BRITISH Princess Kate Middleton’s younger sister, Pippa, has been causing a lot of buzz since Kate’s royal wedding in late April. And now she’s causing even more.

    The royal sister-in-law, who is a party planner and socialite, is reportedly in talks for her own Oprah Winfrey-style talk show. According to the National Enquirer and InTouch, Pippa is being courted by both Winfrey’s production company and “View” doyenne Barbara Walters.

    “Years ago, when Kate broke up with Prince William briefly, Walters tried to hire her as a ‘View’ co-host, but now she thinks Pippa is so sassy, young and gorgeous, she’d be a fantastic fit. Ratings would be amazing!” an insider told American tabloid the National Enquirer.

    “Oprah wants Pippa to host her own show for her OWN network. She knows it would be a great ratings coup because Pippa is quickly moving out of the second string and becoming a name in her own right and Americans are so obsessed with the royals!

    “But Pippa is playing it cool. She doesn’t want to make any big decisions until Kate is back from honeymoon and settled into her new life.”

    Following in her family’s footsteps

    Philippa Charlotte “Pippa” Middleton was born in 1983. Like her elder sister, Pippa was initially educated at St. Andrew’s School, Pangbourne, then at Downe House, a girls’ boarding school in Cold Ash, and finally at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, which she attended on a sports/all-rounder scholarship.

    She then followed her sister to higher education in Scotland, attending the University of Edinburgh to study English literature.

    Following graduation, in 2008 Pippa worked for a short time for a public relations firm promoting luxury products, then she took a job with Table Talk, a company based in London which organizes events and parties. Also in 2008, Tatler magazine named Pippa “the No. 1 Society Singleton,” beating singer-songwriter James Blunt and Princess Eugenie. The Daily Telegraph reported last year that the Middleton family had ambitious plans to expand their company, Party Pieces, and wanted her to take an increasingly prominent role.

    More than the little sister

    When princess-to-be Kate and her younger sister were out around town, Britons noticed how much they look and act alike. As was said of actress Patty Duke’s TV characters: “They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike.”

    Thrust into the spotlight after Kate asked her sister to serve as the chief bridesmaid, a role Britons traditionally give to a much younger girl, Pippa has garnered almost as much attention as the bride herself.

    At the wedding, Pippa’s white figure-hugging dress was highly praised in the media. Kate Reardon, editor of Tatler, commented in The New York Times: “Every magazine in the Western world now wants her on the cover. She will be having job offers hurled at her.”

    Early in May, U.S. media reported that Pippa had been offered US$5 million by Vivid Entertainment to appear in a porn flick.

    Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch sent Pippa a letter May 6 officially making the offer. “As I watched a broadcast of the royal wedding, I couldn’t help but think that with your beauty and attitude, you could be an enormously successful adult star. This week, after seeing photos of you having a great time at a party, I decided to offer you a role in one of our upcoming movies.” Hirsch said the US$5 million payment would be for “just one explicit scene” and that Pippa could have her “choice of partners.” He offered another US$1 million to her brother, James, to appear in a separate scene.

    While her sister is engaged to one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, Pippa’s personal life has also been in the spotlight. She is dating Alex Loudon, an old friend of Prince William. (SD-Agencies)