A week ago exactly, the Princess of Wales made a big unannounced visit to the Chelsea Flower Show and posed for photos with the schoolchildren she had bused in. The photos made the covers of many of the British papers the next day, and you would have thought that she was the only royal at the Chelsea Flower Show’s MEDIA DAY. Except that King Charles and Queen Camilla were also at the show and their visit was totally overshadowed by Kate’s keenery. The rest of the week featured back-and-forth stories about Kate feuding with the king and queen, and stories about how Charles was not pleased whatsoever. We knew that Charles and Camilla would find some way to punish Kate. Well, this weekend’s papers were full of shady exclusives, and this Times piece was probably the worst one for Kate and her entire family. You know how the court had to step in and sell off the Middletons’ business because Party Pieces was on the verge of bankruptcy? Well, funny story – the Times has a wealth of information about just how broke the Middletons are and how they got a pandemic “loan” courtesy of the British taxpayers.
The Princess of Wales’s parents took out a coronavirus loan for a children’s party business that will leave the taxpayer facing a loss after the business collapsed this month. Carole and Michael Middleton received a taxpayer-backed loan from NatWest to support the company when lockdowns prevented family gatherings.
Party Pieces, which they established in 1987, has now entered an insolvency process. The bank is owed a balance of £220,000, according to documents seen by The Times. The taxpayer is liable to pay 80 per cent of any amount owed to NatWest under the terms of the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme.
Party Pieces has now been sold through a so-called pre-pack administration deal to the entrepreneur James Sinclair for £180,000. The sale proceeds will therefore not be sufficient to pay off the loan in full. The lending is unsecured and will not be given priority over other unsecured creditors such as trade suppliers.
It is understood that Carole Middleton stepped back from the day-to-day running of Party Pieces in 2019. She became a brand ambassador for the business and a new management team was put in place. She remained a director and returned to help run the company’s operations this year to help secure its future. The pandemic led to a decline in sales for Party Pieces that ultimately prompted the owners to call in advisers from the restructuring firm Interpath. Revenues fell from £4.5 million to £3.2 million in 2022, and the company made a net loss before tax of £900,000.
In a report for creditors, the administrators said: “Management attributed this to the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in reduced social gatherings and a reduction in discretionary spend due to the cost-of-living crisis. This caused constraints on the company’s cash flows. The company was both loss-making and under creditor pressure. In the absence of new funding or a solvent sale, the company was insolvent on a balance sheet and cash flow basis. The existing investors of the company had injected ad hoc funds to meet critical payments and no further funds were available from this source.”
Sinclair’s company Teddy Tastic Bear bought Party Pieces after Interpath approached 175 possible buyers. Interpath received one potentially solvent offer for Party Pieces but found it could not be delivered “after significant effort”.
Party Pieces held discussions with creditors over its “tightening liquidity position” but found that there would be no support available to “defer or deal with the highest-pressure creditors”.
There’s more background at the Times about the pandemic-era loans, which seem to be similar to the PPP loans we had here in America. The government handed out billions of dollars to businesses to keep them afloat during the pandemic. I’m honestly not surprised at all that PP got a loan, but it’s hilarious to me that Party Pieces still owes the bank £220,000. I am surprised by some of the other details – Party Pieces was sold for only £180,000? That’s literally what Kate spends on fugly coatdresses in a year. It sounds like Carole and Mike are up to their eyeballs in debt and selling off Party Pieces was just a failed attempt to stop their financial bleeding. I can’t wait for Buckingham Palace to reveal even more about Kate and the Middletons as punishment for the flower show thunder-stealing.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Carole Middleton The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen, Service, West Door, Westminster Abbey, London, UK – 19 Sep 2022,Image: 724158734, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Veysey/Shutterstock / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Carole Middleton and Michael Middleton arrive at Windsor Castle ahead of the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in Windsor, England. The committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, took place following the state funeral at Westminster Abbey. A private burial in The King George VI Memorial Chapel followed. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.,Image: 724191188, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Leon Neal / Avalon
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- Carole and Michael Middleton arriving for the ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey in London. The service will be broadcast on ITV1 on Christmas Eve as part of a Royal Carols: Together At Christmas programme, narrated by Catherine Zeta Jones and featuring an introduction by Kate and tributes to Queen Elizabeth II.,Image: 744946541, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty O’Connor / Avalon
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
Did Carole really think there would be no punishment from someone as petty and insecure as Charles? Or did Kate go rogue with the flower show stunt?
I also have no doubts that the tabloids have hit pieces on the Middletons written and ready to go at a moment’s notice from Charles and Co.
If their financial situation really is dire and it’s about to be public, then it also would explain the middleton fluff pieces we’ve seen recently
While I would not be surprised if C&C went after W&K or just Kate, I have no idea if that happened here? If the Middleton’s financial situation was bound to become public, I honestly see this more in terms of mitigating the fallout from that. The article is not overly negative towards the Middletons IMHO; it could have been a lot worse. And I’m side-eyeing the timing of this: Harry is due back in the UK to testify in the Mirror trial and it’s almost Lilibet’s birthday…unless this story grows legs, it’s about to be wiped off the pages by the tabloids’ favorite money makers. This might have been a more favorable weekend to acquaint everyone with news that was going to be public and then move on. The tabloids can always return to this story in the future as needed, but it could have been worse. Plus, I suspect Keen has knowledge of events her in-laws would prefer kept out of the papers.
No doubt @ Roo!! They were obviously in financial crisis before the pandemic, IIRC, with an onslaught of horrible reviews, unfulfilled orders, etc. What actually should anger the British taxpayers is that PP was given a subsidy for the pandemic and they are left holding the bag for another Meddleton grifter. I would imagine that many, many commoner companies were denied whereas CarolE was given preferential treatment. Funny how many Drumpf corporate “buddies” were also given PPP as well and many refused to return the millions of $$$$ too!!
Maybe CarolE should have invested in t-shirts 😉
https://twitter.com/KaiseratCB/status/1662918092077268993?cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=email
Especially with all of the articles mentioning the multi million dollar business her family owned and ran as if she wasn’t a social climber because they had this business.
So that was a lie too. They were in debt and only stayed afloat by pushing their daughter off onto the RF.
@BothSidesNow the purpose of the PPP loans was to pay staff. Companies that received loans and maintained their payroll for the designated period of time were given loan forgiveness. No company “refused” to return the money. There was no pay back requirement.
It does feel like Kate went rogue with the flower show PR stunt. Is she still without a personal press secretary? The headlines lately are inserting Kate’s name into stories unrelated to her is straight from the playbook they used to smear Meghan. Something has changed and it feels like Kate might be on the outs.
The entire Midd family would not have been invited to the coronation if Kate was on her way out.
I’ve seen on twitter that Kate was furious her family only got four tickets and her siblings couldn’t bring spouses while Camilla’s family and even ex was invited to the coronation. I guess it goes without saying she was also pissed at being denied a tiara at the coronation.
Of course, the Middleton family would be invited to the coronation, the Windsors would not be that obvious about it. Kate being on the outs means she is no longer being protected in the tabloids like she was when Meghan was the go-to scapegoat for the royal family.
Not letting Pippa and James bring their spouses to the coronation means kate only got 4 tickets for her family. That’s not a great sign for her. And she knew it was bad because there was an article trying to pretend that kate was able to invite her team, even though the employees would have all been invited to the coronation anyway.
I am so here for The War of the Windsors, getting my popcorn ready
Me, too.
Got a big box from Costco. I’m set.
There’s already something about Kate meeting with a murderer. He’s the head of some charity she supports & he did time for killing someone. They keep showing the photo of her meeting him with a handshake & big smile.
As for PP, looks like they started going in trouble back in 2019? When Carole stepped down? And then the pandemic hit & really put the nail in the coffin. I like how the article wrote that the insolvency sale won’t cover the pandemic loan—leaving out the part that they owe a whole lot of other creditors, which they call ‘high-pressure creditors’. Would that be people with lawyers who want their money??
Yep – meaning Ma and Pa could be hit with a bunch of claims against them in court. These articles could be the Mids way of telling Peggy to cough up or else……
William was right next to her in that photo. He’s been absent from the reporting on this. That tells me Kate is being left adrift so they can easily tear her down.
I agree. William was specifically excluded from all the Kate and the Killer headlines. That’s not a mistake.
It must be really bad if Charles & Camilla are pulling that card on Kate.
Maybe now uncle Gary won’t be allowed to get to the media to praise Kate and go after the sussexes.
Eh I find it hard to get excited about this article. They’ve been reporting about trouble with the company for almost 2 years now. The amount of money it sold for was always going to be available a few weeks after the sale finalized. I think the difference between reporting now versus then is that it’s a dead period in royal reporting.
But even with her failing business the reporting still is more fact based. I haven’t seen opinion pieces denigrating the Middleton family like there would be if this were Meghan’s mom.
But you know what I’ll give the British media credit for even reporting on anything that could be viewed as negative toward Kate because that hasn’t happened much since 2018/2019.
What’s new is the coronavirus loan and the fact that the Middletons won’t be able to repay NatWest the £200,000 owing. The government is now obliged to pay NatWest 80% of any amount owing according to the terms of the coronavirus loan scheme. It seems the Middletons have learnt from the Windsors how to scrounge of the public whilst hiding their money elsewhere.
Did you catch the front page article over the weekend about how the head of one of Mrs. Wails’s charities is apparently a convicted murderer? With a big picure of her standing next to him grinning broadly? Can’t recall the paper as I saw it on someone’s twitter account who was pointing out that the media is ready to come for Mrs. Wails. Chuck and Queen Equine have the knives out.
@sid, yep read the story and laughed my little head of. Hold tight to that wiglet katey, your being pulled back either into line or out the door
It’s true but very much taken out of context. The man in question committed a horrific act when he was 16, was convicted, served his sentence, and decided to turn his life around after he was released. He retrained as a social worker and now runs a charity that helps children and young people find pathways out of crime.
The press are leaping on it because it’s an attention grabbing headline. But yes, it’s clear Kate is not being protected any more. The “Kate posing with MURDERER!!!” story has been all over the tabloids, a few years ago it would have been buried.
Yes! Saw it. It’s Knives Out for Kate and the Middleton clan.
@sid Yeah the headline was bad but the story wasn’t. Meanwhile when they did that with Meghan they contorted themselves ever which way to make Meghan seem awful!
That’s why again I’m not fully convinced they are throwing her under a bus..I need more evidence lol.
I think for now it’s a case of Kate is the most interesting or the remaining royals so her name will get the clicks in the British press as long as they can’t find any stories on Meghan.
When it comes the the British Media, the headline is the story. People who read the fail don’t go much deeper than that. You don’t put Kate’s name next to murderer just for clicks, particularly when she has been heavily protected from bad press since Meg came along. That had nothing to do with Kate being more interesting than the rest of the royals.
Peggy was also in the photo but not a peep about him in that photo – so yeah Princess Wiglets is being fed to the wolves.
Agree with @JT, the headline is the story for the tabs.
You don’t have to be excited about but shut us going down. Waity crossed a line with Charles and the tone of these articles about her and her Middleton family are on the vicious side.
I don’t think these reveals are only about flower show thunder stealing. I’ve been saying for years that once the Sussex well has run dry, that Kate and the Middleton would become the next scapegoats. There is also an article about James Middleton’s debts and Pippa’s moderately wealthy husband’s pandemic loans.
This is just the beginning. There was a time that this type of information would have been covered up and spun positively. And William would have payed off their debts. But not anymore.
The Middleton’s and their grifter ways are a lot for the press to feed on. Especially if the drip, drip drip is leading to an official separation of the Wales.
@Snuffles I totally agree with you here. The tell in this article that the tide is turning against Kate is its emphasis on how the taxpayer has to pay for the Middleton’s mismanagement. Invoking the taxpayer is code for riling up the peasants. Burger King will need to subtly lay the groundwork first that the Middletons and Kate are not the quality of people he assumed they were; he cannot be blamed if this marriage is allowed to go bust.
Also, this is the second article in a week that The Times ran with a negative slant—the photographer griping about Kate at Chelsea now this painfully transparent article about the low value of PP. I always pay attention to The Times; it is the paper of record for William when he wants to be taken seriously.
That’s Pippa’s *terribly* moderately wealthy husband, if you please : )
@snuffles I totally agree. Kate’s appearance/upstaging at the flower show may have been the impetus for the gloves to come off, but the way this family works is that someone must always be the scapegoat, and it’s much more likely to be one of the married-ins than those of royal blood.
Kate is the royal spouse with the biggest target on her back but also the least protection.
Sophie is boring, yes, but she is steady and dependable. Mike Tindall has scandals galore but he’s not a senior royal. Camilla has befriended the rota and Charles has expended every effort to protect her reputation.
Kate? She is somewhat of an outsider in the family as well as in their social set. So, no friends to come to her defense as “sources”. She barely works (in the royal sense, like cc engagements) and never has. She spends a lot of money and has some odd mannerisms (the gawping, the mumbling, the vapid comments). There’s also a lot of gossip worthy stories about her marriage and how she presents her children (like dressing them in Victorian cosplay).
So Kate is without a doubt the biggest target, and someone who is newsworthy, a senior royal. But so long as there were Sussex stories to write about, she was safe. But who are her allies? There’s her immediate family, but they are neither wealthy or influential. As noted already, the Toffs will take any opportunity to make fun of her taste and her eagerness to be Queen. Her employees? Well, if push comes to shove, and as Meghan found out, they may only be loyal to William. And as for the erstwhile POW, my guess is that his secret deals with the media are about protecting himself first and foremost, and if it becomes a choice between throwing his wife under the bus or taking personal responsibility, he’ll choose the former every time.
This article is as much about putting the Middleton clan on notice as it is about taking Kate down a peg (snicker).
“but the way this family works is that someone must always be the scapegoat, and it’s much more likely to be one of the married-ins than those of royal blood.”
@ Jay, that’s why I believe that “Sophie’s” police escort accident that killed a woman was not really hers but William’s or Andrew’s. Most likely William since it was near Kensington Palace and he’s the direct heir so must be protected at all costs.
The Times article also notes that Pippa’s multimillionaire husband and Zara’s belland other half took advantage of the furlough scheme (government handouts to fund employee retention) during lockdown. I guess it’s good to see The Times being so thorough in its reporting.
Party Pieces could never have financed the lifestyle enjoyed by the Middletons. There had to be another source of money, whether it was Middleton family trusts, Uncle Gary or some other source.
The £220,000 owed is peanuts compared to their spending.
I assume whatever was really financing them is still in place so I’m not convinced anything will change.
Whatever financing them… probably that they never had an NDA with William of the royal family.
Apparently she can still afford the botox. She has that overall shine of fresh treatments. So obvious!
What if their, previous, finance source was William?
If that’s been the case they’ve been fools – and utter snobs.
At £180K he still paid too much for a party tat business and given that they’ve screwed over the UK taxpayer to pay off the rest I hope that they lose it all – am fed up of us bailing out people like them. But then again this is not the first time they’ve stiffed the taxpayer for their lifestyle – lets not forget the money they got for ‘security’ upgrade to Middleton Manor that included a new driveway, converting an out building into a self contained flat for security personnel and other ‘improvements’ to the property all in the name of security because Catty can’t be away from Mummy for too long. That was nothing more than a scam by the Middletons.
The hit pieces are going to keep coming – the Middletons are out of favour with Peggy which means that an announcement about the Wails is marriage is coming. They are setting the narrative up that her family are broke ass grifters who mis managed their company into bankruptcy – next it will be they’ve taken money for access to Peggy and Buttons.
By trashing her family they are letting Catty know she’s next – it was only a matter of time before they came for her for lategate and fake tiaragate.
“They are setting the narrative up that her family are broke ass grifters who mis managed their company into bankruptcy – next it will be they’ve taken money for access to Peggy and Buttons.
By trashing her family they are letting Catty know she’s next – it was only a matter of time before they came for her for lategate and fake tiaragate.”
BINGO!!! I will add that William will be “shocked and broken hearted” over how the Middleton’s misrepresented themselves and their wealth during his courtship of Kate. How they bilked him out of his Diana inheritance. And how they emotionally manipulated his grief stricken self over the loss of Diana by presenting themselves as the ideal family when in reality they were just a group of grifters.
I wouldn’t be surprised if William’s settlement from Murdoch’s papers supported Clan Middleton.
As little as I sympathize with William, if it’s true Carole used William’s grief to control him, that would be despicable, and I would 100% understand him throwing them under the bus.
Maybe that was just the value of the tangible assets. I hope so for the buyer’s sake. Either that or some sort of tax write-off.
How can they afford their lifestyle? I’m assuming Kate doesn’t have separate access to the Duchy fund. At least not to be able to pay this off.
For years we heard stories about William giving the Middletons financial assistance for their home. The amount owed £220,000 should be a drop in the bucket for William to cover so his wife’s family can dissolve their business quietly and with a bit a dignity. Some of you have been saying for years that Kate & her family are next and I had my doubts it would happen but these last few weeks are telling.
The 220k is only the covid loan, they’re not telling us the rest of the outstanding debt after the insolvency sale. They are bankrupt & owe lots of people/companies.
I agree. That Duchy money is Will’s money and only Will’s money.
Uncle Gary to the rescue, unless he’s become cheesed off about not getting enough royal access. He’s done more than enough Kate embiggening and bloviating about how Kate will be a much better QC and Chuck and Camzilla should step aside for the Wails. But it’s clear the wind has shifted and it’s not in the Middleton’s direction, William will see to that as he edges closer and closer to an official separation.
When did the laws change about companies being able to sell their mailing lists? Hasn’t it been said here several times in the past that PP made a significant amount of money doing that, and it was a blow financially when they could no longer do so.
They were enacted in 2018.
Well well well. The Times appears to the firing the first shot here. Wonder what spin DM etc will put on this. It certainly sounds like the Middletons are up to their eyeballs in debt, which makes you wonder how they can afford their lifestyle. How much has William been supplementing their income? Or have they been living on credit for years, thinking they would get a payout when William became Duke of Cornwall?
I know some people strategize bankruptcies etc and it doesn’t mean they are personally broke. I don’t think that’s the case here though.
I think they have some cash stashed off shore somewhere but it still not going to be enough to fund their lifestyle and pay for the upkeep of their large property – it would not be surprised to find out that they are being paid for their ‘leaks’ to the Fail, after all its their mouth piece of choice and has been for years and they pay for their information. The whole family have been living beyond their means for a loooong time – the fact that William paid for their house means Uncle Gary stopped funding them a long time ago.
I suspect Mike will end up working with James on some venture and Carole will try for a royal aide role supporting Mumbles. If Mumbles is truly on her way out, Carole will want some cash for herself.
The reporting is very classist — really underlining how middle class the middletons are. I can only imagine that the Windsor’s reservation of this marriage was the family had no money. And here they are reminding Kate/Carole of that.
Didn’t Charles wanted William to marry a woman from the aristocracy?
Probably, I don’t recall a specific rumour though. It seems that really monied families, which the Windsor’s really prefer, don’t want the hassle and bother that comes with being a Royal. (As we’ve seen with Jecca Craig, Chelsea Davy etc). Also remember Harry saying Charles suggest that Megan should continue acting… which is a bizzaro thing to request… but then see Mike Tindal. I think the family’s access to money is complex – and it would be easier for them to have easier access to the spouses money.
Well, the gossip has always been that William proposed to NUMEROUS aristocratic girls during his ups and downs with Kate. Kate was just the last woman standing.
Which begs the question, why did none of them want to marry the future king? You would think in their set he would be the ultimate prize but none of them went for it and basically friend zoned him.
It has to be more than just press scrutiny for why those woman didn’t want to marry him. Harry landed an exceptional, self made millionaire and the press was out for Meg from the word go. Meg still felt that Harry was worth it. Hell, if Jecca or Isabella had said yes, they absolutely would have absolutely been protected from the intense scrutiny. Look how much Kate has been coddled all those years. There’s just something about Will that ran them off. It’s interesting that the only woman he could get was a lazy, status obsessed grifter. That says everything about William.
Didn’t William chase all the aristo gals off with a ….
PEG?
@JT — given Bulliam’s “incandescent” temper and general overweening arrogance, I imagine at the first sign of a temper tantrum, philandering, or just being a disrespectful wanker, the other women backed off leaving Khate to pick him off like a vulture circling a carcass.
@jaded, I have commented before that Isabella Calthorpe (as an explanation as to why she was not interested in dating William) was quoted as saying something like she was “scared” of William. That was interpreted in the press as her being scared of a royal life. I have looked for that quote again and not found it. Perhaps it was scrubbed from the internet (maybe someone else here can find it!). But I do think that William’s temper played a role in aristocratic women turning him down.
I kind of doubt that the courtiers were looking for a titled woman from a monied background. I think the fact that Diana was from this very impressive aristo background may have been come to be seen over time as a bit as a liability, as perhaps they felt it was part of why she wasn’t willing to be controlled. And also, more aristo families may have been dubious about sending their daughters into that den after Diana’s experience, so there may have been some mutually agreed upon distance there.
So my made-up theory is that courtiers put together a shortlist of attractive young women from appropriate schools who weren’t *too* well-off, who would provide a “safe” back-up plan for PW. Not having too much of their own money or true insider status would give the court and family a much better means of controlling the woman and family, and perhaps they felt it made a nice narrative. I would guess that Kate and probably a handful of others were on some kind of vetted list, and they probably all got invites to various events, perhaps even expedited entrance to St A’s, etc.
Not that the courtiers would have nixed a woman from a more aristo and connected background, had PW found someone like that, but just in terms of what the courtiers were setting up, it may have seemed easier in their minds to find/support an agreeable family, lacking a strong independent base, who the court could mostly control. Since PW didn’t find someone else on his own, and there was possibly nothing doing with others on the short list (I just doubt there was only one), he ended up with K.
The financial reveals have to be embarrassing to Kate. The aristos have always looked down her and her family; and the toffs are enjoying this reversal of fortune. The Middletons have always been seen as social climbing trash, the Boleyns 2.0. This and Kate’s attempt to sideline Rose are harsh reminders to Kate she, Carole and fam will never very accepted by British centuries’ old money and real power structure. If a divorce happens Kate and the Middletons will be socially finished.
Oh, I’m sure the Turnip Toff set are having a field day talking shit about the Middleton’s at their posh swingers parties.
And aren’t Aristocrats technically not that liquid rich, so to laugh at the Middletons who probably have more money than them must sting even more, because they bank on their lineage and historical connections. So even if the Middletons were billionaires they would still be less than to them.
I am genuinely curious, I was not answered last time. What will happen to their Shoprite partnership that was only signed a few months ago with Carole flying to US to ham it up!!?
ShopRite is in trouble itself. The one in my area is closing and it’s practically a landmark so the fact that it’s going out of business is a big deal.
ShopRite Supermarkets are Franchises, so they have different owners, the 3 that are close to me, seem to be doing fine.
With Party City, Amazon, Home Goods, $ store, Walmart etc, PP would’ve a hard time doing business on the East Coast, where Outlet shopping is the Norn.
From what I understand, the SR stores are in a coop arrangement rather than franchises under the Wakefern brand (though Wakefern operates some of them directly as well). Stores are independently owned and operated, though one entity may own more than one store. So @Mimi the one closing near you may, or may not, indicate the health of the company as a whole.
The SR near me does have a modest PP display which was still there as of a couple of days ago. I never noticed any obvious sign over the months of merchandise moving, but for the last couple of weeks, there has been a small empty area where stuff hasn’t been replaced. We’ll see what happens.
So Pippa’s husband was shown to have taken a government loan out as well? So is he really just another poser or is he really wealthy? We know that the Middletons are broke and busted but I thought at least Pippa & husband were true millionaires.
They really enjoyed watching the tabs and the institution try to destroy Duchess Meghan and now she and Harry are gone, living stateside in the sun and are actual millionaires. KARMA
All sorts of people claimed COVID money during the pandemic, many of those who did didn’t need to but need cause free money – its telling that they sold their big mansion in Chelsea to setup home in the country. They also bought a petting zoo with plans to make it a money spinner.
While he’s still wealthy his hedge fund business may have taken a hit during the pandemic.
I wonder if Kate realizes she’s in perilous waters or if she’s too dumb to know.
Seems Cowmilla is punishing Can’t for that little over shadowing stunt she pulled. The royal knives are out. I’m here for it.
Susan , I am here for it too, as is the BM. Their fanfic about Harry is not going to sell that much anymore. The Sussexit era generated a tidal wave of hate clicks and nothing they throw at the Sussexes will make that much again. They need something big again, and coincidentally, the new target might serve William’s interests too. Not to mention, KC knows that if Peg goes through with a divorce, they need to bury the Middletons deep. So here it goes.
These boys are really ruining the dream of marrying a prince lol (for different reasons obviously) what a joke Will is. He could buy this with change. And obviously Kate is being financially abused as well as emotionally and physically.
Wails seems to have all of the new clothes, etc., that she wants. I seriously doubt that money is going to her family. Wails might have some money, but not enough to help. That’s something that would have to come from Fails. I wonder how long this has been going on that Fails is no longer diverting money to the Mids. I think the pandemic really did bring a lot of things out that we’ll probably never know about.
The Midds must have been draining both Willy and Terribly Moderately Rich James Matthews for a while now for PP to have come to this kind of an ending. The amount of their debt and the value of the company is not that big a deal when we are talking dollars/pounds in the business world. But the fact that neither son-in-law stepped in so they could pay off their debts and retire gracefully with no stain or public embarrassment is quite surprising. This could have been handled so quietly. I saw some tweets from the Sussex Squad that they could have raised that money amongst themselves.
It’s becoming obvious that the Sussexes are the only members of this extended family who are actually capable of supporting themselves. The Middletons’ house of cards collapsing is the last shoe to drop. (I apologize for the mixed metaphor. 😆)
I read on some thread that Kate Middleton pre marriage had a net worth of £10m,i very much scoffed at that but they were insisting that Kate was a part owner of Party Pieces. I don’t know how much money she made as a young adult but my guess is financially Kate was at the mercy of her Mother and William.
Even if Kate’s parents were worth 10 million, which was suspect on its own, that has no bearing on what the three kids are worth.
Besides if there were trusts set up for them this would have come out during the sale of Party Pieces.
The reporting on party pieces has always been somewhat suspect, but if Kate was “at the mercy” of her family or William, that was her own choice.
There was a full decade where she could have made a career of her own, whether that be actually trying to build up her own net worth or working/volunteering at a non-profit in line with her interests. She chose not to.
She has a degree in art history, I’m sure she could have parlayed that into a gig at an auction house like Eugenie or Beatrice have. She chose not to.
Hell, she reportedly had a chance to crew on a yacht for six months – maybe not a career but something worthwhile you could learn from, and something to do besides sitting around and hoping Will rings her. Again, she chose not to do it.
Can you imagine if she had already had a professional wardrobe before she married, or had connections that would come in handy with her charity work? If she had done the bare minimum of public speaking or presenting an idea, or even taken part in a meeting before? Anyway, what I’m saying is it was very much a choice for Kate to spend her 20s dependent on either her parents or William.
I bet Khate thought it was better for her not to work so that she could show the people who looked down on her that she didn’t’ HAVE to work.
She probably prides herself in NOT having to work and thinks only the peasants work. But truly, she didn’t work because a) she was not good at anything b) she was busy chasing and scheming for a prince. She was an embarrassment until she hit 28 and got big blue.
I think that if she had had ambitions of building a career, she would not have remained William’s girlfriend. In the one part-time job she held, the boss gave an interview where she said that Kate had demanded a very flexible schedule because dating William meant a lot of things was dictated to her. He’s the kind of entitled jerk who expects people to drop everything when he wants to do something. So Kate had to be constantly available if she wanted to hang onto him. As she and her mother had their eye on the Crown, she made that choice, which ironically make her so inept at the public part of her role since she has no real work experience.
One tidbit that I don’t think was ever stated prior to now is that Carole stepped down from “day to day” operations in 2019. Why then? And what a coincidence that this is the year the turnip toff story was made public and kate disappeared from public view for several weeks.
Carole certainly never said she had stepped down in her interview bashing Meghan.
While many of us have suspected that William cut off the Middletons around the time of the Diana unveiling statue, it is possible that William may have been pushing back even earlier than we thought.
I think the last stretch of Kate hustling and actually kinda working is her last ditch effort to be Diana part 2 and be “beloved” after a divorce or separation. She better hope she never looked twice at any guy – that will be the reason that “heartbroken” William leaves her… I think Will knows better than to be the cheater in the situation (at least publicly). “Diana’s boy finally finds the love he longed for (and that’s why he’s been so angry…he was lonely)”. I also think it’s how he differentiates himself from Daddy… faithful Will. Worthy future king. Blah blah blah. He never speaks of Carole anymore either.
Kate could never be Diana. Diana worked hard and had compassion.
Kate lacks the key thing that Diana had – a personality. She could try as hard as she wants but without a sense of self she comes off as empty and vapid.
Kate is so clueless i’m not even sure she knew that her inlaws were going, or she has some people disliking her or her team, and instructed them that the king cancelled the showup so she could go first thing in the morning. lol and she went. Or they did it on purpose and actually baited her into going so they could drag her family out and make all of them look middleclass poorer. Those britains are true vilains
Isn’t that convenient that the pandemic came along and provided an excuse for Carole to wrap up the ALREADY failing Party Pieces just a Kate was about to become the new PoW.
Truly. She ‘stepped down’ in 2019 (forced out?) & then BOOM! The pandemic hits & they have a ready-made excuse for poor profits + an opportunity for a valid loan.
Defo forced out.
The shareholders would have been having a fit and Kate would have been worried about Carole getting the blame.
Now they’ve magic’ed away all the mess and the tax payer will pick up the tab, whilst Carole and Michael have hidden away all their money outside the company.
Also note that under UK Insolvency law, the liquidator can only claw back 2 years of disputed transactions. So interesting that the sale is happening now.
The Midds defo got assistance from the Royals to clean up this mess and Chuckles will hang this sh!t show over their heads every time they step out of line.
No wonder Carol has to wear Kate’s old dresses.
Carole and Kate are not the same size.
It didn’t keep her from wearing Kate’s clothes.
I’m going to guess that what was really happening here was that Kate found a way to circumvent the rule on gifts i.e. she’d offer to buy an item gifted to her and then said company would gift the equivalent item to her mother.
More like it.
Of course they’re trying to act like Carol had nothing to do with it.
Has uncle Gary stopped bank rolling them? I don’t think this business ever made money, but uncle Gary laundering money through it sure helped bank roll the middletons lifestyle. I think the deal was to secure Kate’s bag and then they would all be rich.
But the middletons haven’t made sh*t since kate married in. If anything they seemed richer before the wedding. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the money they own goes back to the dating years and making sure Kate kept up the rich girl facade.
Good points. Pp had the option to sell customer data before GDPR laws stopped that gravy train. My theory is that Uncle Gary also helped bankroll the dating years and then scooped up whatever opportunities he coukd after becoming royal adjecent. I don’t think Carole could squeeze out more from him after the wedding. Then William and later TMW James stepped in. I am sure William is not giving them anything at this point, and probably James has a limit too. I mean James must have bailed out PP before and even arranged a job for his useless BiL. (Remember he was some estate guide for a short while). All these temporary many grabs are gone now. They are in Lohan territory at this point. Ma needs to move the family and try to find some oil monarchy 2nd husband for Kate or there is always Tom Cruise.
I think Carole’s goal was to get all three kids married into the Aristo set or at the very least Aristo adjacent well heeled families, which she has now achieved.
I also think that project cost the Midds a lot of money for which Uncle Gary got very little acceptance back in return, so he decided to cut his losses.
Historically, the Royal Family have always traded on their titles and relied on rich friends to take care of the bills. Problem is the Midds have not really been accepted into the fold as much as Uncle Gary would have liked. And like any business man he knows when to fold.
It will be interesting to see now how the Michael and Carole Middleton fund their lives now that they’re effectively retired. I suspect that they’ve managed to extract enough personal money out of the business and the taxman’s hands in a way that grants them a degree of security, however I can’t see Carole being able to sustain the current lifestyle she has now that there isn’t a business whose books can be cooked into bankruptcy.
Yes Flower, I too think that Uncle Gary cut his losses. I remember some anecdote about Carole and Gary daydreaming about having a “Goldsmith wing” in Buckingham Palace. I think Carole sold this dream to Gary that they would cash in on the royal connection once Kate bagged the hepless prince. Of course we will never know how much it brought in for Gary, but I have a feeling that it wasn’t as much as he imagined and the scrutiny was much worse than he expected. Like he couldn’t just beat a wife or trade hookers and blow to his heart’s content without the press picking it up when they needed to take them down a peg (lol, it never gets old).
All the grifters be grifting full time.
My issue with this is in the US and UK so much fraud with the Pandemic has happened.
Their should be a way to get that money back for use in Human Services.
Can William or Charles really throw Kate and her mooching family to the wolves without damaging themselves?
Doubtful.
Seems to me the BRF has so many secrets, plots, etc. that the entire mess will rot from the inside.
Get the royal checkbook out, pay everybody to keep their mouths shut OR close up The Monarchy.
When Baldemort finally divorces Kkkhate, the bloodletting will be of epic proportions! I’m terrified, yet thrilled for her. The tabs are famished for red meat now that they’ve driven the Sussexes away. Expect more ripping and shredding of the Middletons once Kkkhate is on the outs. The tea will be so damn hot! If you thought the original War of the Wales was bad, belt in for the redux.
🍿🍿🍿
Ooh, Kate, you in DANGER girl! I’d wager that the rota has a whole file of stuff on the Middletons to pull out if given the green light.
There were and always will be those who take advantage of government programs like PPP loans. There are several U.S. congresspeople I could name that had the loans forgiven, even as they argued against forgiveness for student loans. Grifters gotta grift, unfortunately.
What seems noteworthy here is not just that the taxpayer is on the hook ( that’s unfortunately not news), but there’s no suggestion that William, with all of his private wealth, is involved at all. And isn’t that kind of weird? There are plenty of details about the rest of the Middleton clan and their finances, but there’s a suspiciously egg-shaped hole in the story, don’t you think?
The RF have always had sources of private wealth, including the Duchy income that William inherited over the past year. But nowhere does this author suggest that William should be bailing out the woman he supposedly treats like “the mother he never had”. Why not?
For goodness sake, the Sussexes had to pay out of their own pockets for a cottage that was given to them! So why shouldn’t William have lent his wife’s family money in the first place, or at least made the taxpayers whole to avoid the spectacle of public embarrassment. Yes, this is an embarrassing story about the Middletons, but it’s also clearly protecting and showing some distance from the future king.
Exactly. If the Middleton’s were in Willy’s good books, he would have quietly paid off their debts and let them pretend that they sold off PP so they could retire and spend more time with their grandchildren. It would have been super easy l, but he’s leaving them to twist in the wind.
Well, well, well…guess all the cheesy toast has lost its appeal to William. If he was still as enamored of his in laws as he was in the early years of their marriage, there’s no doubt William (QE2 or Duchy) would have bailed out the Middletons to spare them the embarrassment. Especially since Carole had replaced the mother he lost at a young age. Especially since the Middletons were so down to earth and stable. So unlike Diana. So unlike the BRF.
Anyhoo, I love this for Carole. I really do. Karma is a bitch.
Sings T Swift – Karma is a cat 🙂
William should marry Taylor Swift. Teehee can you imagine. She could live out another infantile fantasy and TOB could get someone richer and more famous than Meghan.
KC is a billionaire.
William must have $40 Million at minimum and more coming in from the Duchy every year.
Call the lawyers, sign NDAs w/the Middletons.
Pay their bills for the LAST TIME.
Chuck and Will have more than enough money to take care of it, using their own enormous wealth.
I swear at this point, no scandal is going to blast KC or FKW out.
Look at all the horrible things come to light, including Andrew being rescued by QE.
And C still spent an unholy amount of tax payers money on the hat party.
OTOH, if I was Kate, I’d be plenty worried.
William still has the upper hand in all of this BS, over even Camilla.
I am still curious as to how they afforded to buy their homes without a mortgage. Was it purchased in the name of a Trust? If so, then possibly TOB is probably the ultimate owner of it.
You could be right. What is Middleton Manor and possibke James’ new Buckleberry home is grace and favor, like Angela Kelly’s. It reverts back to the crown or William. Could be.
Who is TOB, please?
Are we thinking William bought that big house for the Middeltons thru a trust he still holds? That would make him the owner, right?
I’m working class, I have no idea how trust/millions of dollars work, due to having $112.00 to my name on a good week. LOL
@HeyKay
TOB = The Other Brother = William. Someone referred to him that way in an article and the name stuck.
@Smart&Messy
If Middleton Manor is indeed a grace and favor home, Katty’s not the only one in danger, since C-Rex is evicting people like a true tyrant whose word means absolutely nothing. If they were smart, they would have had W pay off their mansion with his inheritance money. Something happened to alienate W from the Middleton Clan to the point where he’s refusing to bail them out and can’t stand to be near his wife.
Wonder when we’ll see the Midds next on Mustique or similar exotic destination? It’s half-term UK schools this week.
Their creditors will be entitled to ask where the money has come from.
When was the last time we know for sure thatvthey went to mustique. When George was a baby, maybe? Wasn’t it bankrolled by Gary, too? If so, then they haven’t been in many years, because I don’t think Gary gives them shit anymore.
Well chuck had a massive KKKlananation and I still want to know about the bags and suitcases of CASH!
What did Pa Middles do for a living?
Was he an executive or a lawyer?
I don’t pay that much attention I guess.
The Uncle Gary was a bar owner or a sports team owner?
He is shady for was having a coke habit?
Pippa is married to a wealthy guy, I think with a shady FIL.
James, the brother, had some goofy marshmallow company and raises dogs?
It that a real job he makes money at?
These folks have so many weird things going on.
Mike Middleton worked at British Airlines, I think first as a pilot then as a scheduler. Uncle Gary made his pot of money in IT, I think, then sold his company for gazillions, something like that. James created many failed companies under the parent umbrella of Party Pieces. I think he’s some sort of resort greeter for Pippa’s husband, kinda like at Walmart only outside in Scotland. And yes, I think he breeds dogs for $$ as well.
Wikipedia states Michael M worked as an aircraft despatcher – ground staff you see at aircraft door liaising with the cabin crew, no way a pilot.
Ghastly Uncle Gary was in recruitment, sold out with sufficient to retire to Spain. The feckless brother, James, has been bankrolled by someone for decades as he’s never ‘earned’ and is mentioned as residing in his own deluxe property, presumably funded by one of his brothers-in-law as his parents now revealed as broke.
Anyone else minded of Warren Buffet’s wonderful quote ‘when the tide goes out, you discover who’s been swimming naked’?
There are several articles appearing in the similar vein as this, this is preparing the public for the possibility? of a divorce?
These types of articles are being used to make the subject and her entire family appear to be unsympathetic to the general public. They can be seen as a warning to not fight he inevitable, despite the love for the eventual title as Queen.
If the other woman, wants it, because she is seen as more competent, stable and fitting – she will get the coveted title…
So, in the meanwhile, start with the family….discourage their pattern to going to the press…
They are broke…..
Let the whole matter settle by financial pragmatism…
Without leaking about Sussexes; there is a void that can be filled in similar fashion of pre-2016 coverage for a particular output…
Time will tell….
I still believe the Middletons are trying to get their fangs into the Duchy money that seems to be Will’s own personal piggy bank (though I’m sure it was never meant to be that). It seems that England exists only as the body needed for the succubus/incubus Royal Family. Stand up, England, the royals are bleeding you dry!
I’m just here because her face looks like she had some obvious work done and I’m seeing the same eyebrow and eyes distortion that Kate has with the first picture. One eyebrow is higher up and has a different arch and one eye seems to be more open than the other. I’m not sure what they do or did, but I would at least find someone who doesn’t make your face look like that. It seems like wasted money when this is the end result on a public stage.
It could not happen to a more deserving family. So many lies, so much deception, relentless social climbers and grifters who do not care who they damage. It will be interesting whether the BRF go into damage control and delete all references to reality. Just saw a Murdoch news article, whitewashing the Midds by leaving out most of the truth and also claiming Carole expanded to the USA in 2002. Twitter is posting all about the Midds history but so are the bots calling it all lies.
@GirlNinja @Flower
Is that why K buys the same thing in bulk are they getting clothes adapted for CM or selling them on?
Karma to All saying Meghan is a social climber- when in Fact Meghan worked hard through education, loads of work experiences through different jobs. That’s the American way. And now you have the Middletons and their true colors coming out as the real social climbers snaking their way to British aristocracy. The Mids were trending all weekend lol…