Pippa Middleton's Cheeky Response To Public Commotion Over Her Dress At Kate's Wedding

After Catherine Middleton, Princess of Wales, married into the British royal family, her family became semi-public figures themselves. The princess' younger sister, Pippa Middleton, caught the paparazzi's attention during their pre-royal days, but she is mostly remembered for causing a stir at Kate's 2011 wedding ceremony to William, Prince of Wales. As a maid of honor at a royal wedding, Pippa's figure-hugging bridesmaid dress was a mishap. Plenty of headlines broke out about the dress highlighting the shape of Pippa's derriere, and blogs and Facebook pages joined in on the craze.

Pippa Middleton addressed the media commotion a few years later. She told Today in 2014 that she didn't expect it. "You know, I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress. Really just to sort of blend in with the train [of Kate's dress]," the younger Middleton said. She added that she guessed the attention was flattering, but it was simultaneously embarrassing. 

Pippa also made a cheeky remark that year about her post-wedding fame at a dinner for the London branch of Women in Advertising and Communications. "As I have found out, recognition has its upside, its downside and — you may say — its backside," she said (via Splash News). She added that she was glad the dress fit her but mentioned that "it fitted a little too well!" 

When Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Prince and Princess of Wales, tied the knot for all the world to see, viewers couldn't stop talking about Pippa Middleton's bottom in her bridesmaid dress. The fact that people thought the dress hugged Pippa's backside and remembered that the camera frequently captured her bending down to grab her sister's train wasn't the only reason Pippa made headlines, though.The color of her dress also caused a bit of a stir.

Many pointed out that the slender white gown went against the expectation that the bride is the only one wearing white at a wedding. However, there's an important reason Pippa wore white to her sister's wedding. Brides wearing white at weddings is a tradition that dates back to Queen Victoria's wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. And an even older tradition had Victoria's bridesmaids mimicking her own bridal look. One of the purposes of bridesmaids, according to an old superstition, is to ward off any evil that might visit the bride on her big day. Sociologist Angela L. Thompson told The New York Times, "By having several women who are dressed alike, the spirits, or kidnappers, wouldn't know which person was the bride."

Given that Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana's wedding parties wore matching white dresses with the bride, it only made sense that Kate followed that tradition as well. Pippa Middleton ironically endured a media frenzy about her bottom while observing a custom meant to make her blend in. On the bright side, the bridesmaid gown is fortunately considered one of Pippa Middleton's best wedding guest outfits.