Here are some photos of Pippa Middleton and her brother James at Wimbledon earlier this week. Blah. Her style sucks. Pippa Tip: If one enjoys tennis, one should attend Wimbledon. The #PippaTips meme began shortly after Pippa Middleton’s terrible party-planning book failed. Celebrate was a publishing disaster – Pippa got a reported $400,000-plus advance for the book, and the sales didn’t even come close to breaking even. Pippa was mostly to blame – while the book had some lovely photos, it was full of super-obvious “tips” for parties, like “fill up the ice trays if you want ice.” Plus, Pippa didn’t promote the book at all. So, a total disaster. But somehow, Pippa managed to score writing gigs with Waitrose Kitchen (a fancy Martha Stewart Living-like magazine) and Vanity Fair.

The disaster also resulted in a really funny parody Twitter account called PippaTips. It’s full of Pippa-esque gems to make your life easier. The authors of the PippaTips Twitter account also published a book, a faux guide to pregnancy in honor of Duchess Kate called What To Expect When One is Expecting: A Posh Person’s Guide To Pregnancy And Parenting. Apparently, this book was the proverbial straw that broke the Pippa’s back. She’s now trying to shut down the PippaTips authors!!

Only six months ago Pippa Middleton was said to be entirely relaxed after the emergence of Pippatips, a spoof Twitter account which gently lampooned her party planning book Celebrate — criticised for stating the ‘glaringly obvious.’

Indeed, Pippa even wrote in a magazine article that the spoof was ‘all good fun’ and joked that she might call her next book Bottoms Up, in tribute to the most admired part of her anatomy. But now it seems her mood has dramatically changed. It follows the publication earlier this month of the Pippa impersonators’ first book, What To Expect When One is Expecting: A Posh Person’s Guide To Pregnancy And Parenting.

Both the authors, Mat Morrisroe and Suzanne Azzopardi, have gone to ground amid claims that fancy privacy lawyers Harbottle & Lewis have pursued them for ‘passing off’. It is said demands may have included the pulping of the book and that the Twitter account is shut down.

With the imminent arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first baby, the book pokes gentle fun at bespoke pregnancy, with tips such as: ‘For summer pregnancies sunglasses can be a stylish way of keeping bright light from your eyes.’

And: ‘You will probably undergo lots of tests at this point. Don’t worry, though, you won’t need to revise.’

Its authors were last night unavailable. But at its launch, Morrisroe declared: ‘It is meant to be satire and a bit silly, to make people laugh, but also to poke fun in a broader sense at people in a sudden position of authority who start giving out advice like they are experts.’

Indeed, pals of Pippa tell me that the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister possesses a ‘great’ sense of humour. And, indeed, that seems borne out by the way she has handled an almost relentless spell in the limelight since Kate married Prince William two years ago.

But legal sources say someone must have had a ‘sense of humour failure’ to consider such an action.

One leading privacy barrister tells me: ‘This is not just an attack on free speech but an attack on satire which has been part of British life for 300 years. We are fast becoming like France where no one is allowed to poke fun at anyone in print.’

Last night Icon Books boss Philip Cotterell would only say: ‘We do not discuss private legal matters publicly.’ Neither Harbottle & Lewis nor its PR company returned calls.

[From The Mail]

“Pals of Pippa tell me that the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister possesses a ‘great’ sense of humour. And, indeed, that seems borne out by the way she has handled an almost relentless spell in the limelight since Kate married Prince William two years ago.” That she actively pursued and enjoyed and profited from. Kate marrying William was the best thing that ever happened to Pippa. She’s rich, she’s eligible and being pursued by rich guys, she keeps getting writing jobs even though her advice is mind-numbingly “basic”.

But yes, this lawsuit/legal threat is a terrible idea. It’s offensive on many different levels. The Pippa Tips thing was so harmless – none of it was malicious whatsoever. It didn’t even involve defamation – it was purely parody. And like all great parodies, it was firmly rooted in the reality of the situation. Pippa Tip: If one wants to avoid being teased about being an idiot, stop taking nepotistic jobs where your lack of expertise is on full display.

By the way, James Middleton (brother to Kate and Pippa) has a new “girlfriend” named Donna Air. Um. Do you believe that these two are actually intimate?!

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, WENN.