Photo Pippa Middleton and James Matthews at Wimbledon last month. They became engaged later in July. Credit Karwai Tang/WireImage
At first glance, it seemed to have the all the makings of a Jane Austen novel: wholesome second daughter of a country family that has come up in the world gets swept away by wealthy, dashing suitor after whirlwind romance and years of enduring idle gossip around her broken courtships and social aspirations, not to mention poisonous comparisons with a dazzling older sister.
And so it was last month as mass-market tabloids and high-society columns the world over reported the news that the erstwhile party planner and author Pippa Middleton, the 32-year-old sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, Britain's future queen, had finally found a husband. And not just any husband: James Matthews, 40, a multimillionaire hedge funder with a palatial Chelsea home, private jet and a younger brother who is a reality TV star.
"Sorry Kate, Little Sis Has Made a FAR Better Match!" screamed one Daily Mail headline. "Clever Pippa scores a bullseye with her engagement to wildly wealthy James Matthews — and will live a life that the Duchess can only dream about," it added for good measure.
Photo Mr. Matthews and Ms. Middleton after finishing the Race Across America charity bike race in 2014 in Annapolis, Md. Credit Drew Angerer/European Pressphoto Agency
The "Pippa Problem" is over, proclaimed The Daily Beast, resurfacing whispers about palace fears vis-à-vis Ms. Middleton's ability to make a living without looking as if she were cashing in on her royal association.
Jobs as a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine and the author of "Celebrate," a much-derided entertainment manual, had proved short-lived, leaving it unclear as to how Ms. Middleton — now training as a nutritionist — would pay her way in the long term.
But Peter York, a regular commentator on the British aristocracy and co-author of "The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook," said: "The rise in the ranks of Pippa — and indeed the rest of the Middleton family — is less of a throwback to Austen as much as it to the characters of Thackeray. What makes this tale so intriguing is that this is the definition of Home Counties middle class got lucky."
Think of this as the advent of a new and powerful tier in the British caste system: the Upper Middleton class, a.k.a. nont itled "already haves" just outside London who want to have more. For centuries in Britain, birth was destiny — and that legacy still resonates.
But the once mighty titled and landed gentry, with the royal family at its pinnacle, has long been ceding ground to a new breed of families who are, for the most part, self-made, aggressively upwardly mobile and usually with a glossy mother strategically leading the social charge.
Also, well mannered, perma-tanned from jaunts to the Caribbean and Ibiza, and close to their families, which usually reside in large gated houses with swimming pools and tennis courts less than an hour from London. It may be a stereotype, but it's a relatively new and evolving one. And Pippa Middleton has become its poster child.
That said, it has hardly been easy for Ms. Middleton. Both she and her sister have regularly been referred to in aristocratic circles as the "wisteria sisters" — "highly decorative, terribly fragrant and with a ferocious ability to climb," according to The Daily Mail.
"Pippa Middleton has actually been in a very tough position for a long time," said Jo Elvin, editor in chief of British Glamour magazine. "Sneering at her for being rich and lazy had become a popular sport for the masses who relentlessly scrutinized her and everything she tried to do. Marrying was almost the only option left available to her, given she's not on the royal payroll.
"Unlike her sister, who is heavily protected by the Press Association and an army of employees in terms of what can and cannot be written about her, Pippa had become fair game. I'm not sure many people actually envy her and the life she's had to lead since the royal wedding."
Certainly, both Ms. Middleton's romantic relationships and her efforts to build a career for herself had come under more public examination than those of her younger brother, James. His latest start-up effort, Boomf, an exotic confectionery business specializing in "printed marshmallows," and his dating of the TV host Donna Air have been largely overlooked by the national news media.
It was Pippa, not James, who garnered the unsolicited moniker of "Her Royal Hotness" thanks to her bridesmaid duties at the 2011 royal wedding — though Mr. Middleton had also played a starring role, albeit by doing a reading during the service. "The double standard between the two Middleton siblings is fueled by a good old-fashioned dollop of sexism," Ms. Elvin said.
Photo Ms. Middleton arriving at the wedding of her sister, Kate, and Prince William in London in 2011. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times
Nevertheless, Ms. Middleton seemed intent on pursuing a media-related path that inevitably kept her in the spotlight, an approach not entirely lost on some royal observers.
"Frankly speaking, being the sister of the future queen extends your possibilities when it comes to dating and mating," Mr. York said. "The ongoing fascination with this young woman and her prospects is proof of the ongoing power of royal association in an era when the power of the monarchy was apparently dwindling."
Not that coming off the marriage market is likely to detract from Ms. Middleton's ability to whip the British news media into a frenzy anytime soon.
"Don't forget that the middle classes are far better behaved than the upper classes," Mr. York said. "The realities of Pippa's life sound rather boring all told, but that's never stopped a tabloid reporter before, has it? Just wait for the furor when she has her first baby."
Ms. Elvin of Glamour agreed, adding that while Ms. Middleton "wasn't really in our orbit except for on our style and fashion pages," the interest in the modern monarchy and all those related to it would continue to sell. To rule today, kings and queens must appear one with their people, not apart from them.
"Pippa is clickbait catnip, but frankly so are Kate and William because they have made the royal family feel relevant again," Ms. Elvin said. "Either you are or you aren't interested in their every move, but I suppose people are fascinated about how genuinely happy and ordinary they seem. And ultimately, who doesn't love a happy ending?"
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