Have you missed Pippa Middleton? I have. She hasn’t been getting pap’d on a regular basis lately. Maybe she found a new way to go to work, or maybe her lawyers succeeded in threatening the British tabloids into leaving her alone. Whatever happened, these are some of the first photos we’ve had of Pippa since January! Pippa signed on to a cross-country ski race in Sweden called Vasaloppet (sound it out, it’s fun to say), all to raise money/awareness for a children’s charity called Magic Breakfast. Pippa placed 412th out of 1,734 women. And that’s not all – she spoke to a news outlet! At long last, we get to hear Pippa’s voice. It’s actually kind of nice:

She seems kind of bitchy and over it, which I enjoy. It just shows you that she’s not a royal – she doesn’t have to pretend to be nice to everyone. Plus, I feel like that’s her real accent, unlike her sister, who has so obviously had voice lessons to the point where her voice and accent seem very, very unnatural. Also note: Pippa did this epic ski thing all while keeping her beloved Middleton eyeliner in place! Huzzah.

In other Pippa news, you know how I keep ringing the “Pippa is going to be a duchess too, y’all” bell? Well, it’s on. All of Pippa’s scheming, plotting, angling, and sexual espionage (I’m assuming) has paid off – George Percy, the future Duke of Northumberland, is now her boyfriend. There’s a photo of George and Pippa embracing. And People Mag is calling it:

A kiss for good luck? As Pippa Middleton prepared to leave her London home for Sweden, where she competed in a charity ski challenge, she popped by for some support from off- and on-again beau George Percy.

The royal bridesmaid, 28, and the heir to the Duke of Northumberland were spotted smooching in front of Middleton’s BMW last Thursday, after she waited for Percy in front of his house.

Once he darted outside, Percy exchanged a warm embrace with Middleton that lasted “for five minutes,” according to an onlooker.

“They seemed inseparable,” the source adds, explaining that the close-knit couple “eventually broke themselves away from one another and Pippa got back in her car and raced off.”

And she continued racing Sunday, when she came in 412th place in the Vasaloppet – a 56-mile cross-country ski race.

[From People]

Oh, it’s on. Pippa landed him. Apparently, she’s been working on him for about nine months – she was working on him while she was still tangled up with Alex Loudon too. When Alex finally dumped her, I think she had already made significant inroads with George, and her plan (“The Duchess Pippa Scheme”) went full-speed ahead. God bless her. This girl has ten-times the balls-out ambition of her sister. My guess is that even if George ever wanted to extricate himself from Pippa, he would find it very, very difficult. He might as well just propose and get it over with.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame.

I don’t have the time or the inclination to go through the whole sordid history, but I’ll try to recap the major plot points. Last year, Pippa Middleton became a commodity, and as such, her relationship with Alex Loudon suffered. Pippa and Alex were on and off for months before Alex finally dumped her. During a few of their breakups, Pippa began cozying up to her ex, George Percy, the future Duke of Northumberland. She even spent the night at his place, which the paparazzi caught. Since the split with Alex, Pippa spent more time with Percy, and with his roommate (and another ex of Pippa’s), JJ Jardine-Paterson. Basically, Pippa has been angling to “uptrade” to someone titled (or filthy rich, or both) for a year. And the British tabloids claim that Pippa has succeeded! YAY FOR UPTRADEY!

ROYAL bridesmaid Pippa Middleton is following in sister Kate’s noble footsteps — she’s dating a mega-rich Earl whose real-life home is HOGWARTS. Pippa, 27, is in a serious romance with her old flame George Percy, heir to the Duke of Northumberland. It is one of Britain’s richest and grandest dukedoms, with a vast estate that includes Alnwick Castle, movie setting for Harry Potter’s wizard school.

George, 27 — dubbed Prince of the North by pals — will one day inherit the lot, including a fortune of £315million.

A source close to the couple said last night: “George is very smitten and completely in love with her. It looks like the Middleton sisters will be completing the double before too long.”

Pippa has been close pals with George for years. They met at Edinburgh University and had a fling in their final year in 2008. Last year they insisted they were “just friends” after he was seen helping her get over her split with banker Alex Louden. But it blossomed into love at a New Year’s Eve party thrown by the Middleton family. The source revealed: “Pippa sat herself next to George at supper and made sure she was hanging off his arm all night. And then she made her move. It was like a shark circling its bait. Some people think she has always set out to do this.”

The pal added: “Pippa has always been close to him. There is no doubt this was a huge issue for her ex-boyfriend Alex. After they parted the first thing she did was spend a weekend on George’s estate in Northumberland. But now they are out in the open.”

When George was 14 his father went to court to delay his inheritance, fearing it would send him off the rails. Instead of getting £1million and £250,000-a-year income at 18, he had to wait until he was 25.

The source added: “If Pippa ends up marrying Earl Percy, then it isn’t a bad return on Carole Middleton’s investment when she sent her two daughters to posh public schools!”

THE Percys were the most powerful noble family in the North in the Middle Ages. William de Percy was a pal of William the Conquerer. The dukedom comes with 100,000 acres, 100 tenanted farms, an estate in Surrey and a mansion in London. As a boy, George was a page to the Queen.

[From The Sun]

I know Pippa isn’t beloved around here, but I like this girl. She works, she has ambitions beyond “getting the ring” and she plays a more aggressive game than her sister. Plus, I just think Pippa has way more personality than Kate. So I’m hoping Pippa did pounce on her prey and that she will be a duchess too (at some point). Yay!

PS… George is the blonde dude in these photos. He’s not bad-looking, he just seems a bit milquetoast.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN & PCN.

Pippa Middleton’s daily fashion show for the paparazzi continues unabated. The photos of Pippa in the blue coat are from today, and the ones of Pippa in the black dress with the wide, retro white collar are from yesterday. Pippa rarely wears the same outfit twice, and her unlimited supply of coats and jackets is really starting to bug me. Still, I like covering Pippa. She’s kind of budget and she’s too ambitious to be defined solely by her sister, and I like that she tries to be interesting.

Speaking of interesting, Pippa went to a wedding over the weekend. Two of her university friends, Georgina Hewlett and the Honourable Benjamin Fitzherbert, got married. Pippa arrived alone, but once there, she was spotted chatting up TWO of her ex-boyfriends:

The 28-year-old was joined by two former flames – banking heir JJ Jardine Paterson, whom she dated for more than three years, and former flatmate George Percy, son of the Duke of Northumberland.

One source said: ‘It was a great chance for them all to catch up. Pippa didn’t seem to mind being alone. She waved the car off after the service and looked really happy to be there. Georgina is one of her good friends – they were roommates at Edinburgh in the first year.’

A friend added: ‘Pippa’s playing the dating game and having fun. She’s in no hurry to settle down.’

[From The Mail]

That’s it, Pippa. Play the game. “Oh, I can’t even imagine getting married! I’m just a girl who is all about fun!” Bait the trap, see which rich, titled men come sniffing around, and then POUNCE. Get yourself a title, girl! And it’s working too – before the wedding, Pippa has been “spotted” on a date with JJ Jardine Peterson:

The Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister Pippa Middleton has reportedly been spotted dining with her ex boyfriend JJ Jardine-Paterson at a secluded restaurant in the countryside.

Pippa and the 29-year-old banking heir were spotted enjoying an intimate meal Friday evening, The Sun has reported. The pair – who dated for three years after meeting as students at Edinburgh University – dined privately at the Crown Hotel restaurant in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

An onlooker told The Sun: ‘Pippa looked really happy and relaxed in a striking orange blouse. It is clear they have history. They seemed keen to keep themselves to themselves.’

The party planner, 27, and JJ were later joined by friends before leaving together. They attended the wedding of mutual friends in the nearby village of Melton the next day.

And the estranged couple could be planning to rekindle their romance in the future. A friend explained: ‘They’ve remained good friends and now she’s single again we wouldn’t rule it out. JJ ticks all the right boxes – he’s good-looking, sporty, and is from a wealthy family.’

[From Metro]

It could have been a “just friends” thing between a man and woman with a lot of shared history. Or they could be boning. Who can say?

By the way, did you know that George Percy and JJ Jardine share the same flat in London? That makes the whole “Uptradey spent the night with George Percy, and then went on a date with JJ” story a bit more interesting, doesn’t it? Does Uptradey do threesomes? Anyway, I’m calling it: Pippa is going to end up married to one of them, JJ or George. JJ is filthy rich, and George is rich and titled. Who will it be?

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Oh, Pippa. The more you try to make me interested in your crazy love life, the less interested I become in your little Uptradey act. Just days after Pippa made a big, public splash at Wimbledon with her seemingly on-again (or never-broke-up-again) boyfriend Alex Loudon, Pippa was back at Wimbledon on Friday… with her ex, George Percy, the future Duke of Northumberland. Percy is the chap in the blue button-down shirt, the one sitting beside Pippa who is being blocked by other people in these photos. You might recognize him from the photos of his and Pippa’s Madrid jaunt, or from their night out a few weeks ago, where Pippa went to his apartment after dinner, and left the next morning, doing a duchess-y walk of shame.

Pippa Middleton wasn’t about to let her sister Kate steal all the limelight. While the Duchess of Cambridge was causing a huge buzz on a royal visit to Canada, Pippa turned heads at Wimbledon when she descended on Centre Court again, this time to watch the men’s semi-finals.

Intriguingly, she wasn’t with her boyfriend Alex Loudon, who she took to SW19 on Wednesday. This time the 27-year-old was accompanied by former flame George Percy.

There has been some speculation recently that their romance has been rekindled, especially since the pair jetted off to Madrid earlier this month and were spotted together at the Queen’s tournament.

George Percy is Earl Percy, heir to one of the richest and grandest dukedoms in the land, the Duchy of Northumberland. The ancient pile he will inherit, Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, is home to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, is known as the ‘Windsor of the North’ and the family are regarded locally in Border country as their royalty.

Pippa is also a kind of royalty – Her Royal Hotness. And she swapped the sizzling fitted red number from the Hobbs NW3 range that she wore on Wednesday for a sizzling knitted black number by Tania, a trendy brown handbag and a large pair of sunglasses.

Pippa was clearly in a great mood, and was all smiles as she first watched Novak Djokovic’s clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and then Andy Murray’s showdown with Rafael Nadal.

[From The Mail]

So, what does this mean? Theories: One, Pippa and Alex Loudon are still “on” but Pippa gets to spend time with George Percy for whatever reason, and Alex doesn’t care. Two, Pippa is openly dating both George and Alex, because the girl likes some diversity. Three, Alex thinks he’s the only one, and he thinks that Pippa is merely “friends” with her ex, and that he has nothing to worry about. I don’t know which is true, but I do know – I feel it in my heart – that Pippa is pushing this Percy thing, HARD. She wants to be a duchess. And she’s being quite bold about it. That’s our Uptradey!

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.