Princess Catherine‘s sister Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews are in a nasty legal fight against their whole town!
A dispute about a pathway on the couple’s property has now sparked fighting among local villagers. According to Radar Online on Friday, the couple moved into their $20 million mansion in 2022. Once settled on the property in Kintbury, Berkshire, they blocked public access to a footpath that runs along their estate — and now the public is fighting back over their right to use it!
Apparently, the public has claimed that previous owner Terence Conran, a designer and entrepreneur who died in 2020, allowed them to use the path, and now they’re pissed that wealthy folks are moving in and changing tradition! The Ramblers charity is now representing campaigners as they seek to make the pathway designated as a public right of way.
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One local source said:
“There’s a deep sense of resentment among some residents who feel this dispute perfectly captures what happens when extremely wealthy outsiders move into rural communities and begin reshaping them around their own priorities. Many villagers believe traditions and informal arrangements that had existed peacefully for decades are suddenly being dismissed as irrelevant because the land now belongs to people with far greater money, status, and influence.
Around the village, there’s a growing perception that Pippa and James operate with a level of confidence that comes from being connected to the royal circle, and some locals privately feel that creates an imbalance where ordinary residents struggle to have their voices heard on equal terms.”
The source furthered:
“For many people, the argument has become about far more than just a footpath – it’s about class, privilege and whether affluent landowners believe community customs should simply give way to their desire for privacy and control.”
Another resident involved in the dispute chimed in:
“There is a huge amount of frustration and bitterness locally because many people genuinely believed this was a route the community had informally shared and used for generations without issue. Villagers feel they are now being shut out of part of the countryside that had always felt accessible to ordinary people, simply because wealthy new owners have decided they no longer want public access nearby.”
They once again echoed the sentiment that Pippa and James’ royal connection is fueling a lot of frustration:
“For a lot of residents, this dispute has grown into something much bigger than a disagreement over a single footpath. People see it as part of a wider pattern where affluent estate owners increasingly close off rural land, citing privacy, protection, and security concerns while gradually restricting spaces that local communities historically enjoyed. Some feel social status and royal proximity are being used, whether intentionally or not, to justify turning what once felt communal into something exclusive and controlled.”
Another insider shared:
“What began as a fairly low-key local disagreement over access rights has evolved into something much more symbolic and emotionally loaded within the community. People are no longer looking at this simply as a technical planning issue about a narrow countryside path. Increasingly, villagers see it as a wider battle over privilege, wealth, and influence — and whether powerful landowners can gradually shut off areas that local people believed had effectively been shared and enjoyed for decades. There’s a growing feeling that rural communities are slowly losing access to spaces that once felt open and communal as affluent estate owners move in and assert greater control over the landscape around them.”
The resident went on:
“A lot of the tension comes from the perception that ordinary villagers are up against individuals with enormous financial resources, legal backing, and high social standing. Whether the route ultimately qualifies as a legal public right of way almost feels secondary now because emotions around the dispute have become incredibly intense. Some residents feel intimidated by the imbalance of power involved, while others are angry that concerns from local people appear to carry far less weight than the privacy wishes of wealthy homeowners connected to the royal orbit. The atmosphere in the village has become deeply polarized, and once neutral people are increasingly taking sides.”
Despite the backlash, Pippa and James are clapping back! At a hearing, barrister Paul Wilmshurst, who is representing the family, argued the path was NEVER open to the public — or even that valuable:
“It has certainly not been used by a significant number of people. It doesn’t lead anywhere particularly useful.”
An inspector overseeing the case also reminded everyone that issues relating to “privacy” cannot formally determine if a path is qualified as a public right of way per planning law.
A spokesperson also said the land has “always been private property,” and “as far back as the 1970s [owners] did not allow public access to the land under discussion.” Opening the path to the public would pose “very real practical, privacy difficulties and security issues” for the family. They added, per The Telegraph:
“For as long as records exist, there has never been a footpath/public right of way on the land currently under discussion. There are other clearly marked footpaths nearby.”
Doesn’t sound like either side is backing down! We’ll see how all this plays out!
Do YOU think Pippa and James are in the wrong? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via Phil Lewis/WENN/MEGA]
