The Middleton double standard

I imagine there are very few people who haven’t heard about the Duchess of Cambridge’s clothing catastrophe in Australia. And, of course, this isn’t the first time that the duchess has had clothing issues. The wind has caused her to come a cropper at a variety of events – and who could forget the furore when the French edition of Closer ran pictures of her walking around topless while on holiday in the South of France.

But can you imagine what people (and the press) would be saying if, rather than it being Kate, it was her sister, Pippa, whose pants (or lack thereof) had been on show for the cameras? Rather than arguing that the pictures were a gross invasion of her privacy, it’s far more likely that the complaints would be targeted at Pips rather than the paps. Talk of the heir to the throne’s aunt being ‘tacky’, or not knowing how to behave, would be rife.