Royal wedding: Pippa Middleton shines as maid of honour
All eyes were on the bride, but Pippa Middleton yesterday attracted worldwide attention as a stunning maid of honour.
Miss Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister, was the picture of elegance in a form-fitting dress. It too was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, and the simple lines perfectly complemented the Duchess’s intricate bridal gown.
The 27-year-old had pulled off that most difficult of tricks: looking fantastic without upstaging the bride.
From the moment she stepped out of the Goring hotel, Miss Middleton drew gasps from the crowd and became an instant hit across the globe. Her name was a trending topic on Twitter, the social networking site, and she earned tens of thousands of mentions on Facebook. One adoring male fan hailed her as “the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life”. “Pippa Middleton looks absolutely stunning! I think I am in love,” said another.
Miss Middleton fulfilled her maid of honour duties with aplomb, calmly shepherding the tiny bridesmaids into the Abbey before returning outside to arrange her sister’s train.
The day was a triumph for the Edinburgh University graduate turned party planner, who has endured her fair share of unkind comments in recent months.
There were reports of her clashing with Buckingham Palace courtiers over her plans to install mirrored glitterballs in the Throne Room for the evening disco, and unfounded suggestions that she was “relishing” her time in the spotlight and exploiting her connections with the Royal family to further her career.
With yesterday’s flawless and unshowy performance, she silenced her critics.
Weddings can be occasions for sibling rivalry, but Miss Middleton beamed with delight as she watched her sister wed.
She left the Abbey arm-in-arm with Prince Harry, with whom she is said to get on famously, and the pair stood together on the Palace balcony. Michael Vaughan, the former England cricket captain, joked on Twitter that the Prince should follow the tradition of a romance between the best man and maid-of-honour. “Let’s all pray for Harry... pray that he gets lucky with Pippa,” he told his 117,000 followers.
Of course, no such liaison was on the cards as Miss Middleton is dating Alex Loudon, a City financier, who attended the wedding but remained out of the spotlight. The news will disappoint the many Twitter users who inquired, somewhat hopefully, if the future King’s sister-in-law was single.
Some were undeterred by Miss Middleton’s status, with one website asking:”Has Pippa Middleton become the most eligible woman in the world?
On any other day but a Royal wedding, Miss Middleton could have passed for the bride in her dress of ivory crepe with a cowl-front and organza-covered buttons running down the back. She wore lily-of-the-valley in her hair, which was styled identically to her sister’s in a demi-chignon. The dress was suitably demure for the occasion but also showcased Miss Middleton’s enviably slim figure.
Caroline Castigliano, the bridal designer, said: “The dress Pippa had on was just so special. It was very cleverly designed and I think you will see copies of something similar out in the market from that dress. A lot of London brides would get married in that. It was stunning.”
