Pippa & the royal nippers
Little prince and princess join the new Mrs Matthews
It wasn’t a royal wedding but there were plenty of princes and princesses on the guest list as Pippa Middleton and millionaire James Matthews tied the knot yesterday.
The couple shared a tender kiss outside the church as page boys and flower girls including Pippa’s nephew Prince George and niece Princess Charlotte played and threw petals.
While Pippa brief ly grabbed the limelight when her sister Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, got married to Prince William in 2011, this time the cute youngsters stole the show.
Three- year- old George and his fellow page boys were in gold breeches while Charlotte, two, and the flower girls were in ivory dresses.
Kate, who was seen rounding up the children in the wedding party after the ceremony, had earlier stepped in to adjust Pippa’s dress and veil – just as her sister famously did at Westminster Abbey.
Pippa, 33, looked a picture of happiness as she arrived at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, Berkshire, in a 1951 open- topped Jaguar with her dad Michael.
Wellwishers had waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the couple, the royals and celebrity guests, who included Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie, tennis ace Roger Federer, actress Donna Air and Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, brother of the groom.
Pippa was in a figure-hugging lace gown by Giles Deacon, thought to have cost £40,000. She wore a Stephen Jones veil, a Maidenhair Fern tiara, and Manolo Blahnik ivory satin shoes.
Her wedding band fitted neatly beside her £250,000 engagement ring from hedge fund boss James, 41.
David Emanuel, who designed Princess Diana’s wedding dress, called the gown “simple and pretty.”
He said: “I predicted it would be soft and pretty and very English, which it is.”
Kate, 35, wore a peach Alexander McQueen dress, Jane Taylor hat and Kiki McDonough earrings.
Prince William, 34, and Prince Harry, 32, wore traditional morning suits but there was no sign of Harry’s actress girlfriend Meghan Markle.
Rain was forecasted but it stayed away long enough for the 150 guests to enter the church, which was adorned with beautiful cream and pink flowers.
Pippa’s party-planner mum Carole, 62, appeared to co-ordinate with Kate and wore head-to-toe peach.
Villagers and royal watchers started
arriving at the estate as early as 4.30am, seven hours ahead of the ceremony.
They had been given special silver wristbands with the wedding date printed on them which granted them access to get a closer look.
Local resident Elizabeth Mary Reeves, 68, said: “As all brides do, they glow, no matter how expensive their dress is. She looked absolutely beautiful.
“As the doors opened, the bells started and it was just bri l l iant. There were about six little ones on the porch. George was waving, Charlotte was waving and Kate stooped next to them.” It is thought the family splashed out nearly £ 500,000, including £100,000 for a giant glass marquee, for the big day. A champagne reception was held at Englefield House and a fleet of Bentley 4x4s took the wedding party to the reception at the Middletons’ £5million mansion nearby. James’s father David is laird of the 10,000-acre Glen Affric estate near Beauly.And in a nod to their Scottish connections, it was reported there would be a piper playing and haggis, Scottish lamb and whisky served.
Last year, we told how James was a major investor in a collapsed company at the centre of a £90million fraud investigation.
He had used his Eden Rock Capital Management fund to invest £ 38million in controversial Scots f inancier Greg King’s Heather Capital.
But Old Etonian James managed to get his money out before Heather Capital collapsed with the loss of £280million of investors’ cash.