The Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, shares an incredibly close bond with her younger sister, Pippa Middleton. Born just 21 months apart, the sisters are best friends as well as siblings. Both have three children each: Kate has Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis with Prince William, while Pippa has Arthur, Grace, and Rose with her husband, James Matthews.

The Middleton family is known for being tight-knit, with parents Carole and Michael playing a hands-on role with their children and grandchildren. Pippa and James have been key in supporting the Princess after her abdominal surgery and cancer diagnosis, while James Middleton, the Princess’s brother, is also a pillar of support. He publicly expressed his love for his sister after her cancer diagnosis, posting a childhood photo of them climbing together and pledging that the family would climb this mountain with her.

Princess Charlotte and Grace Matthews share a special connection: they both have Elizabeth as their middle name, a moniker passed down through the Middleton family via Carole and Kate. For Charlotte, the name Elizabeth also honors her paternal great-grandmother, the late Queen, while her second middle name, Diana, is a tribute to William’s late mother. Grace’s middle name, Jane, is a nod to James’s mother and Pippa’s mother-in-law.

The Wales and Matthews families are close, having reportedly enjoyed a secret skiing holiday together in Meribel last year. Royal expert Jennie Bond suggests that Kate and Pippa’s relationship remains balanced due to similarities in their lifestyles and living arrangements, with Pippa and James residing in a riverside mansion in Berkshire, close to Windsor and their parents’ home. Bond also admires how Pippa has kept her feet on the ground despite the public attention she received as her sister’s bridesmaid, describing her as a “delightful young woman.”