Time Magazine’s annual “Time 100” list came out today. This is where Time (and their readers) chose the “most influential people” of the year, broken down in categories of Artists, Inventors, etc. Some of the people who made this year’s list include Rihanna, Chelsea Handler (dear God), Jessica Chastain, Adele, Harvey Weinstein and of course, Duchess Kate and her sister Pippa Middleton. WTF? Look, I could cosign Duchess Kate’s inclusion – although she’s hilariously lazy and always on vacation, she IS “influential” and she inspires debate and conversation and everything she wears sells out. But to include Pippa as well? No.

To appreciate the remarkable rise of the siblings whose very name, Middleton, seemed to presage an unremarkable life among their fellow commoners, you must first appreciate the forces that keep most Britons in their place. Snobbery is one luxury all classes feel able to afford. The man and woman in the U.K. street are swift to mock the upwardly mobile. As Prince William whispered sweet nothings to his girlfriend, the press muttered nasty somethings about her supposed ambition to wed above her station. They dubbed her Waitie Katie and bracketed her with Pippa as “the wisteria sisters,” determined to climb.

Since Kate, 30, successfully scaled the palace walls, Pippa, 28, now globally recognized, especially from behind, has found herself under yet greater pressure. A photo editor at a British paper recently revealed he is offered as many as 400 paparazzi photos of Pippa every day.

Those images matter. The Middletons have become avatars of aspiration. Other women aim to dress like them, to emulate their easy athleticism and their more problematic slenderness.

How do the sisters feel about their influence? They aren’t saying. Latter-day Mona Lisas, they smile mysteriously and keep their mouths closed. In an age of bleating, tweeting, confessional celebrity, the middle-class Middletons show real class.

[From Time]

Full of back-handed compliments, right? It’s almost like we Americans are being snobs about the Middletons just because we don’t really get why they’re a thing? As I said – I would cosign Duchess Kate’s inclusion, and I could even see Kate inspiring a real, complimentary piece about why she deserves to be on this list. But when you throw her together with her sister, it just seems like… I don’t know. Like the official media is saying that all these ladies will be is “Waity and her pushy little party-girl sister.”

Speaking of, Waity and Pippa got the cover of Us Weekly! It’s full of weird innuendo and misinformation, though – it’s all about Pippa’s incident in France with the gun, which legit media outlets say is a non-starter. Pippa won’t be arrested. She won’t even be fined. Still, here you go:

Almost exactly a year after her sister Kate Middleton’s royal wedding, Pippa Middleton is stealing the scene again — but it’s nothing as light-hearted as flirty chats with Prince Harry or a derriere-enhancing bridesmaids’ dress.

After partying at a raucous, raunchy bash in Paris until 5 a.m., the socialite, 28, took a spin with three pals in a convertible on Saturday when photographers snapped the foursome — and, in a bizarre turn of events, the driver of the car took out what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol and aimed it at the photographer. Sitting in the passenger seat, Middleton laughed.

Nobody’s laughing now. As revealed in the new Us Weekly, Middleton will be questioned by French authorities about the gun-waving incident and faces nearly $6000 in fines and even jail time if convicted.

The royal in-laws are not pleased. “This is embarrassing for them,” a royal source says. Including big sister Duchess Kate, 30. Her sibling’s surprising photo “has put Kate in a very difficult position,” the source adds.

The mystery man pointing the gun in question, meanwhile, has finally been identified: He’s Romain Rabillard, a 36-year-old French attorney, who ironically represents German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. The single Rabillard parties with a crowd of chic Parisians, including wealthy clothing designer Viscount Arthur de Soultrait — Middleton’s pal, whose wild 30th birthday bash she attended Friday evening.

[From Us Weekly]

I suspect Kate will deal with this the way she’s always dealt with criticism – she (or one of her friends) will give The Mail’s Katie Nicholl an exclusive, something involving Kate hanging out with the Queen and the Queen mentioning that Pippa seems like a nice girl. Something tidy like that.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.