Everyone knows who Pippa Middleton is and that’s all thanks to her big sis, one of the most important Royals in the world right now, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. In 2011, following the mesmerizing wedding between Prince William and Kate, the world instantly fell in love with Pippa. However, Pippa is more than just a socialite and fashion star, she’s a published author, philanthropist, and all around, down to earth gal who has a heart of gold. Now that Miss Pippa has tied the knot to the man of her dreams, we’ve decided to pull together some incredible little-known facts about the Middleton sister.
Sport Activist
Pippa is a huge sports activist and every year, she makes it a point to set a massive physical challenge to complete. In the past she has gone on to compete in the world’s longest cross-country ski race in Sweden, climbed Mont Blanc, sailed the Atlantic, and took part in the Coast to Coast triathlon in New Zealand which involves 150 miles of running, cycling and kayaking. Phew!
Royal Mocha
Welp, back in 2011 a rather controversial study came out that named Pippa’s shade of skin “Royal Mocha” and therefore declared it the “most desirable” skin tone. Yikes. In order for Pippa to get this desirable shade, she uses professional spray tanners. One that many people have thus copied.
Par-tay
Turns out that little sis, Pippa, helped out with Kate’s nuptials, and that it was actually her idea to serve bacon butties from food trucks! What a royal party that was. And who could forget Pippa’s stunning maid of honor dress at Kate’s wedding? Pretty sure the answer is, no one, no one can forget.
Foodie
That’s right, our girl Pippa is a total foodie. She loves sushi and always makes sure to cook up something for friends and family. Especially when she was studying at Edinburgh University.
Graduate Club
Playing off our last fun fact, Pippa graduated with a degree in English literature from the University of Edinburgh. As such, her work as a journalist has stemmed from one of the most prestigious schools in the world.
Once in a Name
Did you know that her full name is actually Philippa Charlotte Middleton? Yup! However ever since she was a child, she has been called “Pip” or “Pippa” by family and friends. And in case you were wondering, yes, Princess Charlotte’s name is indeed a not-so-subtle nod to her aunt.
Penny for your Thoughts
Middleton’s journalistic abilities extend to her work as a regular columnist for numerous publications. Since 2012, she has contributed articles to The Spectator magazine and also began a food column in the supermarket magazine Waitrose Kitchen from the beginning of spring 2013. In June 2013 she was then impressively named a contributing editor of Vanity Fair. For a year, she also wrote a sports and social column for The Sunday Telegraph.
Cricket Obsession
Cricket is one of Pippa’s passions. So much so that in her September column for Vanity Fair she even describes herself as a “boundary babe” and “former cricket WAG”. Pippa wrote a sultry string of words over the game’s great players, Imran Khan and the “tradition of the sultry cricketer powering in from the boundary, tousled hair blowing in the breeze, his whites signifying a purity of action”.
Pippa Middleton, The Funny Gal
The Duchess of Cambridge’s sister is quite the comedian. Speaking about one of her ski races, Pippa remarked the rucksack was incredibly heavy because it contained “a Cheltenham fur hat, various other bits of clothing that PR people have sent me, and several signed copies of my book Celebrate” – before she went on to list all the proper mountain equipment she actually had in it.
Cheerio!
There is a parody Twitter account in Pippa Middleton’s name, @pippatips and it’s definitely one you should follow. The account sends out very, very simple tweets about various lifehacks that are “fact of the matter” obvious. I.E. duh, they’re hilarious.
What An Honor
In 2012, Pippa Middleton was rightly named in the Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people. Namely due to her highly attractive fashion sense, kind of like the Duchess of Cambridge, big sis Kate.
Calling All Fashion Designers
Her favorite fashion designers include the insanely talented Alice Temperley, Roksanda Ilincic, and New York-based Misha Nonoo, who is a personal friend.
Helping Hand
Pipaa Middleton is a massive ambassador for various charities, including the Mary Hare School for deaf children and as an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation.
Race Yah
In 2014, Pippa Middleton took part in the Race Across America, which consists of a staggering 3,000 mile cycle race across the United States, followed then by the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race, a 4 mile (6.5 km) swimming competition in Istanbul. Both were fundraising opportunities for one of charities, the BHF.
Collaboration
As mentioned before, Pippa is a massive fashion icon who has worked with the epic British brand Tabitha Webb; Pippa even helped to design a dress and a scarf. Unfortunately, the items are not on sale any longer.
That First Gig
After Pippa graduated, she began work in the world of PR for a luxury goods company. Pippa then quickly took interest in her parent’s company, Party Pieces, and set foot into the hectic world of party planning.
Celebrate
Pippa also works for the family business, Party Pieces, as editor and writer for the website whilst working with the professional party planning company ‘Table Talk’. After her work in the party planning scene, Pippa even went on to release a book, Celebrate, in 2012.
Book Two
In September 2016, Pippa Middleton released her second book, Heartfelt, whose proceeds all go straight to the charity the British Heart Foundation. The book highlights delicious heart-healthy, recipes – a large leap forward from her first book. Heartfelt incorporates two of Pippa’s favorites, food and writing.
Besties
Her best friends are that of the language teacher Alice St John Webster, from Marlborough, and Camilla Campion-Awwad, who is currently working for her father’s plastic surgery practice.
Hip, Hip
Pippa, 33, is indeed the middle Middleton child. Princess Kate is just two years older, and the baby of the family includes James Middleton, who is three years younger. Quite the trio!
Flip Through
Pippa has also featured in Martha Mumford’s Royal Baby book series, thus immortalizing the beautiful bride in print for ages to come. Pippa was also the chief party planner for Prince George’s first birthday in Happy Birthday, Royal Baby! Commence the “awwws” now.
The Big Screen
In the 2011 television film titled William & Kate, which follows Kate Middleton and Prince William’s romance, the part of Pippa was played by the lovely Mary Elise Hayden.
Pimm’s
Turns out that Pippa’s favorite drink is Pimm’s, the famous and tasty liqueur. She recently said during a Wimbledon match, “Oversized sunglasses… mean I can nod off unnoticed after one too many Pimm’s in the sun.”
Pop the Question
In July 2016, Pippa Middleton became engaged to the lovely James Matthews, a former professional racing driver turned hedge fund manager. Matthews is the eldest son and heir of David Matthews, the Laird of Glen Affric.
Bling
Talk about bling goals! Pippa’s stunning engagement ring is described as an “octagonal halo of diamonds” and includes a center stone which likely rings in over $260,000, according to ‘People Magazine’. Wowza.
Wedding Bells
The couple tied the knot on May 20, 2017 at St Mark’s church, Englefield Green, Berkshire, near the Middleton family home. Present of course were Pippa’s nephew Prince George, niece Princess Charlotte, Prince Harry and Prince William, and her sissy the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate. And can we just say that Pippa’s lace dress by Giles Deacon is breathtaking?!
A Title Of Her Own
It has been reported that following her husband’s inheritance of his father’s lairdship, Pippa Middleton will get a title of her own – she will have the courtesy title of Lady Glenaffric. James and Pippa will in turn become the Laird and Lady of Glen Affric in Scotland, after James inherits the family’s land and castles in Scotland.
Passed Down
In the 2016 ITV documentary, Our Queen At 90, a scrumptious secret was revealed. A particular recipe from Pippa’s own Celebrate book, Granny’s Marrow Chutney, had been made by ding-ding-ding, her sister Catherine! As a Christmas gift in 2011, the Duchess of Cambridge gave a jar of it to her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.
Hacker
In 2016, Pippa Middleton was a victim of a phone hack. ‘The Sun’ reported it was approached by the hacker who claimed to have 3,000 images in his possession from Pippa’s iCloud account and he demanded £50,000 for them. The hacker was subsequently arrested in September 2016.
Number One
Back in 2008, Tatler magazine named Pippa Middleton as “the Number 1 Society Singleton”, ahead of the talented singer-songwriter James Blunt and Princess Eugenie of York.