As Kate Middleton reportedly relies on support from her close-knit family during her cancer treatment, her mother has been dealing with the collapse of the famed family party supply business that propelled the Middletons into the upper middle class and allowed so-called “commoner” Kate to move in the same social circles as her future royal husband.
Carole Middleton’s Party Pieces company went “into administration” — the British version of entering bankruptcy — last year, owing creditors some $3.2 million, according to the Times of London. Now, what’s left of Party Pieces can’t come up with the $329,000 it needs to pay the London firm handling its insolvency, The Times also reported.
That has left Carole Middleton and her husband, Michael, scrambling to deal with a series of devastating business blows. But according to reports, these concerns have not stopped the Middletons from doing all they can to help their daughter and her husband, Prince William, deal with her health crisis. Since Kate underwent surgery in January for what was initially believed to be a non-cancerous condition, the Middletons have been on hand to support their daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren, the Times reported.
On March 22, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced to the world that doctors discovered after the surgery that she had cancer. She didn’t detail the type of cancer, but said she was in the early stages of chemotherapy and assured the public, “I am well and getting stronger every day.”
The Middletons live about 40 minutes away from the home of the Prince and Princess of Wales near Windsor Castle. Carole Middleton, always a hands-on grandmother, has stepped in to help look after George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5, The Times said. It’s not known how long Kate’s treatment will last or when she’ll be well enough to return to public duties.
But through Kate’s cancer ordeal, Carole Middleton is determined to keep her daughter from worrying about the family business problems, Us Weekly reported.
“Carole is desperately trying to keep Catherine fully focused on her recovery,” a source told Us Weekly. “It’s a very worrying time for the family but they are not looking for any assistance from their children and don’t want them to worry.”
While Kate and her parents are known to be very close and to regularly check in with one another, talk about the business has been “off limits,” Us Weekly said.
“It’s a stressful time at the moment and (Carole) will be pulling out all the stops to shield her daughter from this,” royal commentator Afua Hagan told Us. “Party Pieces has collapsed and it’s been devastating for the family, but Carole will be most concerned about Kate’s well-being right now.”
Kate’s siblings, James and Pippa Middleton, also have been offering emotional support, The Times reported.
Carole Middleton, a former British Airways flight attendant, launched Party Pieces in 1987, as a company that made children’s birthday party bags. She began the business “at her kitchen table.” As Party Pieces grew into also selling party supplies and decorations, her husband, a former British Airways flight dispatcher, joined the company. The company reportedly made the couple multi-millionaires and allowed them to purchase a luxury, $6.5 million home in Berkshire, in the English countryside.
Michael Middleton, though, also came from a wealthy Yorkshire family, and it is believed that Middleton family trusts allowed him and his wife to send Kate to the elite prep school, Marlborough College, which led to her attending St. Andrews University in Scotland where she met William, The Telegraph reported.
Carole Middleton stepped back from the day-to-day running of Party Pieces in 2019, becoming a brand ambassador for the business, as a new management team was put in place, The Times said. But the company struggled when children’s parties were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it suffered a major loss of $316,000. Carole Middleton returned to help run the company as it sought a rescue deal in the spring of 2023. The company was sold last year for about $225,000 to a company that runs a portfolio of children’s businesses, The Times also said.
One person who does not feel much sympathy for the Middletons’ plight, at least in regards to their business, is small-business owner, Mohamad Pardis, who was one of the suppliers of products to Party Pieces, the London Times also reported. Pardis, an Afghan refugee and the owner of a helium supply company, said the Middletons’ inability to pay their creditors meant he probably won’t see the $25,000 he is owed. That amount is equivalent to a year’s profits.
“I thought I was in safe hands and that I could trust the royal family. I’m completely shocked,” Pardis told the Times last June. “(Carole Middleton) should pay us out of her own pocket. She’s living in a £5 million house, so it’s next to nothing for them, but for me it’s my profit for a year.”