I have just read the link to the Daily Mail article.
The first thing I have noted is that there are no direct quotations directly attributable to the Loudons. Or anyone else, come to that!
Parts of what the article says do ring true in places though: so please can I give a little background information?
First, it seems that the 'Class System' is once again rearing its ugly head! Before I go any further, I would like to qualify my remarks by saying that so far as I am personally concerned, my family brought be up to treat everyone with respect regardless of their 'social background'; indeed, my mother once told me that there are only TWO classes of people: nice people and nasty people'. And, equally importantly, I was taught that I would never go far wrong if I treated everyone how I liked to be treated myself.
That aside, the traditional English class system used to recognise 3 'levels' of class; working class, middle class and of course upper class. It has, however, always been slightly difficult to define 'who fits where' and this is becoming more difficult: one reason of course is 'education and money'. The Middle Class is also often split into 'lower middle class' and 'upper middle class'. Trade used to be looked-down upon, however rich it might have made someone. Money acquired through professional endeavours was regarded as much better.
For want of a better word, 'traditional' working class people were once generally poorly educated and poorly paid: fast forward to the 21st century and more and more people are going to university and so far as money is concerned, many traditionally 'working class' occupations are better paid than some traditional 'middle class' professions. Class in the 21st Century seems somewhat fluid!
Nancy Mitford of course used language as a 'class indicator': hands up anyone here whe has read her essay on 'U and non-U' languge use. ['U' standing for 'upper class]. For example, don't forget how poor old Carol Middleton was lambasted for alledgedly saying 'Pardon', 'Pleased to meet you' and 'Toilet'. [although of course, it later transpired that Mrs Middleton had NEVER said these things...]
Apart from wealth, education and language use, one other 'Class Indicator' is in fact publicity. To the traditional Upper Class, any appearance in newspapers was thought to be the ultimate in vulgarity apart from on 3 occasions: Birth, Marriage and Death, when it was entirely allowable to allow these events [sometimes abbreviated to 'hatch, match and dispatch'] to be announced publically in the broadsheet press. Otherwise: forget it! Photos and articles in the papers of the Boodles Boxing Ball, Front Row at the Tennis, the Launch of Basil's Bar at the Goring Hotel: All totally and unacceptable vulgar to the traditional upper class.
It may therefore be that Alex's parents would regard Pippa's frequent appearances in the papers as vulgar. [apart from 'hatch, match and dispatch above, there was one slight exception to this: I am not sure if anyone here has ever heard of Mrs Betty Kenward; she deserves a little write-up of her own on a suitable thread one day! This lady became regarded as a 'Chronicler of Society' and for 50 years wrote a 'Society Column' in one of the English glossy magazines. She was a confidante of the Royal Family: indeed, one of the reasons for the cessation of Court Presentations was the information about the various abuses of this practice that Mrs Kenward disclosed to the Courtiers. To be mentioned in one of Mrs Kenward's columns (she wrote about Society and Royal Events) was regarded as acceptable social publicity - an exception to the 'hatch, match etc' rule.]
Thus, regardless of whether or not all these 'helpful' 'friends' did actually speak to the Daily Mail, my humble opinion is that the remarks attributed to them about the Loudons objecting to 'Pippa's Publicity' do not seem totally wide of the mark to me!!
For what it is worth, and I do not want to stray too far off topic, I do know quite a lot of people who I would describe as being from a traditional upper class background who were quite genuinely horrified at Pippa Middleton's dress at the Royal Wedding. They felt that it was both vulgar in the extreme in the way that it had hugged her figure and also vulgar in that it focused attention away from the bride at the wedding. Although this is really a mattter for another thread, it is also fair to say that many of the 'old guard' disapprove of the Middleton family; there is a certain absurdity in this bearing in mind that Catherine is married to the heir to the throne and the Middletons and most recently Pippa have been guests at Windsor and Balmoral etc. Possibly it says as much about the people who actually made the remarks than about the Middletons themselves, but in my report on Royal Ascot earlier in the year, I mentioned how a good few people in the Royal Enclosure made adverse comments about Carole Middleton's alleged social faux pas - her fake tan, her over-enthusiastic waving from the carriage etc, the unladylike glimpse of her (ill-cut) panties etc etc. As I said, the various unkind remarks directed at the Middletons are both inappropriate and uncalled-for, but the Middleton family does have its detractors and although I have no idea what the Loudons really think, I don't find it beyond the realms of possibility that they would have qualms about Pippa. Although I do not really think that they would stoop low enough to mention this to the DM!
Just my thoughts and not meant to offend,
Alex
