Pippa Middleton could face criminal charges after a male companion was reportedly caught brandishing a gun and allegedly pointing it at a photographer.
The younger sister of Kate Middleton was in the passenger seat of an Audi convertible with three male friends Sunday in Paris when all hell broke loose.
The driver allegedly reached for a semi-automatic gun and jokingly aimed it at a celebrity gossip photographer following them, London's The Sun reports.
The image, released to the Sun by the French photographer at whom the pistol was aimed, shows Middleton looking back at the paparazzo and grinning.
The paper reported that the Paris Judicial Police department is "poised" to launch a probe into the incident. Charges could result in prison sentences.
Even if the gun turns out to be a fake, criminal charges are possible.
"If the evidence points to her involvement, she will be prosecuted. Anybody involved in the illegal use of a handgun in public is liable to arrest," a source said.
The French photographer is still weighing whether to file a formal police complaint, the Sun's royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, confirmed this morning.
Middleton was reportedly in Paris to attend a costume birthday party at the Chez Raspoutine as a guest of fashion label owner Arthur de Soultrait Pari.
"Pippa is a party girl. She mixes now in very high society and they don't come very higher than this group of French aristocratic sons," the source said.
The gaffe is a rare misstep for Middleton, who was dubbed "Her Royal Hotness" and became a celebrity gossip magnet after last April's royal wedding.
It was revealed that lawyers for Middleton sent a cease-and-desist letter around to six media agencies that distribute paparazzi photographs worldwide.
The letter warned agencies that unless photographers stop following her, Pippa will pursue legal action, which could include an injunction and legal costs.
Just prior to the letter being sent, the picture editor for U.K.'s Daily Mail newspaper that 400 Pippa Middleton photos cross his desk every single day.
Some, in this case, that she would really prefer did not.
