The Story Behind Pippa Middleton's Controversial Wedding Seating Chart

The world fell in love with Pippa Middleton when she stole the show at her sister Kate Middleton's wedding to Prince William in 2011. However, Pippa got her own chance to be the blushing bride during her wedding to James Matthews in May 2017. According to Hello!, the couple wed at St Mark's Church in Englefield, with Prince George and Princess Charlotte serving as members of their wedding party. Pippa walked down the aisle in a Giles Deacon dress and a handmade Maidenhair Fern tiara. 

"This is the wedding Pippa and James dreamed of," a source told People at the time. "They said all along they wanted it to be a private family wedding at home in the beautiful countryside with their closest friends and family."

Some of the most notable names in attendance included Kate and William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Princess Eugenie, and tennis player Roger Federer, per the BBC. After the ceremony, family members and close friends enjoyed a midday celebration that boasted a menu of mini haggis, deer carpaccio with mushroom, fresh langoustine claws and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. Later on, the couple's other guests joined everyone for an evening party complete with a light show that featured images of the newlywed's love story, as well as Federer challenging William and Harry to a game of Ping-Pong.

But when it came time to sit down to eat, guests might have been surprised by the controversial wedding seating chart.

Pippa Middleton came up with a unique seating plan for her wedding to James Matthews. In order to make sure all of her guests spent time together during the event, couples were not seated with one another, Hello! reported. That means that Kate Middleton and Prince William, as well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who were dating at the time, did not sit together during the midday reception. No one seemed to mind, though, since guests left the celebration happier than ever.  "It was a wonderful, memorable evening," guest Gemma Billington told People.

Since their 2017 wedding, Pippa and James have had two children together, Arthur and Grace. "I was lucky to pass the 12-week scan without suffering from morning sickness. That meant I was able to carry on as normal," Pippa wrote of her fitness routine during her first pregnancy in Waitrose Magazine. And when daughter Grace arrived, everyone was thrilled. "Mother and baby are doing well," a source told Hello!. "She's perfect, everyone is overjoyed at such a happy arrival."