Pippa Middleton Speaks Out About Fame, 'Family Wedding,' in First TV Interview
Though she’s known the world over on a first-name basis, Pippa Middleton hasn’t spoken to the public much. She has never done a television interview, in fact, before sitting down with Matt Lauer recently for the "Today" show, which aired most of their conversation on Monday (with more set for Tuesday). “I think she’s incredibly grounded,” Lauer said back in the studio. “I think she’s blown away by the attention she’s gotten over these last two, three years, and is not quite sure of what to do with all that attention.” Here’s what the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister revealed about:
Her reluctance to do a TV interview: “I have this nervousness of being in front of a camera. … It has been difficult, I suppose, from going from a very normal life to sort of managing everything that happened after the wedding.”
The royal wedding:
“It sounds funny to say it, but we saw it, as a family, as just a family wedding. And I didn’t realize, perhaps, the scale of it, until afterwards. I had to just make sure I helped my sister where I should, and look after the bridesmaids and pageboys. But we really saw it as a sort of family getting together and doing their bit, like any family. Even walking through the abbey — there were a lot of people, but I didn’t maybe see any TV cameras, so to me it was just performing in front of a lot of people, and not necessarily the whole world.”
Looking out from the Buckingham Palace balcony after the wedding: “It was slightly surreal. … I think when we saw crowds rushing around to the balcony, that we were sort of like, wow, this is pretty special.”
The attention she got over her bridesmaid dress: “It was completely unexpected. You know, I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress, really just to sort of blend in with the train. I suppose [the attention is] flattering. Embarrassing, definitely, because it wasn’t planned. The dress was almost meant to be insignificant. … It’s actually still in my wardrobe at home. I haven’t worn it since, but I think I’ll just keep it there. I think it's the sort of thing that I'm sure I'll bring out if someone wanted to see it or my children one day want to see it. Then I'll show them. But yeah, it’s tucked away.”
Her involvement in the recent Race Across America, for which she cycled through 12 states in eight days, raising money for the British Heart Foundation and the Mike Matthews Learning Center for the Good Shepherd: “It was a fantastic experience. It was probably the longest week of my life, in a good way.”
The perks of fame: “I’ve had amazing opportunities.”
The downsides of fame: “A lot of pressure in London, just my day-to-day routine. Occasionally, I might get followed by paparazzi. It’s been a bit difficult. It’s getting used to sort of not being entirely private — feeling, wherever I go, maybe someone will spot me. And for good or bad, it means that I don’t entirely relax. I think the nature of Twitter and Facebook [is that people reveal] they’ve just seen me somewhere … and in a restaurant that could be the worst, because … then a photographer could turn up at the restaurant, and then suddenly my private dinner is not so private.”
Negative press:
“It’s hard sometimes, because I have felt publicly bullied a little bit — when I read things that are completely untrue, or that have a negative side. It is quite difficult, because effectively I’m just paving my way and trying to live a life, like any 30-year-old. And I think people feel they can say something about you online or on a webpage when they would never say it to your face. They think that’s OK. So it’s been difficult. And I think to keep bouncing back and carrying on and trying not to let it affect you is hard. But again, it’s just trying to be yourself and not read too much, and make decisions based on what I feel is right and wrong.”
Her future aspirations: “There’s so much I’d love to achieve. And I also want to keep up with sport and the health side of things, cause that’s really important to me. So trying to blend that in with my love of writing and food and entertaining.”
More on Yahoo Shine:
Pippa Middleton and Lady Mary Hung Out Together
Pippa Middleton Writes Again. Critics Be Damned!
