The Royals

Kate, Pippa Middleton Turn Heads at Friends' Wedding

By Simon Perry

09/26/2011 at 10:30 AM EDT

Kate Middleton, Pippa Middleton Turn Heads at Friends' Wedding

Kate and Pippa Middleton

Ikon/Stewart Pictures

Kate Middleton

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Pippa Middleton

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Prince William

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The Middletons put on quite the sister act at a wedding in a small English town over the weekend.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, 29, joined sister Pippa, 28, for the nuptials of friends Thomas Sutton and Harriet Colthurst.

While Pippa walked into the Italian-style church in Wilton, Wiltshire, with longterm boyfriend Alex Loudon, Kate was without her husband Prince William. Arriving with a group of close friends including Tom van Straubenzee and James Meade, the prince, 29, had already taken up his position inside as an usher. (Earlier, he and his mates had tucked into lunch at a local pub.)

Eyewitness Mark Stewart says Kate was "dressed to impress" in a bold red Collette Dinnigan lace dress. She was accompanied by pal Louise Aubrey-Fletcher, whose wedding she attended in January. Pippa, meanwhile, wore a dress by Project D (Dannii Minogue's line) and a patent leather headpiece from milliner Gina Foster.

After the service, William and Kate tried to stay out of the limelight, so as not to deflect attention from the bride on her big day. While Pippa and Alex joined the throng in waving off the happy couple, the royals left the church from the rear of the building, quietly getting into his Audi and driving off to the reception at the home of the bride's parents.