Pippa Middleton's Tragic Confession About Kate's Royal Status

Pippa Middleton shot to prominence through no fault of her own. She was a regular 20-something-year-old when her big sister, Kate Middleton, met Prince William in college, a romance that thrust her whole family into one of the world's brightest spotlights. Her life would never be the same, especially after William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales' wedding legally bound the Middletons to the British royal family. Pippa had a hard time coping with the overnight fame.

Pippa's revelation about how her sibling's royal status has affected her goes against the mainstream view that led royal critics to call Kate and Pippa the wisteria sisters. For many years, experts have described the Middleton sisters as being dead set on climbing the social ladder of the British aristocracy. The narrative about how Kate placed herself in the center of William's world has been endlessly explored in royal expert books and even by the hit Netflix show "The Crown," which went so far as to claim that Carole Middleton plotted Kate's marriage to William.

However, many have claimed Pippa showed just as much social ambition early on. "As soon as Pippa arrived at Edinburgh, she was assiduous about joining the right social circle," a source told the Daily Mail in 2007. "She was very charming about it, but quite ruthless in cultivating the 'right' friends." In fact, she was said to be even more motivated than her sister. "Kate was always quite jealous of Pippa. I sensed that she feared being eclipsed by her," a family friend said, per The Scotsman. But that's not what Pippa has claimed.

Having her life turned upside down by Kate Middleton's association with Prince William was in no shape or form a situation Pippa Middleton had envisioned for herself, contrary to popular belief. "It's a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom," she wrote in her 2012 party-planning book, "Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends" (via Daily Mail). 

Pippa was referring to the unexpected attention she received following William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales' royal wedding thanks to her bridesmaid dress, which was rather flattering on her lower half. "One day I might be able to make sense of this. In the meantime I think it's fair to say that it has its upside and its downside," she continued. On the one hand, she is aware of the privileges she has enjoyed because of her link to the British royals.

On the other hand, the association sometimes got in the way of Pippa being her true self and living an authentic life. "In most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge a career," she wrote. Dealing with speculation about her life and character when she asked for none of it has also been challenging. "I have felt publicly bullied a little bit just by, you know, when I read things that clearly aren't true ... It is quite difficult," she said on "Today" in 2012.