What You Don't Know About Pippa Middleton

Pippa Middleton is mainly known to Americans for two things: being the sister of the future Queen Kate, and for having the most famous derriere since Kim Kardashian. But there's a lot more to her besides her royal connection and celebrated posterior. Here's the untold truth of Kate's famous sister.

Philippa Charlotte Middleton was born in 1983 in the English town of Redding. The nickname Pippa comes from her first name, and it's what she goes by everywhere. British tabloids, who are fascinated with her, coined a nickname for her group of friends — The Pipparettes (too bad The Pips was already taken).

As a child, classmates called her "Perfect Pippa." Some also reportedly gave her another nickname, "Panface," because of her face looking flat. Kids are harsh.

In 2011, Pippa Middleton became what People magazine called "the world's most famous bridesmaid" by wearing a Sarah Burton by Alexander McQueen white dress at her sister Kate's wedding to Prince William.

There is an etiquette rule that nobody but the bride can wear white at a wedding, because it will upstage the bride's day. But that's not why Pippa's dress got so much attention. It was because when she was holding her sister Kate's long wedding dress train, everybody got a good view of her backside, which was accentuated by the tight dress. The dress made her known as Her Royal Hotness.

She acknowledged in a 2014 speech, according to The Mirror, that the dress "fitted a little too well," and showed a sense of humor when she talked about the notoriety the dress gave her. "As I have found out, recognition has its upside, its downside and — you may say — its backside."

Kate Middleton and Prince William were on-and-off for some time before they finally married in 2011. Pippa followed in her sister's footsteps by getting engaged to on-and-off boyfriend financier James Matthews in July 2016. She first dated Matthews in 2012, then hooked up with investment manager Nico Jackson, then got back together with Matthews in 2015 after that relationship ended, being spotted with him on vacation and at numerous charitable endeavors before their engagement.

Matthews reportedly surprised Middleton with the proposal, which happened in England's Lake District. But he didn't surprise her parents — he asked them first before popping the question. Her engagement ring has been described as an "Art Deco design" which is both "practical" and "timeless."

Pippa and James have something in common — both have famous siblings. James' brother Spencer is on a British reality show about rich young adults called Made in Chelsea.

After she upstaged her sister Kate at her wedding, word has it that Pippa has established a "no ring, no bring" policy for her own wedding. That means that her future brother-in-law Spencer cannot bring his girlfriend, model Vogue Williams, and that Prince Harry won't be able to bring his girlfriend, model/actress Meghan Markle.

Supposedly, someone close to Middleton explained that "It's clear that Pippa doesn't want to be outshone by any TV babes on her big day." Guess she knows by experience about that.

But if this is true, doesn't that make Pippa a little inconsistent? Not only did she outshine her sister, but she brought a date that day, then-boyfriend Alex Loudon, to Kate's wedding. Hmmmm.

Aside from being known as a socialite, Middleton worked in public relations for Table Talk, a catering business, before becoming famous.

In 1987, the parents of Pippa, Kate, and James Middleton started a successful business selling party-related items called Party Pieces. Pippa also worked in this party planning company. She was involved in creating a blog for the company's website, and wrote on everything from planning successful Halloween parties to how to make a hedgehog slice (whatever that is). A writer for The Telegraph derisively referred to this as a "hobby job," although Pippa's writing is actually pretty good — she has also written for Vanity Fair and The Telegraph.

In 2012, the year after Middleton became famous for her butt, she combined her experience in party planning and writing for her next endeavor. She reportedly snagged a $600,000 advance to write a 400-page book called Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends. The book was a flop, selling only about 18,000 copies.

Critics complained the advice was pretty banal and "painfully obvious," as BuzzFeed called it. There were things like "A really late start warrants brunch, in lieu of lunch," and that looking at stars "is best in pitch darkness on a very clear night, and can be exciting even for quite young children." She also wrote that "you can cut up your chicken into portions consisting of the drumstick, thigh, breast and wing." Don't think Martha Stewart needs to watch her back over this.

Christopher Howse of The Telegraph griped that while there were dozens of photos of Middleton in the book, "The globally recognized bottom hardly gets a look-in, making a half-hearted entrance on page 163, and exiting with another plate of canapés on page 164." Ouch. Middleton later defended the book, pointing out that it was supposed to "cover the basics."

In 2014, People reported she might be a future correspondent for NBC, saying she had been in talks with the network to work on the morning show. She was also seen wearing a flannel shirt and tight jeans as she reportedly showed up with a camera crew to do country dancing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The word was the clips were part of a tryout for the show, but the British tabloid The Mirror eviscerated her, insinuating that "she failed to impress channel bosses with her test shoots," and calling her dancing "cringeworthy." She wasn't quite ready for Dancing With the Stars, but it wasn't that bad.

In 2016, Middleton became the latest celebrity to have her iCloud account hacked, although unlike Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, her photos have so far not been released. Reportedly 3,000 photos were stolen, many of her famous sister, the Duchess of Cambridge, her niece Princess Charlotte and nephew Prince George. The reported hacker was arrested after trying to shop around the pix.

Middleton went to court in the UK to prevent the photos from being released and a court agreed. But The Daily Beast commented, "There was widespread amazement over British breakfast tables" about the notion "that Pippa had apparently continued uploading pictures to the cloud after so many accounts were publicly compromised last year."

In 2012, Pippa was in a car with friends in Paris, and was followed by the paparazzi. One of her friends waved what looked like a gun at the fotogs. This became an international incident, because people thought the gun was real. There was even talk of Pippa facing arrest, but fortunately for her, that didn't happen.

Arthur de Soultrait, one of the other friends in the car, apologized for the unnamed gun waver, but said it was a toy gun. He also said in a statement that Middleton had been "subject to constant and dangerous harassment by paparazzi throughout her time in Paris." He also said she "had no idea [the other friend] was going to do that and told him to stop immediately. She did not find it funny."

A photographer who witnessed the incident said he knew the gun was fake, and that "it was for a joke." But it wasn't funny to Middleton's image, to have a friend do something so dopey. No wonder she wasn't amused.

Yes, that is what Pippa told The Today Show's Matt Lauer in 2014. "It sounds funny to say, but we saw it, as just a family wedding," she claimed. "I didn't realize the scale of it until afterwards." She said (via Us Magazine), "We really saw it as a family getting together and doing their bit. To me, it was just performing in front of a lot of people, just not the world. It was surreal!"

Pippa is incredibly physically fit. She received a "sports/all rounder scholarship" to Marlborough College and has competed in marathons, triathlons, endurance events, skiing, and long bike rides, most to help charitable causes. Health magazine noted that the week after she did a 54-mile bike ride for charity, she ran a marathon in Kenya. She also rode in a bike race across the United States with her brother James.

In 2016, she ran a marathon along the Great Wall of China, one that Elle describes as having "5,164 steps and an 82-foot climb at mile 22," and finished it in a very respectable 4:54:51. The magazine notes that she finished her Kenyan marathon in less than four hours, which is even more impressive. In 2015, she did the Otillo race in Sweden, which combines 47 miles swimming and running, with her brother and her future fiance. Participants get a gin and tonic after finishing, and she enjoyed hers with everyone else.

In her own way, Middleton is trying to make the world a better place. She's raised a lot of money for charity with the fitness events she's competed in, and she wrote a healthy recipe cookbook in 2016 called Heartfelt, with the money earned designated to go to the British Heart Foundation.

"'People see me as someone privileged who has used my position to advantage; that I don't really work, that I am a socialite — that word really irritates me," she told The Daily Mail, a publication that seemed rather impressed with her cookbook.

Then she made the mistake of being a little too honest with The Mirror, admitting, "I would like to say I have made every single one, but I have definitely done a good 80 percent of them," she said.

Reportedly, the wedding date for Middleton and Matthews is May 20, 2017. The Independent reports that the couple will marry at "St. Mark's Church in Englefield, Berkshire before partying at the Middleton family home in Bucklebury."

While it is not yet known as of this writing what sister Kate will do at the wedding, it was revealed that nephew Prince George will be a page boy and niece Princess Charlotte will be a bridesmaid. That might be the youngest bridesmaid in history, given that the little girl will only be two years old on the wedding day. Guess the toddler princess won't be throwing the bachelorette party.