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30th Mar 2018

Pippa Middleton’s father-in-law is charged with the rape of a minor

He remains in Paris.

Gillian Fitzpatrick

pippa middleton

The father-in-law of Pippa Middleton has been charged with the rape of a minor in France.

David Matthews, a 74-year-old multi-millionaire, was in custody in Paris for 48 hours but has now been released on bail.

It is thought that he remains in the French capital and is restricted from travelling.

He is alleged to have carried out the attacks on a teenage girl between 1998 and 1999. One of the attacks is alleged to have taken place in Paris, while another is alleged to have occured on the Caribbean island of St Barts – where he resides.

Police became aware of the allegations in 2017, reports the Paris-based L’Express citing ‘judicial sources’.

Mr Matthews – also the future father-in-law of Vogue Williams – denies the charges.

He has been married to Jane, 70, since the 1970s.

Pippa, 34, married James Matthews, 41, last year in a high-profile Berkshire ceremony – closeby to the Middleton family home. Her sister, the Duchess Of Cambridge, attended with her husband, Prince William; their children – Prince George, four, and Princess Charlotte, aged two – acted as page boy and flower girl.

Meanwhile, 32-year-old Vogue announced her engagment to Spencer, 29, earlier this year. She is also four-months’ pregnant with their first child.

David and Jane have been the owners of the prestigious five-star Eden Rock Caribbean hotel in St Barths for more than 20 years.

Eden Rock is one of the most luxurious hotels in the Caribbean with rooms costing up to €30,000 a night (although standard rooms are around the €1,000-mark). It has been visited by the likes of Elton John, Brad Pitt, Beyonce, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

Main image – James Matthews and Pippa Middleton on their wedding day, with David Matthews right