The Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister, Pippa Middleton, has revealed she finds her rise to fame "startling".
Pippa has said can't believe how much her life has changed since rocketing into the public eye at the Royal Wedding in 2011 thanks to a figure-hugging dress, and tries to concentrate on the advantages her close association with the royal family brings.
Pippa admitted: "It is a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom.
"One day I might be able to make sense of this. In the meantime I think it's fair to say that it has its upside and its downside.
"I certainly have opportunities many can only dream of - but in most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge a career and represent herself in what can sometimes seem rather strange circumstances.
'I am by nature an optimist so I tend to concentrate on the advantages."
The 29-year-old brunette is gearing up for the launch of her new party-planning book, Celebrate: A Year Of British Festivities For Families And Friends, and wants to use the opportunity to show people who she really is and what she stands for.
In an extract published in You magazine, Pippa continues: "One of the most attractive has been the chance to publish Celebrate.
"I know many of you will pick up the book out of nothing more than curiosity. [But] I can assure you that it feels even stranger to me than it probably does to you to have seen so much written about me when I have done so little to paint a picture of myself.
"This is my first chance to do that and I've enjoyed every minute of it."
