Pippa Middleton is plotting. And with her wedding day just a few months away, she's come up with a plan to keep the spotlight firmly on her — and off Prince Harry's girlfriend, Meghan Markle.
Or so says the Mail on Sunday. A new report in the British newspaper claims that after seeing how much attention Prince Harry's American actress girlfriend got when she joined Harry at the nuptials of his pal Tom Inskip in Jamaica in early March, Pippa, 33, decided to ensure that she won't also be upstaged when she marries wealthy hedge-funder James Matthews, 41, in May.
Pippa's plan? "When she sent out invitations, Pippa let slip to friends that she was keeping numbers down with a 'no ring, no bring' policy — meaning guests can only bring their partners if they are either married or engaged," the Mail on Sunday reported on March 11.
Though the newspaper also pointed out that royal observers expected Pippa to make an exception for Meghan, 35, the huge amount of press Meghan got when she and Harry were photographed in Jamaica might have since become a mitigating factor.
"She saw how all eyes were on Meghan rather than [bride] Lara [Hughes-Young] last week," one of Pippa's friends told Mail on Sunday Diary Editor Charlotte Griffiths. "The situation was also stressful for Harry. Pippa and her mother Carole wonder whether Meghan's presence could cause a great deal of unnecessary chaos."
Harry, 32, found himself in the news again for another reason one day after the Pippa wedding invite gossip emerged.
His mother Princess Diana's former flame James Hewitt was interviewed by Australia's "Sunday Night" for a piece that aired on March 12.
James finally directly addressed the longstanding rumors that he, not Prince Charles, is Harry's biological dad when host Melissa Doyle asked him point-blank, "Are you Harry's father?"
He replied: "No, I'm not."
The military veteran, who had an affair with Diana after meeting her in 1986 and serving as her riding instructor, explained why he thinks the rumors have never gone away.
"It sells papers," he said. "It's worse for [Harry], probably, poor chap."