The Royals

Pippa Middleton Finds Fame 'Startling,' She Writes in New Book, Celebrate

By Maggie Coughlan

10/21/2012 at 11:30 AM EDT

Pippa Middleton

Mark Stewart

Kate Middleton

See more photos, news and a full bio

Pippa Middleton

See more photos, news and a full bio

The Duchess of Cambridge may have adjusted to the royal spotlight effortlessly, but for Pippa Middleton, dealing with fame hasn't come so easy.

"It's a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom," she writes in her new party-planning book, Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends.

"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," she adds, according to an excerpt in You magazine, a supplement in the U.K.'s Mail on Sunday.

Middleton, 29, also acknowledges the public's fascination with her family.

"I know many of you will pick up the book out of nothing more than curiosity. 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," she says.

"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," she says. "One of the most attractive has been the chance to publish Celebrate."

Viking will publish the 400-page guide on Oct. 30 for a retail price of $50.