It’s another royal wedding!
JK, there’s no royal blood to be found here.
Pippa Middleton is reportedly engaged to boyfriend James Matthews, an investment firm owner and older brother of Made In Chelsea‘s Spencer Matthews.
Middleton and Matthews briefly dated in 2012, and after their split, Middleton started dating Nico Jackson.
Jackson and the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister ended things last fall, and shortly after Middleton was seen out with Matthews.
According to the Daily Mail‘s Richard Kay, Matthews proposed to Middleton in England’s Lakes District over the weekend.
Prior to getting down on bended knee, Matthews is believed to have asked Michael Middleton for permission to marry his daughter.
“James is a traditionalist and very much wanted to do things properly. That meant getting his future father in law’s consent,” a friend told Kay.
A source close to the Middletons added that “Mike and Carole are very happy. They like James and they are sure he will make Pippa very happy.”
Matthews has enjoyed great success in finance; he owns a $ 22 million home in London’s posh Chelsea neighborhood. Earlier this year, the 40-year-old applied for permits to build additions (the blueprints include his & hers bathrooms).
“He made a huge amount of cash from hedge funds and some more from the London property market,” a friend of the Brit’s said.
“We’re talking millions here and you don’t do that by the age of 40 unless you are a sharp cookie. And James is very bright.”
Matthews has taken Middleton to his parents’ Eden Rock hotel in St. Barts several times. In August 2015, her parents and brother, James were also invited to the island.
I spoke to Spencer back in 2012 when Matthews and Middleton first started dating.
“He is the opposite of me, although we’re quite good friends. However, what you read in the Daily Mail isn’t too far from the truth,” Spencer revealed.
“I know they’ve always been very close friends – well, they’ve had a close friendship for awhile and it seems that there might be something more there, but I don’t know.”
Neither the Middleton family nor the couple have confirmed the engagement.
Tonight, Middleton attended The Frost Family and British Heart Foundation Summer Party, and Middleton not-so-subtly hid her left hand while being photographed.
Either she was playing with the media, or she was hiding a ring tan.