Pippa Middleton skipped her sister’s concert to attend the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Pippa Middleton skipped her sister’s Together at Christmas concert on Friday. A lot of people skipped – Beatrice, Eugenie, Charles, Camilla, Edward and on and on. Pippa’s absence was notable because she’s always attended in the past, and because there have been rumors circulating for the better part of two years that Pippa and Kate are on the outs, or that Pippa is distancing herself from the Middletons. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Pippa and Kate have truly fallen out, but I do think Pippa is less interested in being attached to the “En Masse Middletons” posse at this point in her life. So where was Pippa during her sister’s big boring concert? Abu Dhabi.

Pippa Middleton has made a stylish appearance in a £475 dress at a star-studded event abroad, a day after missing out on her sister’s annual Christmas carol concert. Pippa was spotted keeping it low-key in Abu Dhabi on 6 December for a date at the Formula One Grand Prix with her husband James Matthews, who is a former racing driver and on the Board of Directors at Williams Racing.

After avoiding cameras during the day, the 42-year-old was later seen with her husband in the F1 paddock, opting for an understated designer look for her race day outing. Pippa looked effortlessly put together in a white lace sundress with a matching chunky belt from London-based label, Saloni – a designer she previously wore for her sister Kate’s annual carol service two years ago in 2023.

According to Royal British Fashion, Pippa paired her look with what appeared to be her £595 tan leather ‘Mabel’ bag by Emmy London, which she took to a Grand Prix earlier this year, and a gold necklace from Tilly Sveaas Jewellery.

[From Hello]

I didn’t realize that Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews is still so involved with Formula One. He’s on the board of Williams Racing? That’s a pretty big deal. Anyway, I don’t blame Pippa for skipping the concert. We’ll probably see more of that in the coming years – Pippa really peeling off from the Middletons and doing her own thing. I also think we’ll see more and more people skip Kate’s concert in the coming years too. It really feels like this event is just limping along.

I’m including a tweet with Pippa-in-Abu-Dhabi below, as well as photos of the Middletons preening around Kate’s concert.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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19 Responses to “Pippa Middleton skipped her sister’s concert to attend the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”

  1. Eleonor says:

    Pippa has the life Kate wanted.
    That’s all I have.

  2. I would also like to be somewhere else that is warm instead of a damp church with all the fakery of the Middletons. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fits the bill.

  3. Someone pinched my user name says:

    If she has had therapy along with James, then some of Carole’s traits may have become impossible to ignore, along with the theory of the ‘golden child’.

    She definitely got the best marital deal, and so have her children.

    I wonder how long Alizee will stick it out. Poor thing never looks happy. But then, one can’t imagine a wealthy young lady wearing Carole’s cast off for her own wedding. Is that the height of narcissism? On your own son’s wedding day?

    • Gloriana says:

      I was thinking something similar. I wonder if Pippa was the one who put in all the effort to not be the problem child, to support her sister and then realized there is no support for her and she went out and created her own life.

  4. Chloe says:

    Whatever hairstylist Pippa is going to, Kate should go to too.

    • WaterDragon says:

      Totally agree. Pippa’s hair looks shiny and healthy. Did you notice Ma Mids is not wearing her wedding rings again?

  5. Kittenmom says:

    Although Waity is the more conventionally attractive of the two sisters (Pippa has that same hard face as Ma) Pippa looks so much healthier and thus in my opinion is the better looking of the pair. Not to reduce them to their looks, just an observation. Obviously she is enjoying her life more, even with her less “important” but still terribly moderately wealthy husband.

  6. Becks1 says:

    My 13 year old has gotten really into F1 this year so now I know more about it than I would like (even though I tune a lot of it out.) so we watched it yesterday. It was fine lol.

    I dont know if we’ve heard of Pippa attending any other F1 races so it seems interesting to me that she went to this one which meant missing the concert. Maybe because it was the final and there was a close race for the title? Or maybe she thought “you know what yes the timing is perfect.”

    • Hypocrisy says:

      Go to a race, that’s all it took for me to become a fan. It truly is an experience if you ever get a chance.

    • jais says:

      Maybe she has and it was just never covered. This time it was revealed in order to show why she wasn’t at the carol concert. But she wouldn’t have gone to this specific race last year…if it was also held during the Christmas concert bc she was there last year.

  7. Tis True, Tis True says:

    That’s a genuine work obligation for Pippa. A board seat like that for James is probably as much about Pippa as it James’s racing background. There’s a lot of Middle Eastern royals investing in the various F1 teams and hosting races. The Bahrain sovereign wealth fund owns a big chunk of McLaren, which won the driver’s and constructor’s championships this year.

    I’m sure Pippa loves and supports her sister, but her husband’s board seats and such are what keep him moderately wealthy. Pippa ain’t dumb.

  8. ThatGirlThere says:

    That concert only happened because she needed something to do that masqueraded as a community event.

    Pippa’s husband likes her so this was probably a nice extended date weekend for them. KKKate cannot relate — besides, why go to some fake ass concert when you can rub elbows with the truly rich kids?

  9. Mightymolly says:

    Wasn’t Pippa the “spare”? And we know how that goes. Either the spare separates from the firm or they become the family jester. Good on Pippa for choosing door number one.

  10. Dee(2) says:

    I mean Pippa is in her forties too with a life and kids, her priorities shouldn’t be doing stuff for her sister instead of her own immediate family. She wasn’t doing a reading or anything, and she’s gone to every other one. In most families this happens where someone can’t come to one event because they have a prior commitment.

    As far as them falling out, they probably just aren’t as close as they were when they were younger, if they were even actually all that close then and not just direct competitors to each other. She seems to be living the country wife life that Kate seems to want for herself. She still gets invited to places like Ascot, and if I remember correctly the aristocracy liked her better anyway so I’m sure they still get invited to dinner parties. She’s doing fine.

  11. Amy Bee says:

    It’s her husband who’s on the Williams racing board so it wasn’t necessary for her to be in Abu Dhabi. In fact this race took place around the same time last year and she went to the carol concert without her husband. I think something is indeed going on between the two sisters. It’s just interesting that the British press is very silent about it. I guess Pippa can count herself lucky that Kate is not briefing against her in the press. Perhaps Pippa is finding her own identity and doesn’t want to be closely aligned with Kate anymore.

    • Mightymolly says:

      If she has to choose which family member’s event to support, alternating years makes sense, but so does straight up choosing your husband, the father of your children, over your grown ass adult sister with her own husband and kids. Pippa’s also not down for being stage managed by Carol any more,IMO.

  12. Barbara says:

    Unrelated, but I actually love Alizee’s outfit. She looks cute and stylish.

  13. cosmo says:

    It was Karl Lagerfeld who said Pippa should only show her back lol

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