Michael Middleton comes from a distinguished background, and so I think that he gets a pass because of that. It was his inherited money which paid for the children's education, according to articles I have read. Also, I think there's some sexism involved here as well as classism. If James married a highly-born young lady, I don't think that there'd be quite the uproar as there is with Pippa dating upper-class men.
Perhaps Zonk had better transfer this to the Middleton thread as well / instead, as in order to explain about Pippa, I have had to mention her parents as well.
First, could I start by remarking that, as I have said before, I hate snobbery and class issues, but for want of a better way of putting it, Carole Middleton was born into a working-class background, based on the occupation of her parents and the fact that they lived in council [public] housing. Michael Middleton was born into a middle-class background to the extent that his parents owned their own house [not quite so common back in the 1950's, particularly when the war had made housing in short supply]. Newspapers sometimes erroneously describe Michael Middleton as an airline captain, i.e. a professional occupation: in fact, he was never a pilot and worked in administrative roles including those airside. I do not need to repeat here that through their hard work the Middletons have become wealthy. As to their social position, they are now obviously much more middle class.
The Middleton's source of money has long fascinated journalists: as Mermaid so rightly says, there were articles that stated that inherited wealth [i.e. on Michael's side] paid for Pippa and Catherine's education. Further reserach was then done by the Daily Telegraph, which [because wills and the amount a person leaves when he dies are public knowledge in the UK], they were able to trace back to the alleged 'source' of the wealth, and then discovered that much of it did not actually exist, and that Michael's forebears did not even live in anything other than 'average houses'. And certainly, before Party Pieces took off, the house where Catherine lived before her parents moved to their current home was small and semi-detached. Nothing wrong with this whatsover, I should add, but it certainly is not suggestive of great inherited wealth.
For what it is worth, the word in my circles is that initially, the Middletons had financial help from the schools themselves to help educate Pippa and Catherine. And this is actually not so rare - fees are astronomical and I believe that the figure from most schools is that more than half of their pupils receive some help towards the fees. Catherine originally went to Downe House because she could be a 'day boarder', thereby saving her parents the considerable cost of boarding fees. I have also been told that the person who helped with the cost of the Middleton's schooling before Party Pieces took off was............Uncle Gary. Which is why I could have saved the DM and assorted other tabloids a lot of trouble when they began the pre-wedding 'will Uncle Gary be there?' articles. Believe you me, Uncle Gary could NEVER have been excluded!
Whilst I fully agree that Pippa can't stay at home etc, I do think that her appearances are too public to be regarded as 'just a person enjoying herself'. The sort of social life - non-stop - that she is
constantly having is actually very different from that experienced by what, for want of a better word, I will call 'Old Money'. I hope NGalitzine can read and comment on this, but in my view, Pippa's lifestyle is too 'in your face' to be regarded as that of a normal Society girl. And as for tennis matches etc, yes, Pippa is a keen player but I am quite sure that her front row appearances etc are due more than anything else to the 'royal' connection. I did post on another thread that the Royal Family 'test' to make sure that you are not being exploited because of your royal connections is to ask yourself ' would I be going to this if I were not connected to royalty in some way?'. For my own part, whilst the tabloids are obviously building up Pippa, I have to say that I think that she is 'working' / 'milking' her royal connections to at least some degree!
And it is possible to 'take more of a back seat role' and I am sure Pippa could do this if she wanted to: It's is bit like how Carole Middleton always seems to take centre-stage, whereas Michael is able to keep more in the background himself. Take Royal Ascot; both Middletons were in the carriage procession: Carole was exceedingly animated and waving at everyone - believe me, I was there. [and i have to say, Carole had my sympathy, because if I had just married my daughter into the BRF I would be waving a lot as well!!] You just could not FAIL to notice Carole, she was 'everywhere'. Carole was also very heavily false-tanned and 'stood out a mile' for this reason alone. Meanwhile, Michael Middleton sat there quietly dignified and people barely noticed him, since all the attention was being focused on his star of a wife. Quick footnote: I have NEVER heard Carole Middleton called 'Doors to Manual' as the papers claim. What people do call her is 'PMM'. I gather that this unkindly stands for 'Pushy Mummy Middleton'. I believe that this attitude towards Carole is what has swung over to how Pippa Middleton is viewed. I have never heard an unkind word being spoken about Michael Middleton.
Just my thoughts, and not meant to offend.
Alex
