Pippa Middleton and her Terribly Moderately Wealthy husband James Matthews now live primarily in Berkshire, just a short distance away from Pippa’s parents. Pippa and TMW James used to live in London, but I believe they sold their townhouse and relocated to the country, where they purchased a grand £15 million estate. They’ve done a lot of renovations to the house and the property, and they’ve invested in other commercial real estate in the area too, including a petting zoo and some sort of posh glamping venue. But this is about their private estate, which includes 145 acres. Apparently, Pippa and TMW James don’t want peasants to use their footpath, even though the footpath has been commonly used for decades.
Pippa Middleton and her husband are at the centre of a village row over the use of a footpath at their £15million estate. The Princess of Wales’s sister and finance tycoon James Matthews moved their young family into the 145-acre country pile in West Berkshire two years ago.
The estate was previously owned by late design tycoon Sir Terence Conran, who allowed locals to use a country lane leading up to the Georgian mansion’s private drive. However Ms Middleton and her husband have decided to close off the lane to walkers, with signs warning ‘Private: No Public Access’ and ‘No Trespassing’ appearing around the estate. One villager told The Mail on Sunday that the couple’s decision to block the pathway was ‘outrageous’.
He added: ‘I like to walk, and I don’t see why I can’t walk there. I have been walking along there for 50 years. When Sir Terence had it, he had no objections. I think we should have a right to roam. These people seem to be overprotective of their property. I don’t think it is right. We are quiet villagers. We don’t have vandalism around here. With all the notices stuck up, it feels like us and them.’
Another villager said: ‘I think it is a shame. It is a lovely walk. Although it wasn’t officially a footpath, Sir Terence didn’t have any objections. He was very nice. Everyone liked him. He was quite involved in the village. It feels they are depriving the village of an amenity. People might get the impression they are throwing their weight around.’
Through his estate manager, Mr Matthews submitted a Highway Declaration Notice to West Berkshire Council in March marking out his private territory. It made it clear that the road previously used by locals is off limits. Eugene Futcher, chairman of the West Berkshire Ramblers, has launched a counter application, seeking to have the driveway declared a public right of way. The council is expected to reach a decision next year but, as landowners, the Matthews family are allowed to impose their own restrictions until then.
However some villagers have expressed their support for the couple, with one business owner saying: ‘The public assume it is a right of way. It has never been a right of way. They were always allowed to walk it by the previous landowner but now it’s owned by somebody else. [The Matthews] have just exercised their right.’
They added: ‘Ramblers are narrow-minded people who don’t have anything and don’t want other people to have anything. It is jealousy. If it was their house or garden, would they want anybody to walk through it?’ Mr Matthews was approached for comment.
Don’t get me wrong, we have these kinds of disputes here in America, but they’re really common in the UK. In America, the signs would go up and people would shrug and say “okay, well that’s they’re property after all.” But in the UK, people feel entitled to what they always saw as their right to walk on privately owned land. In the UK, Pippa is seen as haughty and bougie for this. Of course, maybe the answer is less privately-held land and more public parks and publicly owned trails? Maybe there shouldn’t be a vast real estate network owned by the crown and the Duchy of Cornwall?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.