I’m seriously going to mention the pot farm “nearby” the home of Carole Middleton and Michael Middleton every time I cover this family. It was such a strange story, a story about police raiding a mysterious grow operation adjacent to Middleton Manor. There was never any follow-up about who owned the property or whether any arrests were made. The story just disappeared. And in its place, Carole Middleton has been running one of the most unhinged PR campaigns I’ve ever seen. Carole used to be somewhat discreet, but as soon as Meghan came around, suddenly we could see all of Carole’s machinations out in the open. She began to give more interviews on the record too. Carole chatted with Saga Magazine about her grandchildren and… um, gardening. Hm!!
Carole Middleton is passing on her love of gardening to her grandchildren. Kate Middleton’s mom is now a grandmother of five after the recent birth of Pippa Middleton’s daughter, Grace (she joins 2-year-old brother Arthur), and she is already getting her young grandkids — including Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 3 — interested in growing plants.
“If I’m doing planting with my grandchildren, I like to have it all laid out at ‘activity stations’ with their own little trowel and pot so they can get started immediately,” she told the U.K.’s Saga magazine for their May issue. “It’s no good calling children over to an activity, only for you then to have to fuss about looking for the right equipment and clearing a space. They’ll soon lose interest and slope off.”
Carole, 66, added, “It’s important for children to grow up appreciating nature and part of that is allowing them to get a bit muddy.”
Carole, who founded the business Party Pieces, also shared that she’s been growing her own vegetables as a way to stay busy during lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Growing potatoes is a simple one to start with, and digging for spuds is fun at any age,” she said. “We also grow carrots, beetroot and onions, and there’s no better way to encourage healthy eating than to allow your grandchildren to see how food is grown and let them pick their own.”
Now I wonder if the Middleton grandchildren are tending to Carole’s pot farm. Lord, the scandal. As for the idea of Carole the Gardener… it’s weird because this is the first time anyone has ever said anything about her love of gardening? We;ve always heard about Carole’s interests: drinking, throwing parties, managing her daughters’ lives, running Party Pieces, stage-managing unhinged embiggening campaigns, etc. But never gardening. What’s going on? Also: this seems to also be some kind of cut at Prince Charles, right? He’s the gardener. And he rarely spends time with his grandchildren.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and Avalon Red.
I thought it was Kate’s love of gardening. That’s why they needed to kick a charity out of Apt1A so they could have the private walled garden to grow potatoes?
Has Carole finally decided to stop using her daughter as a proxy and just talk about herself from now on?
The kids: Hey, look granny, wisteria!
Carole: That’s a terribly rude thing to call your mum and aunt.
The kids:… we were talking about the plant
I was on Rose Hanbury’s Instagram (which is gorgeous) and she seems to like wisterias, then I found myself on her sister Countess Marina’s Instagram and she LOVES wisterias
@mimi, what name is she under on IG? Or do you have a link?
@L84Tea
houghton_hall at instagram
Lol, Mimi I was just on her sister’s insta too. They both married some men with gorgeous estates
Her sister uses her estates insta, @cetinale
We rarely hear a peep from Michael Middleton. It’s always all about Carole and her role in her daughters’ lives and her royal grandchildren’s lives and her Party Pieces business and how she is supporting the monarchy and is the “power behind the throne” and how she is William’s surrogate mother. We never hear about what Michael does with Kate’s kids or William. I wonder what he thinks of Carole and her unhinged dedication to centre herself in all things PR.
Michael Middleton probably just goes along with whatever Carole is cooking up.
I hope their dad doesn’t do the same.
Hyacinth ‘Bouquet” Middleton is dangerously close to overplaying her hand. Charles is not someone to mess with. Her constant swipes are very grating and it’s not a good look. She needs to give it a rest.
Oh this is definitely a dig at Charles, especially the part about seeing how food is grown and letting them pick their own. Gee, if only they had a grandparent who has been known for his gardening interests, both flowers and vegetables/fruits, for decades, who maybe has some organic gardens somewhere out there in the UK……
Is this reminding him that she gets to see them? (it sounds like this is a frequent thing, which seems unusual during the lockdown, right? I know the UK is opening back up but you all have the zones there which we dont have so its confusing to me lol.) Is it just establishing herself as the “gardening grandparent?”
Definitely a direct swipe at Charles.
Oh yes – something is def rotten to the core in the House of Cambridge, esp if Ma is taking direct swipes at Chuck like this. Something big is brewing between Chuck and the Cambridges OR Chuck and the Middleton’s as William has checked out.
Whatever it is its going to blow up soon enough!
Nope its a swipe at Meghan. The story in the tabloids is how concerned Kate was because Harry never met Tom Markle. Unlike her solid, grounded, salt of the earth parents. Its a clever put down of Meghan and her family. This is never going to end.
I don’t think Meghan figures into this one. Ever since George was born the Middletons have made a point of pushing these stories that make it seem like they are the only involved grandparents and that they have more influence over the grandchildren than Charles does. So much so that Charles ended up having his people leak that he felt like the Cambridges didn’t provide him enough opportunities to spend time with the children. This article reads like more of the Middletons’ typical antics in that regard. The gardening is especially a big tell because when have we ever heard about Carole loving gardening before? Meanwhile Charles’s love of it is well-known.
@Lee-I don’t see it as a swipe to Meghan. My belief is Carole is being competitive with Charles. Early Monday morning the Telegraph had an exclusive about Charles opening a crafts community training base at Highgrove and then hours later Carole’s gardening story showed up on People(Monday afternoon). Plus, as mentioned a lot already, Charles’ love of gardening isn’t a secret.
I wonder if it’s more specific…in that Charles *doesn’t* have individual stations and tools all set up and that the kids get “bored” gardening with him.
It’s such a weird story.
I think it’s Ma’s desperate attempt to be useful for William. Being king over Charles is impossible so if Ma can do it for him she’ll get whatever she wants. He will never divorce her daughter (or at least until Ma’s death). That’s why Ma is SO desperate. The last 6 month they really tried hard working for “will and kate are brilliant as our next K and Q(C)” and “Charles should give it up”. Ma goes all-in and I can understand her, she is at the point of no return.
Can this Crone ever keep her mouth shut?
Nope. She has been giving more and more interviews, especially since Meghan married in. She knows she will get praised for it. Of course, if Doria dared to say anything the British press would lose it and slam her. The double standards…
Doria most likely knows that. I also believe Doria has more class and dignity than ma midds could EVER hope to buy
@MerlinsMom1018-ITA. Doria does have more class and dignity than Carole.
No matter how far Carole digs into her garden she won’t find class.
I cannot stand this social climbing weasel.
I said what I said!
My God those fascinators are ugly.
Thank you! I dropped in to say something in a similar vein…
Fascinators are fkng stupid, and monochromism was largely abandoned after the 1990s.
In fact, Pippa’s dress, with it’s awful dropped-waist tailoring, looks like it came from the 1980s. Serious fug.
Those big ass satellites on their heads, cocked to the side make them look ridiculous. You’re right about Pips dress, it is one of the fugliest things I’ve seen her wear.
And not an original one in the bunch. Can no one make an independent fashion statement? So inauthentic, the lot of them.
It’s what a social climbing misguided middle class woman imagines the aristocrats would wear. The woman and her brother need to put a cork in it.
She’s probably hoping for a title from her son In law William.
That’s exactly what I have been thinking with this PR push, they’re together forever stuff.
So it’s HRH Duchess of Bucklebury to you.
I was thinking about this. For them to get a title, wouldn’t it have to be Michael, which means he needs to outlive Charles, because Charles isn’t giving them a title. And then it would transfer to James. Do you think the UK government would be okay just adding titles willy nilly like that?
No. I think the last title that got added was….Margaret Thatcher’s husband? something like that.
The last non-royal hereditary peerage was offered to former PM Harold McMillan. The last married-in husband to be offered one was Mark Phillips, who declined, and the last time a royal bride’s father was elevated was waaay back during Elizabeth’s parents’ coronation (he was raised from an earl to a duke). The odds are against the Middletons, even if Kate hangs on until William’s coronation.
lol at the idea of Carole scheming around the UK like a British Nancy Botwin. The monarchy coming out in favor of legal weed would definitely be one way to modernize! “Shall I prepare the royal bong for you, your majesty?”
“A British Nancy Botwin!!” 😂😭
Is she also gardening with Pippa’s son or just with the Royal children? That pot farm story will never not be funny and mysterious. I’m still not convinced that Party Pieces isn’t a front for Uncle Gary’s businesses. Party Pieces making enough to allow private education for their children, a London flat and years of waitying is laughable.
She might be, but she isn’t calling the paps to let them know she’s at the beach digging for shells or spending time at their village festival. That’s only reserved for the FFFK & FPrincess Royal.
Definitely a dig at Charles, but to what end? Kate & Carole are the ones running around trying to make Kate the lynchpin holding the monarchy together? They are the ones who seemed to be worried about their places in the monarchy (Carole has no place, but she thinks she does).
I think this is part of william trying to image himself as an environmentalist. I know it seems a bit far fetched since this article is about Carole “jenner” middleton but honestly, the middletons are inherently linked to william and his image. If they look good he looks good too. Not to mention that his kids are being raised very aware of the environment.
Carole “Jenner” Middleton. Bahahaha!
I think Carole is afraid of getting banned by Clarence House, so she’s putting out how important she is to the Cambridge children. A new broom sweeps clean. I hope Charles puts her out with the rest of the calculating trash.
Yeah whatever Carole.
I expect the Middletons to have rescue chickens soon.
Lol
“…wonder if the Middleton grandchildren are tending to Carole’s pot farm. Lord, the scandal.” I AM DONE. The mental image of the police raiding the farm while the royal grandkids are with pail and shovel is enough to make me laugh all day.
Meanwhile, where is Mr. Middleton???? He NEVER makes headlines. And I rarely see pictures.
You’re comment about the raid made me laugh so hard. I want the pot farm to be theirs so badly. I am a f*cking terrible person.
Maybe Carole and Mike live separate lives too? I just don’t know how she finds the time to be an involved wife while running her budget PR campaigns for Kate.
I played off Kaiser’s comment. I pictured a Cops type of theme in the back ground as the Maryjane Manor gets raided.
Me, too! Kaiser’s comment gave me my biggest laugh of the day. 😂
Owning a gold digging shovel does not make you a gardener Carole.
that is hilarious!
Bingo! Comment of the day!
So, in 20 years, Louis is going to take over the family weed growing operation. Once Kate becomes Queen Consort, they’ll monopolize the UK weed business and name different varieties after members of the royal family. The one with the longest lasting high will be called “Lillibet”.
Haha yesss the CFO will be James.
James will make pot infused marshmallows!
OG, that sounds kinda good…
Lol I love when kaiser posts that picture of carole lol.
Anyway has anyone heard the rumour that Carole and mike are separated and mike has a side piece, and has had one for a couple of years? I hope it’s true and mike has made his bid for freedom.
Mike has a side piece? Damn maybe the Middleton’s are regal after all!
Lol. As regal as Willy I guess.
Popping back in to say that this is the threat we needed this week – some of these comments! The police raiding the pot farm while the Cambridge kids work the fields, Carole’s gold digging shovel, weed named after Lilibet……I’m dying. Good work everyone. TGIF.
I can’t see this. I can’t see her doing anything but sitting around with Kate, talking non stop about Meghan. No time for gardening when there’s so much hating to get done. And of course soothing William. Wasn’t that what it said in Tatler – that Carole let him rest his tired head on her lap! I think they got a retraction on that glorious titbit.
I don’t understand why she can’t get a bra that fits.
Took time off from making Kate indispensable to taking a swipe at Charles I see…
🙄
Something should be coming out of CH pretty soon putting her back in her place I guess
So that’s where William picked up his joy in cultivating roses. Huh.
Exactly. She is just encouraging them to follow in their father’s rose-trimming footsteps! 😆
Now I don’t have kids so not sure how to take this, but her comment about having the ‘stations’ ready for the kids to just get started, all laid out ready, reads as rather controlling and very much ‘NO, not like that’. I mean I get the basic point about kids getting bored but given how she controlled Kate’s life it feels like this may tell us more than she intended.
I have kids and what stood out to me about it was – it sounds like a good idea, right? but I also think its important sometimes for kids to see you preparing, so they can see the effort that goes along with something. Or the kids can just wait. I’m not saying she makes Louis wait for 15 minutes, but if she has her pots and dirt ready and just needs to go grab trowels really fast I think the kids would survive, you know? My mom does a lot with my kids and she is not worried at all about having things ready to go. If they want to make pancakes with her, they can wait while she gets out the flour and oil etc.
Or better still, getting the kids to help in an age appropriate way with the entire project. Obviously none of the kids is strong enough to hoist a 30 lb bag of potting soil, but they could lay out the pots, fill up small watering cans, clean up afterwards, etc.
For people who are clearly insane, Carole and Kate sure are boring.
I LOL’d. Winner 😂
Mic drop!!!
I have a theory that isn’t original, but all of this is Carole’s making. The marriage, etc. Kate likely wouldn’t have been able to get William without her mother’s machinations. Carole manipulated a young man who lost his mother at a young age with the appeal of an instant family. When the Sussexes did well, Carole took this as an affront and an attack, as she had spent so much energy crafting her daughter’s personna, which was diminished by the presence of smart, hard working people who actually wanted to help improve the lives of people.
As the Sussexes are exiled, Carole is emboldened and she is exploiting Charles’ lack of momentum to try to coral the situation to steer it towards the Cambridges jumping the queue in front of Charles, also hoping that William will give up his love of roses once the spotlight of King is cast upon him. Plus, being the mother of the Queen Consort might benefit her and her family financially. It’s all quite sick and toxic and I feel bad for William as Harry was right, William is stuck.
Kate doesn’t mind as it suits her. Their are women who don’t care if their husband philanders or is miserable, as long as their is plenty of money, children to look after, and appearances are kept up. Plus, his affairs give her leverage over him if she needs it. It is a game people play where they suck decent people (Rose Bushes) into their toxic marriage dynamic and spit them out once it is over.
There’s a video of Carole & Kate at William’s graduation. Carole is smacking her gum and talking to Kate about William. Kate smiles at her mother, who is eyeing William like the prize stud he was. Kate looks away, pained. That video is always in my mind when I see Carole. She’s a master manipulator. Not only of Kate, but William. She planned and plotted to get her daughters into the aristocracy and royalty. Didn’t matter what they truly wanted, the crown (Kate) & title (Pippa) were the goals. If she could have manipulated Harry and got him with Pippa, she would have been thrilled. The fact he shot down those plans is reason enough for Ma Midds to hate him & Meghan.
I know they may have “arrangements” w/in their marriages that it doesn’t matter who/what they do, and will bed hop once the “heir and spare” are firmly in place, Aristos tend to “play”.
I know it’s judgey, but IMO “decent people” aren’t cheaters, Rose Bushes incl.
Why is this woman out here jumping in front of interview mikes more times than a thirsty F-list starlet? This woman doesn’t have a life and thinks she’s a celebrity because she coached her daughter on how to stalk a man, become his doormat (with no job) for 10 years while he stuck his pencil here, there and everywhere, and finally got a ring after wearing him down and pressure from his family to marry (also, the 10-year doormat experience taught him that he could continue cheating. She doesn’t appear to have much of a life and is living 100% through Kate (you can’t even say she’s doing publicity to advertise her business because he barely mentions the name of her company in interviews). Since they’re all so cool with copying Meghan’s style of dress (in 7 years, Keen never wore pants at engagements until Meghan did it), her hairstyle (parted in the middle w/ front pinned back), hiring H&M’s social media manager, and all the rest—why don’t they copy her mother, Ms. Doria, who has a full life of her own and keeps her trap shut. Seriously, we have no idea what Ms. Doria thinks about anything, or even what she sounds like. Good for her.
“he stuck his pencil here, there and everywhere” just took me OUT. 😭 I barely got any sleep and was feeling braindead all day, but the comments on this post woke me right up and now I’m laughing hysterically. His pencil, lmaoo
The comments on this story deserve an award, at the very least special mention for its humour.