Pippa Middleton, sister of Kate and subject of international fascination since donning her form-fitting bridesmaid's dress at the royal wedding, is back with her man.
The pair were together at the time of the wedding, but broke up in November of last year, reportedly because the cricket player-turned-banker, 32, was uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight that came with dating "her royal hotness".
But earlier this month, Now magazine reported that Pippa, 28, was seen leaving Loudon's house early in the morning.
Now that they're back together, Pippa is reportedly gushing to friends that he's "the love of her life", and her friends and well-wishers are very happy for her.
Others, however, are lukewarm about it: the man in question's parents.
There are two reasons why his parents are said to be less than thrilled to see Pippa turning up at the house again.
The first is her party-girl ways.
'"They don't think Pippa's right for him as she parties too much," Now quotes a source. It seems they worry that Pippa loves the attention just a little too much.
Gossip mags agree that that's one reason, but many cite another reason why the Alex's parents, James and Jane, don't relish Pippa as a daughter-in-law: her lineage.
"Their pedigrees are somehow better than the Middleton family's commoner status, despite the Middleton's current wealth and royal ties," the gossip blog Gather Celebs claims.
The Middleton ancestry has been made much of from the beginning of William and Kate's relationship. Pippa and Kate's mother, Carole, came in for a lot of snarky press coverage for her working class roots (her grandfather was a coalminer and her father drove a truck before becoming a builder) and alleged gaucherie.
Alex is Alexander Guy Rushworth Loudon. His family lives on a very grand estate in Kent, his father went to Eton, and his grandmother was an earl's daughter.
The Windsors seem to have had little difficulty in overlooking the Middletons' nouveau riche status; but, alas, it seems the Loudons cannot.
Will love prevail?
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