Pippa Middleton "Does Her Own Thing" But Could Be Offered One Future Role With Princess Kate, Says Former Butler

Pippa Middleton is celebrating her 43rd birthday on Sunday, September 6, and while the famously close-knit Middleton family is likely celebrating quietly at home, Princess Kate's younger sister could accept a more front-and-center role in the Royal Family when Prince William becomes King.

King Charles's former butler at Highgrove House, Grant Harrold, says that he respects how the Middleton family "manage to stay out of the limelight," but points out that like, Queen Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, Pippa might choose to support her sister when she's Queen.

Unlike Queen Elizabeth, who had ladies-in-waiting, Queen Camilla chose a group of close friends, as well as her sister, to serve as a more modern version of the role, calling them companions. "In the future, I wouldn’t rule out Pippa becoming one of Kate’s companions," Harrold shares. "Like what Queen Camilla is doing right now with her sister.”

If Princess Kate also chooses to give official companion roles when she's Queen, Pippa would certainly make an ideal choice.

"Pippa does her own thing," Harrold shares. "She keeps herself very low key, and I think she does a really good job of it." The former butler adds that the Middleton family as a whole provides "strong support from the background, but they respect the family and traditions enough to be strictly private."

Since the Princess of Wales grew up outside of the Royal Family, the Middletons also give Prince William the chance to relax and be himself. “Pippa and the wider Middleton family are really good for William, as they’ve offered this whole other side of family life," Harrold says. "We know he is the future monarch, but he gets a wonderful normal lifestyle when he’s with Kate’s family."