With less than two years between them in age, Catherine, Princess of Wales and her slightly younger sister Pippa Matthews have always relied on each other.
From navigating a cliquey boarding school together as teenagers to Pippa famously supporting her sibling as maid of honour at the 2011 royal wedding, the Middleton sisters were practically a brand on their own when Kate married her prince and joined The Firm.
But it seems the pressures of busy lives and raising families have severed their once incredible bond.
It was revealed last week in the British press that Kate, 43, had been forced to miss the fourth birthday party of Pippa’s daughter Grace due to work commitments. Instead, the future Queen attended a Six Nations rugby match between England and Wales, alongside Prince William.
A source tells New Idea that Kate is finding herself “missing more and more of her old family life” as her royal duties ramp up.
“Kate is painfully aware that things have been changing for a while. The pressures of her public role have only increased since Queen Elizabeth passed away, pushing her husband and kids up in the line of succession,” says a source.
“The unfortunate collateral of that has been losing the laid-back Middleton family way of things she holds so dear … especially her once incredibly close relationship with her little sister.”
Pippa, 41, a mother of three who is married to financier James Matthews, appears to have retreated from Kate’s social circle, at least in public.
The Middleton sisters – both sports fanatics – usually attend Wimbledon side by side, happily smiling for the cameras on arrival.
The last time they were photographed together at the tennis, in July last year, onlookers were perplexed to note they seemed tense.
When Kate stunned the world by announcing she had been undergoing treatment for cancer last year, her brother James, 37, issued a public statement in support of her. From Pippa, there was a strange silence.
Despite rumours for years of a bubbling sibling rivalry between the sisters, “there has been no falling out between Kate and Pippa,” assures one royal insider.
“I don’t think that would ever happen. Of course, there are sometimes issues between sisters, but they have always had each other’s backs.”
Instead, the source speculates that they have “simply grown slightly apart” as busy mums. They both have three kids, but other than that their lives couldn’t be more different,” says the insider.
“Pippa and her husband are incredibly well-off and enjoy a private country life, whereas Kate is preparing her children to be the public faces of the monarchy. It’s chalk and cheese. I’m sure they still spend time together behind closed doors, but for now, it seems Pippa has no interest in stepping back into the spotlight alongside Kate.”
