The Surprising Way Kate Middleton Contributed to Pippa Middleton’s Wedding Ceremony
By Josh Duboff. Photos: Getty Images.
There was much consideration before Pippa Middleton’s wedding as to what role sister Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, would have during the ceremony. Pippa famously served as one of Kate’s bridesmaids at the 2011 royal wedding (her dress becoming one of the most discussed bridesmaid dresses of all time). But Kate was not given a formal role in Pippa’s ceremony, ostensibly as a means for letting Pippa shine the brightest, without being upstaged by her uncommonly famous sister.
Kate did seem to play several roles—though they were not perhaps formally designated—in the ceremony, based on photographs. She was seen helping Pippa make her entrance, holding up the train, and also leading the group of young children serving as bridesmaids and page boys. (She was seen shushing Prince George in one of the most circulated photographs from the day.)
And it turns out she also contributed to the service, held at St. Mark’s Church, in a more subtle, surprising way. Kate, per a new report from The Sun, drew a sketch of the church that was featured on the program for Pippa’s ceremony. (The program was photographed in the hands of groom James Matthews’s mother, as she left the service.) Per the Sun, Matthews himself also cited Kate’s drawing during his speech, saying, “To Pippa’s sister, such ability—a beautiful drawing of St. Mark’s Church in the order of service.” (That she would not be referred to by name further indicates the intention to mitigate Kate focus-pulling.)
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Kate has always been known as a supporter and champion of the arts. She majored in art history in college, and has become a patron of the National Portrait Gallery, as well as the charity The Art Room. She also now regularly takes the portraits of Prince George and Princess Charlotte that are typically released on their birthdays. But this is the first time we have become privy to her drawing talent.
Does this really surprise anyone, though? That there would be another skill Kate would excel at? Frankly, we imagine she could be asked to conduct an orchestra for the first time, or spin a perfect vase on a pottery wheel while blindfolded, or whatever, and produce state-of-the-art work every time.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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