Pippa Middleton

Philippa Charlotte "Pippa" Middleton is an English socialite and the younger sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. On 29 April 2011, she was the maid of honor at her sister's wedding to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, second in the line of succession to Elizabeth II.

Middleton was born in 1983, the second of three children of Michael Middleton, who was then a British Airways flight dispatcher, and his wife Carole Middleton, a former flight attendant. Her father's family came from Leeds, now in West Yorkshire, and one of her great-grandmothers, Olivia Lupton, belonged to a business family which had been active in Leeds for many generations. Carole Middleton's mother's family were labourers and miners from County Durham. The third child of the family is James William Middleton, who is now a businessman.

In the mid 1980s, when her two eldest children were at a nursery school and the family was living at Bradfield Southend, Middleton's mother set up 'Party Pieces', a company which began by making party bags and went on to sell party supplies and decorations by mail order. By 1995 the firm, run by both parents, was so successful that it moved into a range of farm buildings at Ashampstead Common, and since then the Middleton parents are reported to have become millionaires.

In 1995, the Middletons moved to Bucklebury, Berkshire. Like her sister, Middleton was first educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, then at Downe House School, a girls' boarding school in Cold Ash, and finally at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, which she attended on a sports/all-rounder scholarship. She then followed her sister to higher education in Scotland, attending the University of Edinburgh to study English literature. There she shared a house with Lord Edward Innes-Ker, a son of the Duke of Roxburghe, and with Earl Percy, heir of the Duke of Northumberland.

Following graduation, in 2008 Middleton briefly worked at a public relations firm promoting luxury products, then she took on an events management job with Table Talk, a company based in London which organises corporate events and parties. Also in 2008, Tatler magazine named Middleton "the Number 1 Society Singleton", ahead of singer-songwriter James Blunt and Princess Eugenie of York, although in the same Tatler article she was snarkily described as someone who "goes to a lot of parties, but mainly as the caterer." Since then, she has often been described as a socialite. As part of a duo with her older sister, Middleton has received wide press coverage, focusing on her social life and her lifestyle.

Middleton currently works two days a week for her parents' company Party Pieces, editing the web magazine Party Times. On 11 January 2012, during the Leveson inquiry, Paul Silva, picture editor of the Daily Mail, claimed that the paper receives up to 400 pictures of Middleton daily, from picture agencies and freelance photographers.

On 4 March 2012, Middleton participated in the classic Swedish long-distance cross-country ski race Vasaloppet along with her brother James in order to raise money for Magic Breakfast, a small charity that helps deliver free breakfasts to British school children. She clocked a time of 7 hours, 13 minutes and 36 seconds for the 90 kilometres , placing her 412th out of 1734 women contestants to finish the race.

Despite her public profile, Middleton has avoided interviews. However after completing her run at Vasaloppet she has seemed completely at ease as she was being interviewed by television reporters, reportedly the first time her voice was recorded in a public interview.

Pippa Middleton's coat of arms, based on those of her father. This lozenge shaped version, supported by a blue ribbon, denotes a spinster and can be used by no one else.

The official announcement of her sister's engagement came on 16 November 2010. Middleton served as the maid of honour. At the wedding, Middleton's white figure-hugging dress, which like the bride's was created by Sarah Burton, was highly praised in the media. Made of ivory crape fabric, it was styled with a cowl at the front and organza-covered buttons at the back.

Middleton's ancestors include Sir Thomas Fairfax. Her later ancestors include The Rev Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer, whose grand-daughter Olive Christiana Lupton was one of the grandmothers of Michael Middleton. Her maternal great-great-grandfather John Goldsmith was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850.

In William & Kate, a television movie released on 18 April 2011 about her sister's romance, the part of Pippa Middleton was played by Mary Elise Hayden.