On a frothier note than Anne Boleyn’s death, let’s discuss Pippa Middleton’s wedding eve. It’s all prep everything between London and Berkshire, apparently. The Duchess of Cambridge was spotted driving herself around the city, while Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle, in town from Toronto for the big event, was seen exiting a fitness studio in Soho today. She was photographed idling outside the doors before being picked up by a car and, no doubt, whisked back to Kensington Palace.
Rumor has it that an engagement between Prince Harry and girlfriend Meghan Markle will be announced on August 4, which just so happens to be the birthday of the deceased Queen Mother. According to a new quote that lays out why the news would come in August and not before:
“They are not engaged formally but there is an understanding. The engagement announcement is still tipped for August 4 and is unlikely to come earlier. Why so? Because the general election (June 8), the formation of a new government (June 9), the State Opening of Parliament (June 19) and the state visit of King Felipe of Spain (July 12-14) cannot be overshadowed.”
Yesterday, Kensington Palace confirmed that the wedding of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews would go forward on May 20th at St. Mark’s Church, Englefield and will be attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, with Prince George and Princess Charlotte acting as a page boy and bridesmaid, respectively.
This was an interesting announcement for a couple reasons. For one, the logistical details have already been widely reported, as has speculation about the attendance of members of the Royal Family. Secondly, Pippa, as Kate’s younger sister, is not actually a member of the RF. Thus, her wedding is a private event and no one would have raised an eyebrow had KP and the Cambridges treated it as such and declined to comment on both their attendance and their children’s participation in the ceremony.
God help us all. To be clear, I’m only writing this up in a separate post because I wrote twice about the Duke of Cambridge’s Verbier trip and fair is fair. Today, Emily Andrews at The Sun reported that that same weekend the Duchess was in Meribel, France skiing with her sister, Pippa, and friends as part of a pre-wedding “hen party.”
The two groups actually shared the same private jet out of the UK and then split up. A “friend” shared with the paper that:
“Pippa loves skiing so it was her first choice for a hen weekend. They stayed in a really exclusive catered chalet with maids and chef, who ensured that they were totally spoilt. The owners also wanted to impress their royal guests so the girls were showered with gifts. They were given Swatch watches, Ugg slippers, leather-bound notebooks and bespoke fragrances. It was a very small, private party and they had an amazing time.
“Apparently the girls on Pippa’s hen were giggling as Kate told them that William had had to be escorted down from the mountain for being too drunk after that lunch on the Sunday. All the girls thought it was hilarious. He wasn’t allowed to ski as he’d had too much to drink. The staff didn’t want him to get hurt. At first Kate thought it was very funny. But she wasn’t too impressed when she saw the photos of him dancing with that Australian girl.”
It’s been a busy week for the RF, even excluding all the news coming out of the Prince of Wales’s visit to Romania and the ongoing to trip to Italy. This is particularly true for the younger set of royals, especially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
A few odds and ends from this past week:
Continue reading “Royal Roundup Feb. 4 – 10: Kate, Meghan & Pippa”
