Princess Kate’s first Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham in 2011 came with mixed feelings.

It was going to be a grand celebration and the then Duchess of Cambridge would be participating in the monarchy’s beloved festive traditions.

However, Kate missed her family, especially her sister Pippa Middleton, who had split with her boyfriend in November 2011, says Katie Nicholl in her 2013 book, Kate The Future Queen.

‘She was particularly sad not to be with her sister, who was heartbroken after having recently split up with Alex Loudon,’ the journalist and author wrote.

They spent one and a half years together and the Etonian had even accompanied Pippa to Kate and Prince William’s wedding earlier that year and sat alongside the Middletons in Westminster Abbey.

Alex, a former England cricketer, ended the relationship due to complications that came with Pippa’s new royal profile, it was claimed.

‘The plain truth is Alex adored Pippa but he couldn’t stand the circus that now surrounds her. Nothing is straightforward anymore,’ a friend of the couple told the Mail on Sunday at the time.

So the Princess felt her new royal title and the attention it brought to her family was somewhat responsible for the breakdown of her sister’s relationship.

‘Kate felt a measure of responsibility, as she knew that everyone in her family was in a vulnerable position now that she had become Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge,’ Ms Nicholl wrote in her book.

Pippa received a lot of attention from the media and whether she was simply drinking a cup of coffee or maid of honour at the royal wedding, the world was looking.

‘All eyes were on Pippa Middleton,’ the Mail reported back in 2011 when she was photographed on her way to the dress rehearsal for Kate and William’s post-wedding dinner dance.

While Pippa seemed to enjoy being connected to the Royal Family after her sister’s marriage, her boyfriend preferred to stay out of the spotlight.

‘Pippa sees the connection with the Royal Family as a golden opportunity but she knows she cannot afford to look vulgar,’ another friend claimed at the time.

They added: ‘She now gets invited to every show in town, every door is open to her but Alex hates parties. He loves his cricket and has a very close-knit circle of Old Etonian friends. Alex comes from a very well-to-do and discreet family who do not relish the spotlight.

Due to Pippa’s royal connections, the couple were approached by paparazzi trying to grab a snap, which Alex didn’t enjoy.

The friend said: ‘He hated the fact they were followed by paparazzi and he avoided going out because of it. Alex is very strait-laced. He loves his family and his friends and has no time for celebrity.’

Earlier that year, in June, the couple were also rumoured to have briefly ended their relationship, though they rekindled and there were even reports of Alex looking for an engagement ring.

Alex’s English gentry family history consists of baronets and admirals. His grandfather Francis, a barrister, married Lady Prudence Jellicoe, daughter of Admiral Sir John Henry Rushworth Jellicoe, the first Earl of Jellicoe.

His father, James, was a successful financier and former High Sheriff of Kent.

His parents reportedly didn’t judge Pippa as ‘wife material’ but were ‘welcoming’ towards her, a friend previously said.

Alex enjoyed a professional cricket career until he quit in 2007 to pursue work in business finance instead. He went on to become a City banker.

Pippa juggled working at events company Table Talk with editing a magazine for her parents’ business, Party Pieces.

Five years after their split, both moved on and were engaged to new partners within a few months of one another in 2016.

Pippa married her millionaire financier beau James Matthews in May 2017 at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, Berkshire. The couple have three children together – Arthur, Grace and Rose.

Pippa wore a flowing lace gown with a heart-shaped open back, designed by Giles Deacon.

She carried a bouquet of peony, sweet pea, astilbe, freesia, waxflower, green bell and mollis.

Kate and William attended with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, as well as Prince Harry.

Alex proposed to his long term girlfriend Kristina Vanderheyden in 2016 who announced the news on Instagram with the caption, ‘My fiancé is a babe’.