Here are some new photos of Pippa Middleton, out and about in London. I’m sort of surprised we haven’t had any big announcements from Pippa, for her career or for her private life. I really thought the Today Show was going to hire her to be some kind of expensive and utterly useless “royal correspondent” or something. And I’m also surprised that Pippa hasn’t gotten any new “writing” gigs. She’s a professional socialite and writer now, you guys. That’s how she’s described in the American and UK press.
As for her personal life, I don’t think all is well. Her boyfriend of a year-and-a-half is moving to Switzerland for work… and possibly to get away from Pippa. And Nico Jackson is not even the top-tier boyfriend candidate – a few years ago, many thought that Pippa could have ended up with a titled aristocrat. Not so much these days. But it’s not all bad news! Pippa is getting some pregnancy rumors because she’s looking to buy a house with “nanny quarters.”
Pippa Middleton and partner Nico Jackson have set their hearts on their dream home – a £3million mansion with quarters for a nanny. They have been house-hunting since May but Kate’s sister has fallen in love with a Victorian terrace in Parsons Green, West London.
It boasts six double bedrooms, a luxury cinema suite – and, tellingly, a nanny pad. A source said: “The separate living accommodation for childcare is particularly appealing for them which could signal they think starting a family isn’t too far off. A little cousin for Prince George might not be out of the question after they set up home.”
The 1900s property is being refurbished but is due to be finished next week. Our source said: “Both Pippa and Nico were taken with it and when they saw the plans couldn’t wait to see the finished property. They just have a feeling it’ll be their first home.”
Banker Nico, 35, who last week quit Deutsche Bank for a hedge fund in Geneva, told friends in Maybe he wants children with his girlfriend of 20 months soon .
The source said: “They’ll be looking at properties in Geneva too, but are clear they want London as their main foothold.”
Pippa, 30, currently shares a £1million pad with brother James, which parents Carole and Michael bought outright.
This still isn’t making much sense to me. For sure, I believe that Pippa is real estate shopping in London. I’ll even believe that she’s looking for a bigger place to accommodate her future needs and a baby at some point in the future. But I don’t buy that Nico is the future. I don’t buy that Nico is all about shacking up with Pippa part-time in London and then working in Switzerland full-time. I also don’t understand how Pippa could afford that kind of place without “help” from her parents. And by her parents, I mean Dodgy Uncle Gary, who (I have always believed) funds the Middleton family’s lifestyle. I really do need to see some receipts on all of this.
PS… Here is why so many of us on Permanent Wiglet Watch think that Duchess Kate wears weaves, hair pieces , etc: it’s because Kate used to have hair that looked a lot like Pippa’s hair. Kate used to get pap’d on the street like this and her hair always looked like this.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
What’s a double bedroom?
Guessing, but maybe it is a bedroom-bathroom combination?
A double bedroom is one big enough for a double bed and two people. A single bedroom is only big enough for a single bed and one person. Remember: houses in the UK are MUCH smaller than in the US. 660 people per square mile in the UK; 90 in the US. Average house size here is under 1,000 sq ft. Your average 3-bedroom, semi-detached house has two double bedrooms and one single bedroom, with the single bedroom often being more of a cupboard at about 6ft x 6ft.
And yet, here in New York, with over 27,000 people per square mile, double bedrooms appear to be the standard. Go figure.
Thank you. Very interesting.
Presumably, that’s a bit like London? Everything’s so expensive, the people buying houses can afford double bedrooms? I dunno! I suppose cities will always be outliers?
Houses are very expensive in the UK too. Average is currently at £250k ($425k). I just had a quick nose at US figures and it seems to be $160k-$300k average, depending on region.
I think the UK just has more people to squash into a smaller area, and so consequently housing is both more expensive and smaller.
Not being on the continent with space to spread out makes the houses more expensive and much smaller. I was born in Tokyo where the majority rent all their lives and houses are relatively rare, especially in convenient locales. The houses here in Greater London are definitely bigger than those, but still a lot smaller than in America or Canada. Hell, even houses outside of the Home Counties are generally larger in build, for the same price.
The single bedroom sounds like my college dorm.
Reese Witherspoon should play her in a biopic. They remind me of one another for some reason. Double bedroom? UK friends please explain.
I’m more interested in the shirtless construction worker in the background. Is it really that hot in London? My husband is working outside in the American South all day and doesn’t take his shirt off!
I don’t think men should be shirtless unless they’re at the beach or pool. I hate when they go jogging without a shirt. So tacky.
I got stuck in an awful tailback yesterday and I was very grateful to all the drivers around me who were a) shirtless and b) got out of their vans and lorries to walk around. It made the time go by much quicker than I expected 🙂
I think it’s tacky too! I was at a local crazy golf course the other day and there was some chap walking around with his shirt tucked into the back pocket of his jeans…really? Also, the girl he was with was a tall skinny thing with big fake boobs and a too-tight dress…it’s crazy golf!
Lol, Ponytail, every rule has emergency exceptions.
The men who do it constantly are always the wrong men…beer bellies, whiny adolescents with pulled down pants, tattoos over wrinkly skin. I would include super hot, fit gorgeous men in your “emergency shirtless” exception list.
LOL at emergency shirtless situations!
I’ve often felt men should keep their shirts on too.
Although, I live near a top University that has a great track team. They run the same areas I do and I would greatly mind if they kept their shirts on!
On really hot days I’m down to my sports bra. There comes a point where it’s too oppressive to maintain a level of modesty that more applies to my gender than theirs.
A Brit might be able to answer this better, but I remember when I would visit London in the summer (I dated a dude from London for a long time and we visited his parents there a lot), I would see professional men in button downs and slacks take their shirts off at lunch break. The visit when I saw this phenomenon, it was a particularly hot summer there, and I saw lots of dudes just sitting around on park benches in their nice trousers, sans shirt. It didn’t bother me in the least, and I can totally see why dudes would do it. I live in the Southeast (America), and I always feel terrible for dudes who have to walk around all summer in the sweltering heat in a suit.
I am not trying to set forth some British stereotype and I could be totally wrong, but that’s what I remember. And, I mean, I get it. It’s hot out and it’s just a body, you know? NBD.
I’m bitter – when I can take my shirt off in public, so can they. Lol
Saw the same thing when I lived in Dublin for awhile. People used to tell me that they got so little real sun that everybody took the opportunity to soak it up when they could.
That is really interesting (I mean it). When I visited, it was winter. Evidently sitting on a bench in Hyde Park watching the dudes run would turn into a completely different adventure in July, eh?
British construction workers NEVER have their shirts on in the summer. NEVER! It’s good when a chubby one wolf whistles you or shouts “Hey, love! Get your tits out for the lads!” – which ALL British construction workers do to ALL women, it’s a law or something – because then you can shout back, “They don’t need MY tits – they’ve already got YOURS!”
That’s only a minor exaggeration. Honest.
Lol, it’s apparently a law everywhere that they must shout something rude. I wonder if it ever works?
Oh Sixer that story gave me a good laugh!
HA! Great comeback!
Bahahahahaha! “They don’t need MY tits – they’ve already got YOURS!” I actually shouted with laughter at that 😀
There is a heatwave in London at the moment! One day last week hit 32C.
I hope that’s one heck of a big pad she’s living in. I can’t imagine sharing a home with my brother in my thirties.
Never really thought about that before, but yeah, erghhhh! No way could my brother & I have shared at that age. We barely survived childhood in the same house!
That’s a cuter outfit than what she typically wears.
Agreed. The belt is a nice touch…
I love Pippa’s outfit!
Me, too. Cute.
On occasion Pippa wears some horrible outfits, but overall her style is hers. She’s a great fall dresser.
I like her outfit too but it’s so odd that she makes almost all her clothes look….tacky? Cheap? I don’t know how she manages to do that.
I think the point would be that Nico would buy the house, not Pippa. She could not afford a £3 million house – but he might be able to. He sold a flat in 2012 in South Kensington square for £1.56 million. They would not be shacking up but rather getting married – so what is his would be hers so to speak.
They’ve been on holiday together in Austria recently (after she got back from the US and before she swam the Bosphorus). And the job in Switzerland is connected with a close Middleton buddy, Mark Cecil, so it would appear that it was his relationship with Pippa which gave him the fast track to the job. So I wouldn’t write them off.
And I think Pippa looks very nice in these shots. The guy she’s with is Ben Fitzherbert, an old university friend and the heir of Lord Stafford. He’s married to her former roommate.
@justme – You’ve returned! Or maybe you’ve been “back” and I’ve been careless to not notice 🙁 Whichever the case, good to hear from you! Thanks for all of the info. That’s interesting about the Middleton connections giving Nico a helping hand with the job.
Also, it’s always interesting that Pippa always seems to have friends around, but Kate seems so…isolated. I’ve noticed a few DM articles that try to make Kate seem a little more sociable by continually bringing up her connection to that Emilia Jardine-Patterson (nee D’Erlanger), but it seems like that’s the only friend we hear about (aside from “Middleton family friends” so who knows how close Kate is with them individually). And the Jessica Hay connection has been nixed. It’s quite odd. I mean I only have a small group of close friends, but it seems like Kate has none.
HH
Kate could have friends if she chose to have friends. It’s known she tailored her life to fit William’s schedule and some of her friends didn’t make the cut. Williams hobbies became Kates hobbies and same goes for friends.
And i’ve moved around a lot. Became busy suddenly and didn’t always find it easy to maintain friendships or find the time to make friends. So, I feel for Kate a bit here. Although, she isn’t that busy and isn’t country hopping for school or work (yea). She’s surrounded by people she could be friends with and likely wouldn’t run to the press.
My point I mean to make is if she’s isolated, it’s because she wants to be. And let’s not forget the RAF Wives. Those ladies are said to hold a tight circle with tight lips. No one would have ran to the press, but she declined their invite. As it is i’m sure Kate is happy enough. She knows all the right people. Has all the right titles, and has all the money she could ever hope to spend.
Side thought. Maybe no one really wants to be her friend? That would be sad.
HH: it’s always amusing to me that Emilia is often touted as a great Kate friend when Infact she is a great William friend. She grew up with William and Harry. At one time as teens she was thought to be dating Harry – that’s how often she was seen with him/them.
If anyone is Kate’s great friend, it’s Trini Foyle who has been with Kate since they were teens and seems to fall in and out of favour according to what Kate needs.
I was so happy (for Kate) when they were papped together during Kate’s pregnancy as well as one of Kate’s recent birthdays – might have been 31st, can’t remember which. Anyways, let’s say that I think Emilia is a convenient friend in terms of usefulness to Kate and she was rewarded for services rendered, whereas I was genuinely surprised that the one who is possible and genuinely Kate’s soul friend, without being William’s friend, wasn’t amongst the godparents.
Ps: like the wedding, did you notice that the godparents are ALL William’s connections?!!
Oh Kate, you should have insisted on Trini.
Lak: You are a veritable encyclopedia of accurate info on the royals, be it historical, factual data or simply tasty, gossipy tidbits. In a lot of your posts you’ve made reference to pap or twitter shots that don’t seem to get posted on sites like this one and I am curious where you find these. Apart from Niraj Tanna’s twitter and Royal Dish, I usually come up empty — especially with regard to the candid shots of Kate shopping, or doing errands.
Nancy: I don’t follow one particular blog or tumbler or twitter though I do check up on several, but I work in media where I hear so many gossipy titbits. I follow the trail to random twitter accounts/blogs/instagrams that have the pictures. I often forget that not all the pictures are posted in the usual places and or sometimes pictures are posted briefly before being taken down.
Your question has made me realise that perhaps I should start saving them especially now articles are disappearing/have disappeared from google – major additional whitewashing going on.
@justme
It sounds a little off…could you even find a newly-renovated
six-bedroom house in West London for 3 million pounds.
Sounds low for the neighbourhood, non?
Just me ….spot on.
I’m hearing Pippa buying the flat, is not true as she can’t afford it and does not have the money$ for it.
If Pippa and Nico even go the distance after he goes to Geneva, I’ll believe it when I see it.
How inconsiderate of Pippa to jump into the photographer’s way when they were trying to get a shot of the topless scaffolder behind!
I see it happening with Nico, no problem. She is a Middleton, they know how to wait!
She reminds me of Reese Witherspoon (do you know who she is?) – but orange obviously.
Why did they blur the topless man? I wanted to see him.
It’s pretty obvious that he wants to make bank so they can live better. No real conspiracy there.
Love her outfit!!!
That’s a cute outfit. Casual but very put together.
Maybe it’s just me, but that looks like actual sun on her and not her winter orangey look.
This made me think of that new-ish show Almost Royal. Poppy Carlton looks tanned in many shots. Then when someone who isn’t her brother steps into frame (like a tour guide or the man teaching her how to shoot) she appears bright orange. You need to see pippa side by side with someone who isn’t orange at all to know for sure.
That said she could be dialing it back on the spray tan. Or we can’t fairly judge without a neutral comparrison.
Considering the book advance and all the high paying columns she’s been writing – you know she’ll have negotiated top GBP based upon her fame and royal links, it’s entirely possible that she saved up enough for a deposit on a house that costs that much.
What is interesting is how a mortgage lender would assess her future earnings since she’s not going to be famous and therefore able to trade on that fame forever unless Uncle Gary or the boyfriend are paying off the mortgage.
The parents are known to be mortgaged to the hilt and needed help on their current pile. No way are they financing this purchase.
LAK – Every time I see your screen name, I think “I have to get to Ikea”.
Anyway, if there was betting on this, I’d bet Nico is the buyer and they plan to get married. I think these two are a really great match and both are getting a good deal in terms of a marriage partner if the speculation about their individual aspirations and motivations are true. Second choice would be Uncle Gary is underwriting Pippa. It is interesting about the parents mortgage so I agree that rules them out as financial backers for Pippa.
I have no concept of what she might earn for a 6 month contract to write a column. Has the pay for any of them ever been leaked or hinted at? I recall her book advance was 400k pounds. I also wonder if British Heart Foundation is paying her to be a spokesperson. I’m sure they funded her bike race expenses but maybe there’s more money than that.
Rambling here, but she burns through a lot of money and it seems unlikely the book advance and a few columns are enough to fund her lifestyle plus excess for a down payment. Granted zero cost housing frees up major funds for discretionary spending but still, all the air travel she does, tons of new clothes…
Minnfinn: LOL!!! 🙂
I quite agree with your assessment.
FLORC: the Middleton finances remain opaque, but around the time they were bidding for their current house, a tiny light shone in the dark. Apparently they were mortgaged to a bank in Sweden. And apparently the mortgage was several times the value of their home.
I’m on my phone which makes posting links difficult, but let me google the right articles and post the right combination of words so you can find them.
EDIT: found an article by Richard Kay in the news section (Rightminds) of DM: article title is ‘home swede home’ when you google ‘the middletons mortgage swedish bank’
Similar information appears in the mandrake section of the telegraph.
LAK
Thanks.
My mobile devices an this site always give me link posting issues. Can only reliably post from my laptop. And at this point my laptop is a desktop with a tablet and phone being far more mobile.
I do remember that article/info. I thought you were stating more recent info, but this clarifies.
More and more it only makes sense Gary really is the most profitable member. And his money is gained is less than honest manners.
Someday I do hope the books are opened on PP. Either to find out How Carole has a genie granting her wishes or simply to see how she made her business profitable. It would be a hell of a story. Carole would be in demand on a speaker circuit.
LAK
I didn’t realize the Middletons finances were known. What exactly are they mortgaged out on? The Chelsea flat and their current estate were said to be paid for in cash. Unless, they took a mortgage out against owned properties?
When I and my husband applied for our mortgage loan the banker became all the sweeter to us after viewing our history and current income. We might have been tossed out if “freelance” or “socialite” appeared as job titles.
She looks lovely without the fake tan
I have to admit I am jealous of how toned her arms are!
She just swam the Bosphorus as part of her charity fundraising last week. Did it in one hour and five minutes – no wonder those arms are toned! 🙂
http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/swimmers-invade-bosphorus-for-cross-continent-race-1-3482716
I forgot she was doing that. I thought she was looking more toned than usual.
She’s very dedicated to her extreme challenges. I wonder why she doesn’t make documentaries of them. I’d certainly watch.
A doc might be seen as a grab for the spotlight in the eyes of the palace? I admire her drive for endurance sport fundraising. I do envy that of Pippa. Work out all day every day and have money raised for a cuase while doing so and as motivation. Heaven!
Pippa is certainly an opportunist, so I think she and that dude are very well suited to each other.
Her hair looks thin and greasy. Don’t mind the dress on her, she looks good. At least she isn’t starving herself like somebody we know. I also like that she wears flats from time to time, doesn’t apparently have the hangup about her height like her sister seems to.
She should ditch that signet ring.