All eyes, and lenses, on Pippa Sister of duchess now on list of most influential women

A year after Kate Middleton became a royal, the person whose life has changed the most may be her sister.

Recently named one of Time magazine's most influential people in the world, Philippa (Pippa) Middleton - younger sibling to the Duchess of Cambridge - has gone from being virtually unknown outside Britain to one of the most photographed women on the planet.

Google Canada reports that she has now surpassed Prince Harry as the mostsearched royal sibling, at times even trumping Angelina Jolie and Justin Bieber in terms of online interest.

The attention, however, hasn't come without a price.

"The absolutely remorseless attention she's getting is extraordinary," says Catherine Mayer, Time's Europe editor.

"There was this feeling about Kate that she was a social climber, just out for getting the prince.

"But the moment she got engaged, the press that had been open in their snobbish hostility toward her immediately switched to Pippa."

This month especially, the 28-year-old has been Frankenstein's monster to the media's torch-bearing villagers, thanks to a bizarre series of events in Paris: first, her appearance at a risqué costume party, then later having her male companion wave a gun - ultimately revealed as a toy - at their paparazzi pursuers.

An editor with the U.K. Sun went so far as to say the incident derailed all the "time, effort, money and logistics put into media-managing Kate."

But even before so-called Gungate, Mayer knew the younger Middleton's inclusion on Time's most-influential list would be controversial, if only because the culture is so hard on women who don't come to power on their own steam.

"Women are massively under-represented in the media -.

"Then, of course, when women do come to attention in public life, it's often for reasons that we may be inclined to think of as the wrong ones," says Mayer, hastening to note the double standard.

"Nobody would ever say we shouldn't have Kim Jong Un on the list just because he inherited North Korea."

Middleton first set tongues wagging at her sister's 2011 wedding to Prince William, in no small part due to a bridesmaid dress that made her more famous from the back than the front.

The next 11 months would see the launch of numerous fan sites dedicated to the socialite, speculation about a romance with Prince Harry, a handbag named "The Pippa," her "royal mocha" tan dubbed the most desirable celebrity skin tone, a reported $600,000 publishing deal for a book on party planning, due on shelves in October, and a six-figure bidding war for her first major television interview.

But not every royal watcher is swept up in Pippa mania.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the fascination is, aside from the fact she's an attractive young woman with a connection to the royal family," says Josh Traptow, Alberta spokesperson for the Monarchist League of Canada.

"I also think it's a bit surprising that Pippa is leading such a public life, rather than being low-key - although I'm sure after this latest incident (in Paris), her sister and perhaps even Prince William will be having a little chat with her."