillip it sort of puts this Pippa date in the shade.