Pippa Middleton is reported to be upset and devastated with the cruel remarks and taunts about her looks by Karl Lagerfeld.

The legendary Chanel designer caused controversy when he said that the younger sister of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge should hide her face. However, close friends of Pippa Middleton advised her to just retain a dignified silence over the issue.

"Pippa's devastated by Karl's cruel comments. She's always been confident about her looks. But she doesn't want to retaliate and start a war of words. Her friends have tried to make her laugh about it as Karl is hardly a supermodel himself," a source told Closer magazine.

It can be recalled that Pippa Middleton garnered attention with her pert posterior at the Royal Wedding of her sister Kate Middleton to Prince William in April 2011 but Karl Lagerfeld famously slammed Pippa with the harsh statement that he did not think of her as a beauty like her sister Kate.

"Kate Middleton has a nice silhouette and she is the right girl for that boy. I like that kind of woman, I like romantic beauties. On the other hand, her sister struggles. I don't like the sister's face. She should only show her back," Lagerfeld said.

According to reports, Lagerfeld's statement gave Pippa Middleton a rough couple of weeks and became inconsolable despite all of the best efforts of her friends in helping her deal with the very public embarrassment of the harsh and unnecessary remarks regarding her face.

Meanwhile, Pippa Middleton and her sister Kate are now said to be much closer than ever and it is claimed that the Duchess of Cambridge wants to do whatever she can to help her sibling boost her image.

"Kate clearly wanted to show that Pippa is truly back in the royal fold," a source said.

The source also shared that the two are spending more time together and Kate has also been giving Pippa some tips for her promotional tour around the United States when she launches her party planning book in October.