Kate Middleton's fury as Pippa breaks down

The Duchess of Cambridge is furious after her sister is dumped by her snobby boyfriend.

After showcasing her shapely derriere and perfect poise at April’s royal wedding, Pippa Middleton became an overnight sensation and one of the most desirable women on the planet. Other women wanted to be her. Men wanted to be with her. Top fashion designers lined around the block to dress her, and the media followed her every move. More recently, it was reported she was in talks to sign a $1.5 million book deal. The world was her oyster.

But earlier this month that world came crashing down when Pippa’s boyfriend Alex Loudon broke off their romance of one-and-a-half years, amid talk his family didn’t approve of the relationship. A close friend even told the press that Pippa was regarded as “sweet but not wife material”. Understandably, Pippa, 28, is heartbroken. Handsome high-society banker and former England cricketer Alex, 31, was the man of her dreams, the one she expected to marry and spend the rest of her life with. The pair were described as “all but engaged” by friends.

Now suddenly single, Pippa is inconsolable, crying on the shoulders of her family and friends, who are also desperately trying to hide their own disappointment. “The split was very much out of the blue,” royal biographer Katie Nicholl explains. “Everyone thought this relationship would end in a proposal. They are all genuinely shocked. Alex had become part of the family. They loved him.” Kate, 29, was the first person Pippa turned to after the split – and the duchess is said to be “very upset” by the news.

“She was always a big fan of Alex,” Katie, author of The Making Of A Royal Romance, says. “Kate was close to him. He was the one non-family member at her confirmation. She knew how much Pippa adored him and thought they were a good fit.” Alex is also a friend of her husband, Prince William, and attended their wedding, so Kate had no concerns about inviting him into the intensely private couple’s inner circle. Perhaps more than sadness, those in that inner circle say Kate feels angry. She’s infuriated by reports that Pippa was dumped because of old-fashioned snootiness on the part of Alex’s upper-class family.