Her older sister allowed her to share the spotlight at the royal wedding. Will Pippa Middleton return the favor?
In short, no.
When Middleton confirmed her engagement to financier James Matthews today in London, many thought that perhaps the Duchess of Cambridge would serve as her Matron of Honor.
Catherine, first of all, doesn’t need a hand when it comes to the spotlight. In fact, Her Royal Highness has opted out of several friends’ weddings and parties for fear that she’d take attention away from someone’s big moment.
As far as MOH duties go, it’s not likely that Catherine will accept such an invitation for her little sister’s big day. Not because it’s beneath her personally, but because it’s beneath her status as a member of the royal family.
Snobby and archaic as the thought may be, it wouldn’t befit Catherine to be seen tending to Pippa’s train, following her and Michael Middleton down the aisle, and ushering young bridesmaids and pageboys in and out of waiting cars.
Behind the scenes, this could be a different story. When in the company of her family, Catherine is at ease, rolling up her sleeves to get to work with the best of them.
Make no mistake, Catherine will do everything she can to help Pippa plan and prepare for her wedding in 2017.
Publicly, though, it’s my belief that she will not be part of the wedding party.
Historically speaking, young royals have most certainly been part of the festivities. When the Queen was just a princess, she was served several royal wedding parties.
Princess Margaret was a bridesmaid to Her Majesty in 1947, when they were both princesses.
Prince William was in Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York’s 1986 nuptials, and Prince Harry carried out similar duties in 1989 at his maternal uncle, Charles Spencer’s wedding to Victoria Lockwood.
True, Prince William’s cousin, Zara Phillips was a bridesmaid in her sister-in-law Autumn Phillips party, but Phillips is an exception in that she lives her life like a private citizen, despite being the Queen’s granddaughter.
Because of this and Phillips’ normal approach to life (her mother, Princess Anne opted not to give her and her older brother, Peter titles), it was not surprising to see her tending to Autumn’s train.
Seeing as Catherine goes to great lengths not to stir up controversy, it’s not likely that we’ll see her doing the same come Pippa’s big day.
She may have been a commoner once upon a time, but because of Catherine’s station, the sight of a future queen consort in a bridesmaid dress (no matter how flattering it looks) wouldn’t go over well with her in-laws.
