No ring, no bring!
Pippa’s plot to stop Meghan stealing the limelight on her wedding day
AFTER all the attention that Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle got at a wedding in Jamaica last week, friends of Pippa Middleton are wondering whether she will have to enforce a ‘no ring, no bring’ rule to stop the American TV star stealing the limelight on her big day.
Pippa – and her world-famous bottom – may know all about upstaging the bride (who can forget her role at her sister Kate’s wedding back in 2011), but she has no intention of letting the Suits actress do the same to her.
Pippa, 33, is due to marry wealthy hedge-fund boss James Matthews in May.
When she sent out invitations, Pippa let slip to friends that she was keeping numbers down with a ‘no ring, no bring’ policy – meaning guests can only bring their partners if they are either married or engaged.
However, many Royal observers expected her to make an exception for Meghan, who has been dating Harry for more than six months. But the incredible reaction to Meghan’s appearance at Tom Inskip’s wedding to Lara Hughes-Young has now cast doubt on that.
Friends say that to make life easier for everyone – not least Meghan, who is busy filming a seventh series of her legal drama in Toronto – Pippa may not extend a late invitation to her.
A pal of Pippa tells me: ‘She saw how all eyes were on Meghan rather than Lara last week. The situation was also stressful for Harry. Pippa and her mother Carole wonder whether Meghan’s presence could cause a great deal of unnecessary chaos.’
Pippa and James, 41, have picked a low-key church on MP Richard Benyon’s private estate in Berkshire for their wedding, followed by a reception at the Middleton family home nearby.
Meanwhile, I am told that the Suits producers are doing eve- rything in their power to keep Meghan as the centre of attention. They are desperate to sign her up for another series and are prepared to offer her a major pay rise.
The star arrived back in Toronto last week following the Jamaica trip and went straight to the home of her best pal – stylist Jessica Mulroney – where she played the role of ‘Auntie Meg’ to Jessica’s adorable daughter Ivy.