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Pippa Middleton’s Pal Arthur de Soultrait Apologizes for Gun Incident

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Guess French humor doesn’t always translate.

Pippa Middleton is in hiding after she and three male pals — including wealthy French fashion designer Viscount Arthur de Soultrait — were photographed driving with the top down in Paris last Saturday, when one companion, Romain Rabillard, aimed a gun at photographers. All four are now the subject of potential prosecution for the bizarre gun-waving incident.

Although Kate Middleton‘s 28-year-old sister has yet to address the scandal, Soultrait was apologetic in a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday.

Related: PHOTOS: Pippa's famous derriere

“Last Saturday I was in a car with Philippa Middleton, and we were being followed by paparazzi,” Soultrait explains.

“The car was being driven by a friend of mine, whom Pippa had only met a few hours before,” Soultrait (he threw himself an over-the-top 30th birthday bash the night before, which Middleton attended) said of Rabillard, a 36-year-old attorney.

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Related: PHOTOS: How Pippa became a star

“As a joke, my friend brandished a toy pistol in their direction. Obviously Philippa had no idea that he was going to do that and told him to stop immediately. She did not find it funny.”

Indeed, the single socialite faces potential backlash not just from the public but from her sister’s royal in-laws.

“This is embarrassing for them,” a royal source tells the new Us. The shocking scandal “has put Kate in a very difficult position,” the source adds.

Related: PHOTOS: What's your favorite royals moment?

Continues Soultrait: “I regret enormously that this incident happened, and especially that Pippa has been subject to the subsequent attention through no fault of her own. I have apologized to her for this.”

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