Arthur de Soultrait, a friend of Pipa Midleton, is coming to her defense after one of their friends, Romain Rabillard, aimed a gun at photographers last weekend.
Romain, Arthur, Pippa and one other individual are now subject to potential prosecution for the bizarre scandal , which shocked the French, US and UK media.
Although Kate Middleton's 28-year-old sister has yet to address the scandal, Soultrait was apologetic in a statement on Wednesday, in which he defended her.
He also said the gun wielded at celebrity news media was fake.
Pippa Middleton gun photo .
"Last Saturday I was in a car with Philippa Middleton, and we were being followed by the paparazzi," Soultait explains of the late night/early-morning incident.
"The car was being driven by a friend of mine, whom Pippa had only met a few hours before," Soultrait, 30, said of Romain Rabillard, a 36-year-old attorney.
"As a joke, my friend brandished a toy pistol in their direction."
"Obviously Philippa had no idea that he had the pistol, or that he was going to do that, and told him to stop immediately. She did not find it funny."
Pippa was seen smiling in the gun photo that surfaced after the incident, but it's unclear if she was smiling at that specifically, or who knew what.
There have also been reports that the paparazzo in question knew the piece was fake and laughed it off, rather than feeling threatened in the least.
Reports of Pippa facing criminal charges may be overblown, but she's faced plenty of public backlash, and her sister's royal in-laws surely aren't thrilled.
