My response to Terence Blacker’s piece attacking Pippa Middleton
Pippa Middleton is not someone I know. I have seen her in bars and at parties but never spoken with her. I do not especially find her derrière attractive and I do not consider her to be one of the world’s most influential people.
This morning, however, I responded on Twitter to a journalist named Terence Blacker about a comment piece he had written for The Independent. In it, he named Miss Middleton a “national embarrassment” and made a factual error in stating:
“She has not used her fame to any charitable effect, but has availed herself of a £400,000 publishing advance for a book, presumably ghost-written, on party planning. In her smiling, dimpled way she has done more harm to the cause of women than any airhead celebrity or Page 3 girl.”
Mr Blacker is wrong: Along with her brother James, Miss Middleton completed a 56-mile cross-country ski race for the Magic Breakfast charity in Sweden in March. At the time she stated:
“My brother and I are raising money for Magic Breakfast, a small registered charity that fights child hunger through breakfast clubs and delivering free breakfasts (bagels, cereal, juice and porridge) to thousands of state primary school children in the UK particularly our inner cities.”
In total, the pair, hats off to them, to date have raised £12,039 for this worthy cause. They have also previously aided other charities, much to their credit.
I would suggest that Mr Blacker ought to correct his error by donating his fee for this article to Magic Breakfast. He can do so by visiting Miss Middleton’s JustGiving page. Instead, in reply to my Tweet pointing out the inaccuracy, all I got in response was:
“Nope, sorry. I really can’t see Pips as an influential role model.”
In turn others responded and I began to understand how Samantha Brick must feel. I’m a big Twitter fan but the barrage of nonsense I received was just tedious. I only pointed out a factual error. I did not say that Miss Middleton had done anything miraculous. The comments included:
“It has nothing 2do [sic] with jealousy, it’s 2do with a young lady doing zero work each day yet living life reilly [sic]… It’s not as if she spends her time doing good, like the Royal Family, she just likes to party.”
Too many in Britain mock success. Our media builds individuals up only to take huge pleasure in knocking them down. The Middleton family represent a remarkable story and we should all celebrate them. Good for Pippa Middleton for enjoying the world she now inhabits but also good for her for using this fame to do good for others. Yes, Miss Middleton has made mistakes, but honestly hold your hands up and admit it: from time to time, don’t we all?
Read Terence Blacker’s piece at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-cant-the-editors-of-time-magazine-see-pippa-middleton-is-a-national-embarrassment-7661423.html
View Terence Blacker’s website at: http://www.terenceblacker.com. Follow him on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/TerenceBlacker
To donate to Pippa Middleton’s Vasaloppet charitable challenge, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/vasaloppet/new