Pippa Middleton on royal wedding: 'We saw it as just a family wedding'

NEW YORK, June 30 (UPI) -- Pippa Middleton, who became a household name when her sister married Prince William in a lavish royal wedding in 2011, sat down with the Today show's Matt Lauer for her first televised interview on Monday.

As Lauer promised, Middleton discussed her sister's wedding and the subsequent media attention.

"We saw it as a family wedding," the 30-year-old said. "I didn't realize the scale of it until afterwards. We really saw it as a family getting together and doing their bit. To me, it was just performing in front of a lot of people, just not the world. It was surreal!"

Middleton added that she was "embarrassed" by the reaction to her bridesmaid's dress -- and her backside.

"I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress," she said. "Really just to sort of blend in with the [wedding dress] train."

Middleton, who's in the United States for a 3,000-mile charity bike race, also told Lauer that she didn't expect the pitfalls that come with fame.

"It's hard sometimes. I have felt publicly bullied a little bit," she said. "It is quite difficult. I'm actually just paving my way just trying to live a life like any 30 year old."