Three awesome things came together today: Tennis, a couple of Middletons, and Downton Abbey. That's right, Pippa and James are back from their 3,000 mile bike trip across the United States and they popped over to the Royal Box at Wimbledon to take in some lawn tennis. Also on hand at the All England Club was the lovely Michelle Dockery, aka Lady Mary Crawley. While Lady Mary is still deciding between two entirely unequal suitors (Mary, marry Tony Gillingham, the competition isn't even close) Michelle seems to be less conflicted in real life. She was accompanied by her boyfriend James Dineen and they were pictured greeting Pippa and James during the match.
You probably have heard by now that Pippa has undertaken her first TV interview with Matt Lauer. It will air on Monday, but E! has a sneak peek focusing on some questions Lauer asked Pippa about her famous sister Kate. He asked if Kate's marriage to William had changed her in her relationship with Pippa:
"Not particularly, no...I mean, obviously she has pressures that she's taken on and things. But we spend a lot of time together. We still do a lot together as a family. And I think that's really the heart for all of us is having a really close family that we can sort of be normal with each other, treat each other normally. And that's sort of kept us all, you know, affixed to the ground."
"So you can call any night and say, 'Hey, Kate, it's Pippa. Let's just do girl talk like we used to'?" Matt inquired, to which Pippa provided a positive response.
"Yeah. Yeah, we do, we have a very normal, sisterly relationship," she revealed. "We're very close. And, you know, we support each other and get each other's opinions and things."I don't think this will surprise any royal watchers. Pippa and Kate have always been quite close:
And obviously remain so.
Kate has clearly been at pains to remain a member of her family despite joining the British Royal Family. Rather than something she has tow irk on, I suspect it is quite natural for the tight-knit Middletons to remain very active parts of each other's lives. I am certainly looking forward to the full interview. It will air in two parts, on Monday and on Tuesday.
I will say that this makes me wonder if Pippa is considering a move to the United States. It is hard for me to imagine her so far from family, but she is under a significant amount of scrutiny from the press in the UK. Princess Diana was considering a move to America to escape the constant paparazzi attention, and while it is unlikely that the most photographed woman in the world would have been markedly more incognito in the US than in England, Pippa could very well find more privacy and perhaps business opportunities in the New World. We shall see...
Bad news in the Kate category. She will not be attending the Order of the Thistle ceremony in Scotland. This is the equivalent of the Order of the Garter for the Scots and Kate was on hand to see William's investiture several years ago.
Unfortunately, it now seems she will give this year's event a miss. It is terribly surprising. She would have had to leave George at home, or cart in north, and little Mr. Grumpy-Pants undoubtedly likes his routine. Babies: they are blessings and curses. ;) We will be seeing her on the 1st in London, though, so keep your spirits up!