In early April, we first heard that Carole and Michael Middleton were suddenly looking to “sell” Party Pieces, their shady business which sells “party supplies.” Before that, we heard a lot about how PP was losing money hand over fist, and basically the business was going down the drain at a steady clip. What made it even more notable was the admission that the Middletons were trying to pay a “six-figure dowry” to sell the company – as in, PP is saddled with debt and near bankruptcy, and the Middletons would pay someone to take the company off their hands. Even more notable was the fact that two of Carole’s business partners suddenly quit PP back in March. Well, after all of that drama, the Middletons finally “sold” Party Pieces, only it’s much more complicated than that:
Sky News has learnt that Party Pieces Holdings, which was launched by Carole and Michael Middleton in 1987, was bought on Thursday by James Sinclair, an entrepreneur. Sources said the sale had been implemented through a pre-pack administration, meaning it had appointed insolvency practitioners before being sold without some of its liabilities.
It was unclear what price Mr Sinclair’s company, Teddy Tastic Bear Co Ltd, had paid or how big the liabilities were that had been left behind. According to his personal website, Mr Sinclair “operates a £30m business which includes leisure, childcare, outdoor attractions, commercial property, arts and crafts manufacturing as well as one of the UK’s oldest ice cream companies; The Rossi Ice Cream Company”.
The Middletons’ preferred option had been to sell Party Pieces with a dowry and avert insolvency but this proved impossible, according to insiders.
Interpath Advisory is understood to have been appointed as administrator in court on Thursday morning. The Middletons, who conceived of the business as they were seeking inspiration for daughter Kate’s fifth birthday, instructed Interpath to find a buyer earlier this year.
The pre-pack sale comes just 12 days after the King’s coronation, their daughter’s father-in-law.
According to information circulated to potential bidders, Party Pieces had shown “some recent UK performance contraction during international expansion and focus on margins”.
Wow, so the Middletons were in debt up to the eyeballs and a COURT had to step in because Party Pieces was insolvent. I bet James Sinclair purchased PP for pennies. Basically, it was as we assumed – Party Pieces has been a house of cards for years and the business was nowhere near as successful as the Middletons had long claimed. Considering that PP is operated out of Bucklebury, I wonder if the sale included the Party Pieces commercial real estate? As in, did the Middletons have to sell off every part of the PP business, including the physical buildings? Hm.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
-
- Michael and Carole Middleton arriving at Westminster Abbey, central London, ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.,Image: 774175111, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon
-
- Carole Middleton arriving at Westminster Abbey, central London, ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.,Image: 774175184, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon
-
- Carole Middleton, Michael Middleton, Pippa Middleton and James Middleton at the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774203418, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Veysey/Shutterstock / Avalon
This was purchased as a tax write off and more than likely promises to access the royal circles. No one would waste money of this for any other reason.
Exactly. The real question is not what buildings were sold off (who cares) but what kind of access did Sinclair get for his money? That’s what these Tories are all about and we know for a fact Charles can be bought.
What a slap in the face to chuckles! Imagine admitting you’re bankrupt just 7 days after being invited to his big hat day! How offensive, selling off your business just 7 days after that old man’s special day. How dare Wiglet’s parents do such a thing! Wiglet should be so ashamed that her parents embarrassed her like this.
Money mismanagement? Bail-outs? Essential bankruptcy? The Middletons really do fit perfectly with the Royal Family.
I shall henceforth always include the word bankrupt whenever referring to Party Pieces.
And refer to the Middletons as the owners of ‘the failed business Party Pieces’ at every opportunity….
I betya the tabloids start doing this as well.
Yeah, it sure reads like he assumed their bankruptcy.
Couldn’t they peddle any wares to the coronation festivities organizers? Surprised James didn’t come back to sell marshmallows with pics of Chuck & Cam.
Can they keep the big Buckleberry house without help from Uncle Gary or the rich sons-in-law?
What I want to know is did PP purchase their mansion and that is a large part of the debt? Lots of people use LLCs to purchase real estate in the US (mostly to protect your personal assets in case things go tits up on the loan but also to hide the real owners), so I wonder if it’s similar in the UK. In any case, this smells fishy. What is the UKs version of the IRS and do they audit people?
The UK’s version of the IRS is HMRC and yes, they absolutely do usually audit anything that moves. But, unfortunately, ‘HMRC’ actually stands for ‘His Majesty’s Revenues and Custom” so, no. They will not be investigating his Majesty’s in laws.
Did Carol copykeen her daughter even down to the wonky runaway eyebrow?
She clearly goes to the same hairdresser….and colourist. And make-up artist who loves the heavy kohl eyeliner.
I take this karmic good news considering what is happening to the Sussexes. Kate and the Middletons have been part of the harassment of the Sussexes and now the world knows the fam is broke @$$. I doubt Chuck or Billy is going to finance them, and the aristos will side eye them with more we told you so. Even the self mades may not want to associate with them.
It says a lot and none of it good that William didn’t help them out in some way after inheriting a lot of money recently. He’s ok with his in laws going bankrupt. No more cheesy toast for him.
Weird that this happens months after their son-in-law inherits the $20 million per year Cornwall estate. I thought that he adored them? Either their debt level really was disastrous, or they (and Kate) have lost whatever influence they used to have. The royal family usually handles this kind of financial embarrassment quietly (e.g., Edward’s TV deal, Andrew’s settlement).
True, but Edward and Andrew’s issues were handled — at least in part — by the Queen, protecting her own children. I can easily see Camilla, Charles, and /or William handling the Middleton in-laws and their failings quite differently .
I’m also guessing that William’s “adoration “ has waned over the years, and I think expenditures paid for by the Duchy of Cornwall have to be justified, so continuing to prop up the in law’s dodgy failing business probably won’t do.
I agree. I just think it’s interesting that the current Princess of Wales doesn’t have enough media power or spending power to protect her own parents, and her husband doesn’t seem to care.
@blithe there’s a lot of misinformation on how the duchy works. But William could’ve absolutely bailed them out. Once all financial obligations are met, the POW gets the surplus as his own income. The money is his to do with ‘as he sees fit’ according to the duchy’s own website. The board, which the pow is chair of, is ONLY there to advise and make sure the estate isn’t mismanaged. That’s their only fiduciary responsibility.
You can see their latest report here. Page 40 is where the financials come in. They’re only concerned with that pre surplus amount. Whatever the pow does with that isn’t their concern.
https://duchyofcornwall.org/assets/pdf/integrated-annual-reports/2022/duchy-of-cornwall-integrated-annual-report-2022-final.pdf
@BQM – Thanks for the information and the link. This really reinforces the point made by @tolly — and others — that William could have easily helped the Middletons (more?) if he had wanted to do so.
I’m really curious, now, about how the Middletons will finance their lifestyle going forward.
Yeah, it would’ve been very easy for William to bail them out (or at least get some help for them via his connections), and the media would’ve either glossed it over or not reported on it at all. Honestly, the fact that the media is reporting Party Pieces’ failure in the first place is telling. The Middletons’ loss of favor with William must be significant. If this had happened three years ago, the media would’ve kept quiet until the sale was made and then created some vague BS narrative about how it was the right time for them to sell and move on, etc.
So true. Witness even Andrew managing to sell his dodgy house for £3million OVER the asking price for no reason to a dodgy foreign billionaire. The Middletons have been definitely hung out to dry by Wills.
Their debt level must have been disastrous. Per the article, the Middletons told that insolvency company to look for a buyer earlier in the year. So being king in laws mattered not a whit; Carole getting her cardboard cutout in Rite Aid (or whatever it was) was really dumb considering their financial position wasn’t strong at that point.
I think Charles was scared of any more scandals before the coronation. So he made William agree to wait a few months before announcing the divorce. I also think they were going to do it before the Queen died. That way Kate wouldn’t get much in the divorce. Because William wasn’t the Prince of Wales then. But the Queen got sick and died to soon for their plan to work.
Karma.
I love how they say the sale happened 12 days after the coronation, like every random event has to be put on the coronation timeline.
I’m trying to imagine if they made any money off this sale. It looks to me like they got stuck with a lot of bills.
It’s like a character on a sitcom who’s ignored or forgotten all the time. “Hey, it’s me, Mike. Remember?” “It’s Anne. You’ve met her and met her.” But this time it’s “Remember me, the Chubbly? Yeah, I’m still here!”
Ma Middleton suddenly has a lot more free time on her hands. That’s not good.
This reminds me of Donald Trump. Always bankrupt yet living the high life. Doesn’t matter if they’re sketchy. Their daughter will be queen, their grandson will be king; mission accomplished.
Where’s the press outrage? The PoW family just lost their business.
The Fail is pitching it as a ‘brush with insolvency’ talk about passively aggressively telling us all they are broke and almost went bankrupt.
The question is that now its been sold and they still have the liabilities for it (which they could probably write off tax free as bad debt or something) – where is the money coming from to continue to fund their lifestyles?
Am calling it now- we are going to see Ma on the Wails payroll as some sort of ‘lady in waiting/private sec’ to Catty.
What a dreadful thought, old mother Hubbard accompanying her disturbed daughter.
We have to hope no repeats of whatever stunt KM pulled Coronation morning that led to her mother looking so ill
Well, Kate is short one private Secretary since last year. Maybe this is why she hadn’t filled it.
Bad debt is when somebody else owes you money and can’t pay it back. In this case, the “bad debtors” are the Middletons themselves. They’re stuck with the liabilities and have to pay them back – either through the proceeds of the sale (if there are any), or their own pocket, or someone else’s pocket, or declare personal bankruptcy. If they don’t pay, then the creditors get to write off the bad debt.
One thing to keep an eye on is if we see Keen around any of Mr. Sinclair companies or products. Because as well as selling cheap, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another deal of some sort. Maybe she could be papped with the kids on a nice day out doing some activity Sinclair’s business is involved with .
We still don’t know how much cash they accrue through their pot farm.
They got some cash coming in from somewhere.
Does it come with buckleberry house as in why someone has been petitioning for a bigger house because Adelaide is much too small, can’t even have an office for willie, so let’s pressure to get a bigger house to also lodge middleton mom and dad inside…
I’m sure like Martha Stewart, the Middleton woman didn’t have plastic surgery either. And neither did her daughter.