I’ve been waiting for the British press to turn on Carole Middleton for months, or maybe years. Throughout the months of speculation about the state of Party Pieces, most British outlets have simply done straight reporting, no commentary about how in the world a supposedly successful business worth millions suddenly became insolvent. The Middletons finally sold Party Pieces for £180K, which is roughly the amount of money Kate spends on fugly coatdresses and 1980s sparkle-gowns annually. There was some reporting on the fact that the Middletons took out a £220K pandemic loan, one which they have yet to repay. Then this week, the Mail revealed that Carole and Mike actually owe creditors £2.6 million in unsecured loans and more. The past six months have been all about Carole and Mike covering up the fact that they’re totally bankrupt and will likely never pay their many creditors. Well, now the Mail has a piece in which they spoke to some of the people who are owed money by Carole and Mike. This is so bad!!!
Creditors have been left furious as a party paraphernalia business started by the parents of the Princess of Wales has run into £2.6million of debt. Party Pieces Holdings, run by Michael and Carole Middleton helped send their three children to £42,930-a-year Marlborough College and enabled them to snap up a manor house for £4.7m. But at least one businessman is now accusing the Princess of Wales’s mother of ‘betrayal’, amid cries of disbelief about the amount of debt the company has racked up.
The debts are now estimated at £2.6 million, according to details in a report from administrators trying to recover money for the firm’s creditors. This includes £218,749 to RBS bank for a Coronavirus Business Interruption loan, £456,008 to other creditors and £1.4 million in unsecured loans. It comes as the report makes it brutally clear that it’s ‘highly unlikely’ that any creditors will get anything.
Among those hit is Party Pieces landlord, Lord Iliffe, on whose Berkshire estate the company has been based for many years. Owed £57,480, the estate now faces what its agent, James Hole, describes as ‘severe financial consequences’.
‘They have been long-term tenants,’ he says. ‘We were astonished about the amount of money owed to others.’
Another creditor, speaking anonymously, said his company engaged in protracted discussions with Party Pieces, but realised it was hopeless. He added: ‘The amount they owe HMRC dwarfs anything else they owe. That’s why we walked away — [because] of what’s owed to the public purse.’ This, he adds, is not just the £219,000 coronavirus business interruption loan which Party Pieces took out as it was hammered by lockdowns. ‘There is VAT and other things as well,’ alleges the firm’s former trading partner.
The administrators’ report points out that HMRC is owed a total of £613,000 – a claim which must be settled before any of the firm’s small creditors are paid.
Sultani Gas, a company based outside Tonbridge, Kent, which supplied Party Pieces with helium for balloons, is understood to be appalled. A spokesman said: ‘What hurt me the most was that I trusted her as the mother-in-law of the future king — and she just betrayed me. It is absolutely unacceptable.’
“What hurt me the most was that I trusted her as the mother-in-law of the future king — and she just betrayed me.” Well, well. While I don’t think King Charles is the reason why the Middletons are broke-ass and up to their eyeballs in debt, make no mistake, Charles and Camilla are the reason why the Mail feels emboldened to come after the Middletons. This is all part of the larger revenge scheme led by two septuagenarians to marginalize Kate and her family. It’s been a long time coming, honestly. I sincerely cannot wait to see if there will be more reporting on what went wrong with Party Pieces and just how badly Carole Middleton played this. It’s also fascinating to see that none of Carole’s in-laws stepped in to cover her or her business. Where is Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews? Where is all of Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall largesse?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Carole Middleton Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse – Ladies Day, Day 3 Berkshire, England – 21.06.12,Image: 308735318, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- Carole Middleton attending the wedding of her daughter Pippa Middleton and James Matthews at St Mark’s Church, Englefield, Berkshire, UK. 20/05/2017.,Image: 513165692, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- 62362, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Tuesday June 7 2011. Matching Middletons! Pippa Middleton and Carole Middleton step out in matching nude shoes! The mother daughter duo were out with Pippa’s father Michael Middleton at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair. ***NORTH AMERICAN USE ONLY*** Photograph: ©Optic Photos, PacificCoastNews.com **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** UK OFFICE:+44 131 557 7760/7761 US OFFICE:1 310 261 9676,Image: 525175204, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Optic Photos / Avalon
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- 167256, Carole Middleton, the mother of the Duchess of Cambridge and Pippa Middleton, spectates from the Royal box on day four of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. London, United Kingdom – Thursday July 6, 2017. UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT Photograph: Ã?© Stephen Lock/i-Images, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 533038972, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / 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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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of The British Royal Family attend “Together At Christmas” Community Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. Pictured: Carole Middleton, Michael Middleton and Pippa Middleton BACKGRID USA 8 DECEMBER 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of The British Royal Family attend “Together At Christmas” Community Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. Pictured: Carole Middleton BACKGRID USA 8 DECEMBER 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- 18/05/2019. Windsor , United Kingdom. Michael and Carole Middleton arriving for the Lady Gabriella Windsor at St.George’s Chapel, Windsor, United Kingdom.
She’s only the future mother in law of the king if they are still married by then, and only the grandmother of the king if there is still a monarchy then.
But I do wonder how many things they blagged like this. Didn’t they demand a royal audi discount when Kate was still dating William?
Oh my goodness , in the carriage she is one strange looking woman. Very proud of herself but looking overly made up and stressed.
I despise when rich people screw small business out of their money. It causes so much damages and some of these businesses never recover. It’s beyond unethical.
And yet they will not lose the roof over their heads or god forbid skip a yearly holiday in Mustique.
UK based celebitchy here. Without going too much into what I do for a living, RBS are notorious for selling properties without possession to recoup what they are owed on unsecured business loans. It’ll be interesting to find out if Bucklebury Manor has a mortgage on it, and if it’s with RBS, I’d start packing up if I were the Middletoons!!
Gonna guess that Chuckles and Bill will pay off any residential mortgage to avoid the complete embarrassment of their in-laws but you never know, Camilla might be feeling particularly savage….
@Lux, you’re very welcome. I’d need to check Land Registry to see if there was a mortgage and can’t expense that at work without some questions being asked. We’ll probably find out in the Daily Fail soon enough if Bucklebury Manor is mortgaged or not. My completed unresearched opinion is Peggers gave them a hefty deposit, I just can’t see him forking out the £4mill or whatever they paid for the house in cash. And yep, creditors can seek enforcement action and send bailiffs round, although how that would work in practice with any security they have in place could cause a bit of a headache!
This is all so Trumpian.
@Karma is coming, thanks for the insight! I was going to say, even in the case with unsecured loans, the lenders can and should still send collection agencies their way with their obvious assets. If Will did buy their house, there shouldn’t be a mortgage? All they have to do is sell and downsize to pay off those debts? I mean, £2.6m is not nothing, but it’s also not very much for the wealthy.
@ Lux, Kaiser told us that she was serving us some tea but this delicious with a side of cake and crumbles to boot!!!
As for CarolE and her predicament, it was all of her own making. She schemed and scammed for decades to get their daughters into high society, all whilst posing as the perfect normal “rags to riches” story and it has caused her house to literally crumble.
And why would TOB or KFC pay off their mortgage?? It is of not benefit to them? They will not part with money for their own blood relatives so why would they for a married-ins family, especially when they have connived and printed their own personal agenda for years??
Bothsidesnow, this is absolutely tea with cake, crumbles and everything. I love it for them.
This story rekindles my hope for a book about the middletons and the waity years. Niraj Tanna where are you, there is money to be made.
The Windsors do this all the time. Charles, Camilla, Wills, Kate and all their aunts/uncles including the courtiers that work for them live off the name and the freebies they get as tribute. They screw over small business because they can and know that they can do it without retribution.
Trying to agree to above comment. Because of my work and my families work, I’ve been around a lot of ultra high-net worth people and names most would recognize. The way they function is quite startling. I am in no way surprised that the RF or their son-in-law aren’t bailing them out. People who are in the 1% or .01% often act like they don’t have a dollar to their name or an expense that would be reasonable to the rest of us is “too much.” Scaled down to middle class numbers haha, let’s say someone in our family owed someone $1k, we’d probably help if we could. Those kind of families aren’t like that—in fact, these kind of situations—is when they really dig in and refuse to help.
Kathryn you’re exactly right. I grew up middle class but my grandfather is a 1 percenter. It took me until my 30s to understand most of the things I had as a child came from him. No wonder my mother put up with so much emotional abuse from him and his wife: they were paying for our education, expensive hobbies, likely the mortgage.
As soon as I became an adult not only did it all stop, they never once helped me with anything. The only time I asked for help was to see if they could help me move some furniture to my new apartment in their SUV. His wife answered his phone and said “call us when you don’t need help” and hung up on me. That was the day I truly understood- they would never do a thing, not even give me a ride if I were stranded in the middle of the night somewhere. They only had ever cared about their money.
They’re still alive, and still like this. When my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer my mom did a lot to help him get to appointments etc. and one day as she was helping make him lunch he told her she wouldn’t get a dime when he died. My mother was shocked. She said she was doing this because she loves him. He was in turn silent. He never could say it. Ever. My mom is an only child. When he dies, she has nobody else who will remember her parents as they were when she was little except her. He has no compassion for that. All he thinks about is how to hoard his wealth and spite his offspring. It’s gross.
I have some sympathy for the wealthy individuals who prefer to keep quiet about their wealth and resist being forced into being Santa Claus to their entire extended family. I’ve worked with a lot of such people and they were all decent and generous but were quick to draw the line if they felt they were being used. And hoo boy do people try to use them. Suddenly everyone expects a free condo, a new car, a trust fund so they don’t have to work, etc. Nobody likes being treated as a convenience or the family cash cow and your first big shock after making a sizable nest egg is how fast all of that can vanish if you don’t learn how to say no. I had one client who was cleaned out by her own grandchildren. No retirement for her. It’s a very unhealthy dynamic.
I have nothing but shade for PW and the RF. But if they bail out Carole, they are chumps to the bone and will deserve the ridicule that comes their way. I hope they all sink.
Kathryn and Sass–so J. Paul Getty was the emotional-abuse-through-money/neglect gold standard for these folks, eh? Makes perfect sense. F. Scott Fitzgerald was so right about the rich–wealth hollows them out till money is all that’s left.
So that is why Kate has been working overtime. She was supposed to come out to distract us from Harry but actually, today she is out for her charity giveaway because her bankrupt family is being accused for taking public money during covid and betraying creditors. She needs to give back to society…
They also screwed HMRC out of over half a mill – Mr Taxman doesn’t like being screwed out of their taxes.
Mumbles parents are now tax dodgers as well as bankrupters who stiffed their creditors. This is NOT A GOOD LOOK in any way shape or form for Catty and her family. This makes their appearance at the Jordanian wedding even more interesting – who was Ma cozying up to to get some bags full of cash?
The Middleton house of cards is falling down – they are being exposed as the lying grifters they are. This is the gift that has more to give.
Their house is worth twice what they owe. Maybe they should sell the house and get something cheap after they pay the debts.
This assumes the house is paid for. More likely it is mortgaged up the yin yang.
Oh dear there is a Lord mentioned as someone they owe so will go out on a limb and think he is from the aristocracy. So if that is the case then she messed with the aristocracy who didn’t look kindly upon them in the first place. Lord Iliffe is he part of the aristocracy?
Yes. He is the third Baron Iliffe, a title created in 1933 for Sir Edward Iliffe who owned a group of newspapers in the UK Midlands. The Iliffe family are wealthy and have links with royalty.
&Anotherlily. Thank you!
He’s a minor aristocrat as he’s only a baron but an aristocrat he is.
Why are all of them going after CarolE, not the husband? Did she run PP solo? Or are they trying to push the pushy mum down a few notches?
Probably because at one point in time, Carole was touted as a “mother” like figure to William.
But your point it a good one.
She was the one in the limelight, doing interviews, or having her cutout in american stores. Never her husband.
She’s the one who sourced a lot of the embiggening articles of Will and Kate. Remember the ones where a “source” said Charles should be skipped over to put William on the throne? How Kate would be a better queen than Camilla? That’s all from Carole.
And now she’s paying the price for that foolishness.
Because this man has cowered back into the wallpaper ever since Kate started getting media attention while Pimp Mama Carole has flocked to the media with all sorts of schemes and “exclusives”. If you put Mike Middleton in a Kroger lineup I’d have no clue what homeboy even looks like. You put Carole on a NYC subway car and I’d still recognize them schemey, beady eyes.
My oh my how the mighty blaggers are falling. Start packing Ma middleton, BUT don’t expect your incandescent son in law to bail you out! His fist is tightly clenched around his duchy money and he’s going to allow you to sink, in the hope of this being another nail in his marriage. Just think, 10 years of grooming your daughter to get her prince has brought you to this. And it couldn’t happen to a better trolly dolly who got to big for her boots
Because Carol is more of a rival to Charles/Camilla than her husband Mike. This is the real war of the Windsors behind the scenes.
Michael Middleton is a perfect example of how the family could have been treated if they just stayed quiet. No one ever hears anything about him–this is a good thing for him. This is the kind of in-law that Charles/William wanted, its just too bad there weren’t two of them.
Although, without Carole there to push Kate might not have even bothered with St. Andrews in the first place
Because this was ALWAYS Carol(e)s business – the one SHE started on HER kitchen table based on HER idea. It was only when the business started taking off that Micheal left his job at BA and helped her run it.
She has always been the face of the business – always.
Couch Potato–because Carole has been openly playing “The Boleyns Didn’t Play This Right–Watch Me!” Game Of Thrones mess from day one–and now she’s facing checkmate. And worse.
I bet loads of people only loaned them money and such because of their position in the royal family, they used that as leverage for their company for years. I’m really surprised Charles and William are okay with this story, I thought they’d pay people off or ask for debt forgiveness/call in favours. The Middletons and Windsors both look shady.
That’s the thing – the betrayal extends to the RF. The unpaid bills were pilng up and creditors must have known the business was in deep yogurt all this time, but they sat on it thinking there’d be a royal bailout. After all, it’s pocket change for Charles and William.
This is exactly why I think we are in the twilight of Kitty’s fairy tale story. Willnot refusing to lift a finger to help his in-laws, especially since he now has alllll that duchy money?
He SHOULD be making these debtors whole, he’s rolling in money!
Williams always been said by his friends to be very stingy and tight-fisted with money. Even when he was young and people said he was very nice and kind. (I think he changed as he got older – perhaps due to drink and drugs).
“I’m surprised William and Charles are okay with this story”…@Aud you nailed it.
THAT’S the story. The fact that William won’t bail out his in-laws and instead let them get dragged in the press. It’s sending a message to the Middletons that they are no longer in the royal fold.
Yeah but William and Charles let the Middletons use their status to run their business for years. Those creditors will look at the royal family to fix this, not the bankrupt Middletons. Between this and the coronation snubs, I’m wondering what will start to leak about the RF.
Maybe that’s why Charles went off on his “retreat” to Transylvania; did he know the story? What’s coming out? I wouldn’t be at all surprised,
Also, this means that there is nothing, not a sausage, for the Middleton son. He’s going to have to work for his own fortune
@AnnaKist ironic that he sold off his failed marshmallow company for £300,000, more than his parents are getting for Party Pieces…
Maybe that’s why they want to send the message they’re in the Jordanian Royal fold.
This is what I think, and why there’s that line about trusting her because she’s MIL of the future king – she was definitely trading on her role as a royal-adjacent to secure more loans, or to get away with not paying people, etc.
It’s as simple as daylight: she never would’ve gotten those loans if her daughter didn’t marry the future king. And she was very likely using those loans to fund her lifestyle, rather than pouring it into her flailing business. Staying tuned…
It probably came from Camilla’s side.
Theory – so the breaking of this story was coming – hence all the extra public appearances from Kate lately to detract? Just my cynical side showing..
Exactly 💯
Whenever there’s a flurry of the “so-called” royals in the public eye,some kind of scandal is coming & they think our opinions will be swayed if we see a prince,princess out & about …
Oh it’s not a theory @Mighty mouse, it’s fact. And Kate is deflecting and diverting the embarrassment of the Middleton Mess by swanning around being very visible. She needs to show how “invaluable” she is to the Firm but her husband’s very noticeable absence speaks volumes about how far down the social ladder the Midds have fallen now that they’ve been revealed for the grifters they are. William, Charles and Cam are probably huddled with their lawyers trying to figure out a way to cut Kate loose.
It’s clear the deal that the Middletons had with the press is over.
That’s the headline👋👋
I guess she can’t buy any more designer handbags and other pricey goodies for her press friends. The end of the quid pro quo.
Carole can no longer use PP’s Bank account to fund all that PR so now the rags know they can come after them.
And their connections with the aristocrats as well has been severed..
It sounds like the Carol used her position as “mother-in-law of the future king” to secure loans and gain access to figures like Lord Iliffe. I guess that’s how they were able to keep PP “afloat” for so long. Carole made it seem like William would make sure everything was taken care of. She was lowkey selling access to bail out her debt ridden business. Why else would her position as a royal adjacent be in the negotiations?
That’s what I got from it too. Using the monarchy to sell trash.
I’ve always found them worthy of mocking and derision, but now I truly despise them. It’s so hard for a mom & pop company to survive, let alone thrive, in this day and age. We’ve always suspected that Party Pieces didn’t pay for boarding schools, posh unis, and London apartments for three children, that uncle shady was footing the bill on a lot of that, but I want to see small businesses support families (note that “support” doesn’t have to mean vacations in Mustique, which most of us grew up without).
To me, there’s no one worse that people who boostrap their way up and then slam the doors on opportunities for others like them.
If Keeny was smart she’d broker some deal with Willy.Her silence and no divorce in exchange for him bailing out her parents.
In any case I’m I’m eagerly awaiting the new Netflix crime docu “Royal hustlers , the True Middelton story”.
She has no leverage. He can threaten to expose her and her family ten times worse than anything she could threaten him with. And she’ll never expose anything that could potentially destroy him and thereby destroy the BRF, because she is too desperate to hold on to the privilege and position.
I agree she has little leverage, but if she was smart she’d have tapes of his abuse (Lordy, imagine that) and some insurance stashed away to use as a bargaining chip. We’ve seen how the RF uses the press to destroy. They’ll come after Kate soon and it will be over for her.
@FC I had the same thought. Photos of bruises and/or recordings of William incandescently raging could be insurance of the mutually assured destruction type.
Even if Keen KKKatie had tons of vids of her injuries, she’d still need the tabloids to publish them in order for her to get in some sort of a punch. The tabloids are already in bed with the monarchy and Kate stands no chance of them publishing anything ever. And as it is now, the Middys are bankrupt and broke so they can’t even bribe one rag to ran any stories against Brutal Willy so, Kate and the Middys are pretty much screwed. And now KFC, TOB and the sidechick are learning from past foolishness of exposing their ace cards way too soon; whereby people like Angela Kelly knew they’d be thrown out on their butt once the queen was gone so, they were able to use that to get some sort of leverage. Kate is way too dumb to even think proactively, she’d have no evidence whatsoever.
@My3cents. That is a great title for Netflix love it 😂😂😂
I’ve always assumed before marrying William, Kate had to sign some kind of iron-clad pre-nup that included an NDA. The royal family would not want a re-run of Diana, taking millions in a divorce from the future king and spilling all of her marital secrets to the press and ghostwriters.
Meghan said that she didn’t sign anything in a print interview, so maybe Kate didn’t either.
At the time of their wedding it was reported there was no pre nup. Williams friend was quoted as saying he trusts her completely.
Whether that was rue or not is unknown.
If Keeny was smart? Stop trynna hurt me. But Ma Mid is smart, Machiavellian even. I would honestly never want to be in a position to take on her or PMK, and certainly not both combined. I do think she has so much dirt on Wills that she can call the shots, or at least I did think that. Not sure why she hasn’t worked that to her advantage for a bail out.
Genius!
I have said for years that there is zero way that business supported their extravagant lifestyle: the ginormous house, the London flat, the clothes, the trips, the RACEHORSE. There is way more to this story than we will ever know. I feel for the smaller businesses that got screwed over by them.
Didn’t they sell the London flat a few years ago?
That’s when I worked out that they were not as rich as they said they were….
Lol, I didn’t realize they even had a RACEHORSE. Lordy.
What about the money William gave them to buy their present house?
Was it a gift or a loan?
The helium guy said it – “I trusted her as the mother-in-law of the future king.” Not as a good credit in her own right, but as a relation of the RF. These people aren’t feeling betrayed only by the Middletons. Lord Iliffe knew PP wasn’t paying the rent, so why would he be astonished that they hadn’t paid other creditors, as well? Perhaps because he thought, at the end of the day, the RF/Will would cover the Middletons?
I think this is how they managed to rack up so much unsecured debt. At least they’ve been outed, and no one will take this kind of chance on them again.
These people have no knowledge or memories from the past.
The duke and the duchess of Edimbourg have been promoted to working royals with a lot of unpaid debts in their former work in TV and PR.
Fergie was also trading her royal connections to great scandal and disgrace.
Andrew swiss Chalet ‘ s owner was scammed into having her dues for fewer money, and then discovered he had some spared for his us trial.
Unless you have something to blackmail them into being honest ,the brf will be cheap like lilibet senior,or messy like charles or thugs for the ones without £££.
You can think of lending to the royals as a kind of loss leader or the “price of admission” into a higher circle. You might get screwed on the loan to the royals, but you might get more business from others who want to climb the ladder with you.
@eurydice,i agree with you.
This kind of deal is what William do with Bloomberg and other billionaires with earthshot,the free private jet from Georges duke godfather, Charles with saudi full bags of cash,Andrew with Epstein and oligarchs.
Some very rich people buying their ways into prestige circles or greater privilege.
But Carole Middleton ‘s victims,who are interviewed by the daily fail aren’t at the same level at all…
So they don’t have enough weight to make themselves paid.
British press may be absolutely awful, but …they did some articles explaining the so called Middletons business money model may not be solid. From the waity Kate Era …
You have to check your partners in business,when you Can.
And Carole party pieces messiness is easily found all around the web for the ones who want to know. (Contrary to very well hidden whitewashed camilla and her family shenanighans i discovered because of Sussex squad receipts)
Damnnnn…another article about how the Middleton’s are derelict bums who don’t pay their bills? What is really going on behind the scenes on that island? Willy can’t really be ready to kick old Waity to the curb can he???
Wonder if the Middletons were wooing rich people at that Jordan wedding reception.
My guess is yes. And now here comes this story about how they are basically grifters. Just like Fergie but at least she can claim she’s a duchess. If the Wails divorce, what will Carole and Mike be? Lord and Lady Buckleberry?
I think any chance of a peerage is gone now or at least for a few year whilst this sh!t slides off the fan.
Maybe that’s why Chuckles released the attack dogs now to keep the Midds in their place.
Them being in Jordan however seems to indicate they’re fighting back. I think they’re looking for a rich middle eastern sponsor – the Aristocracy have always used those with bigger purses to keep them afloat and well heeled.
Shame Carole married Pippa off so soon…
I think this is why William didn’t stop them from attending the wedding. He likely figures if they get bags of cash from other sources they won’t continue to bother him for Duchy money.
Such a bad move because isn’t this how Fergie got herself into her sticky mess she’s currently in.
All it takes is for a dodgy transfer to end up in a one Middleton bank account and potentially they’re all flucked and could all be hit with CIPFAS markers.
Technically they’re all Politically exposed people so why on earth even take the risk of courting potentially dark money?
James Matthews isn’t going to like that if the FCA start scrutinising his activities even more than usual.
Also on the subject of in-laws why is no one speaking about Edo – he was clearly there to drum up business for his property developing ventures. And probably not a bad environment to make your services known given the access he would have in the UK to the best properties….
In the US, Bankruptcy Courts don’t let you just write off tax debts and the Middletons owe several hundred thousand pounds in VAT taxes. Here, a company has to enter into a plan to pay those off over time. Interest on taxes is treated as unsecured debt but taxes must be paid. Not sure what law is in the UK.
See— this is the type of royal news i live for!
And i disagree, i think this is retaliation for harry taking the stand. They are coming after carole and mike to light a fuse under william and kate’s asses.
All I can say is, good on Terribly Moderately Wealthy guy. Don’t drag your family money into this family’s money mess. I’ve come to appreciate PippaTips too much to want him to pony up cash.
I think he already got his finger burnt trying to bail out his brother-in-law’s marshmallow business. Maybe he decided that was enough for him.
The Marshhmallow business was a low risk buy into the family.
They’re all playing the long game, even the hanger on in-laws…
I agree @flower. He got in cheap and makes it a point to stand out at events. If I was William I would tell him to help them. Use his status to get some of the loan interest knocked off. Then pay a nice amount toward their debt. Pippa married poorly. I see why she tried to look around before marrying him. He is getting his moneys worth.
@Tiff Pippa blatantly wanted to marry Nico Jackson but he wanted nothing to do with the Royals as he is actually from a relatively ‘normal family’ and kept dumping her.
I think Pippa hardened her heart after that and just decided to go for the money with James Matthews, who was only too happy to pose in Royal Family phots – LMAO
I’ve noticed recently that the in-laws are not being seen as much at Royal events….
I was watching a lunchtime discussion show on TV today (in the UK), and one of the topics was whether Kate should have stepped in to pay the company’s debts, as a “gesture of goodwill”, given that “we (the public) pay for her (Kate’s) life”. After all, a big chunk of the company’s debt is public money, i.e. tax etc.
Very interesting that this sort of thing is now openly discussed.
Kate has no money of her own though?
It’s about time these things are openly discussed. I know Carole and Mike aren’t royals and they are technically private citizens. But they profile themselves like they are royals so why not hold them up to the same scrutiny.
Can we stop expecting Kate to donate now, since the Middletons have their own “cost of living crisis”?
Full sarcasm aside, I can totally see Khate being penniless on her own. She can only buy “things” for her royal work with the royal purse. And those things, unless sold, don’t amount for much. Everything is conditional, so this “marry my daughter off to the future king” scheme has really proven to be a bust.
It’s hilarious that some people think Kate has any money of her own. She’s never worked a real job and the duchy money is William’s and if she’s around to be queen she won’t have money of her own. William controls it. (Check Caroline of Brunswick to find out what happens when the monarch who is your husband openly hates you).
Charles has many faults, but we know he’s set up Camilla. Kate won’t be treated the same.
So what the hell were they doing at last week’s Jordanian Royal wedding???
Drumming up trade among the world’s wealthiest? I wonder who they got cash out of while there?
The Jordanians and all the European royals will be laughing their heads off today
Why would the Jordanians be laughing? They invited them.
Laughing at the Middletons’ unbelievable nerve
I think James Matthews and his wife, Pippa were invited to attend. Perhaps Pippa asked to bring her mother along as a +2. As well, the Middleton family lived in Jordan for awhile when their kids were young. Maybe the Midds still have some friendly ties to the country, albeit not on the level of royalty. In any case, it’s James Matthews who has the wealth, and the high level Jordanian business interests.
So the amazing business woman that we have had heard all about hasn’t been paying her taxes or VAT? And is behind in the rent? I am sorry about the other businesses who are going to lose out because Ma Middleton didn’t pay her bills. I hope Party Pieces failing doesn’t have a knock on effect and other small businesses fail too. All because they let her have goods or services because her daughter married into the British Royal family? I hope CarolE enjoyed her holiday away to Jordan?
I am sure Carole and Party Pieces were given the benefit of the doubt for years by their creditors because of their connection to the royal family. The glossy interviews Carole did the last few years were just part of the grift.
So why on earth did she create that US Shoprite facade? Surely this was a long time coming.
Probably a last-ditch effort to save the business. I don’t think they even considered expanding into the States until they saw how successful Meghan and Harry are here.
Which just goes to show how short-sighted Ma Middleton was. If she and her daughter hadn’t encouraged the media frenzy to drive Meghan out of the UK she could have had two very high profiled contacts in the US. Ma Middleton overplayed her hand and gleefully joined the paps in ridiculing of the “spare” and his wife. If she had shown just a hint of kindness towards Meghan, H&M would have reciprocated. She really thought as MIL to the future king she was untouchable. I don’t like how her greed and deceit will affect the businesses of others but, I can’t help but smile at her fall from grace. She’ll never be homeless or worry about where the next meal is coming from but, her reputation is in shreds. It really couldn’t have happened to a “nicer” person.
This goes to show exactly how they got so far from the little they had. I bet they used the ‘surely the prince, KP, and the powers that be won’t let them go poor’ and ‘surely they will get bailed out’. And maybe they had been, until recently. Even then, does Kate not have access to any of her own money? Not even squirreled away through secret endorsement deals? Nothing?? My own mother taught me to have a secret bank account JUST IN CASE. Always cover your debts first, etc.
I don’t believe Kate has any money of her own to access. She’s never hand any career or job. She essentially went straight from her mom’s house to the royals’ house. What money could she have earned? I don’t think she had endorsement deals either, just under the table freebies.
She’s been copyrighting all her photographs–mostly her children, but still. Doesn’t that mean she gets paid every time somebody uses one of her photos for something? Like those calendars?
Kate should have some money from the settlement with the company that published her topless pictures. She should have figured out a way all these years to get some money of her own from William or Charles. Get a commercial property under her name which generates income. Pricey jewelry that she can sell off later. Camilla managed to get a house, trust fund for her kids, her debts paid off from the stingy guy she’s now married to. Penniless Phillip managed to amass a $30M fortune, allegedly. Kate should have figured something out.
These “working” royals should get paid a salary by the firm. It would avoid some of the grifting that they do in order to earn money.
I can see all of this playing out in Kate’s resentment of Meghan. Meghan is smart, self-assured, has her own money. For example, Every time an episode of Suits airs anywhere in the world, Meghan gets a royalty check. Instead of how can I ally myself with this person and learn something from from her, she decided to try destroy Meghan.
I don’t really see Kate being that marketable on the marriage market. Being the in-laws of the future king hasn’t helped the Middleton. She has no connections, not among the aristocracy, not among the other royal families (globally) no business connections, nothing. She doesn’t come across as intelligent, she has not shown any sense of humor. She should have been cunning enough to set aside her own funds.
The topless photo lawsuit included both William and Kate in the action and so the money was awarded to both. And who knows if she saw that money. The copyright photos probably get her a small amount at least in terms of her grandiose lifestyle. She could easily be scrambling like Fergie has to if William wants to turf her.
sounds like this is an opening bid for divorce negotiations. They owe $750K to the British version of the IRS (HRMC) just for starters.
I’m guessing if W wants rid of K he will let her family twist in the wind long enough for her to agree to his demands and then pay off the major creditors, sort of like his father did for Andrew.
Does anyone know if those married into the RF have to sign prenups? And NDAs?
I’m just wondering what Kate could expect to get in the case of a separation and divorce. Different states, different countries, all have different rules about how things are shared out. Does the RF have to abide by UK divorce law about sharing assets?
Meghan said in her NY mag piece that she never signed any kind of NDA. I doubt Kate ever did either. But I’m sure an NDA would be part of any future royal exit, or even an extended stay via a Hollywood style fake relationship. Same with any bailout of the Midds. The BaRF can’t afford another loose cannon.
There will be more stories like this trickling out. First how they screwed over the little guys by abusing their position of being royally adjacent to the future King. Making promises they couldn’t keep.
Then we will find out more about how the business was really run. Then about Uncle Gary and his contributions to the Middleton children’s existence and how he helped fund their social climbing. And they ever did anything illegal, we will eventually find that out too and it will give William the ammo to divorce Kate and come out looking like the wounded party.
@Snuffles, I wonder if Uncle Gary has turned off the money taps? He’s gone noticeably quiet of late. Something smells very fishy, maybe his funding the Midds was a way of laundering shady money and he’s about to be exposed. It wouldn’t surprise me if KC3 is hiding some very damaging kompromat on him. As Queen Mary famously said, “This is a pretty kettle of fish!“
Carole looks like the kind of mother who would tell her daughters, “you owe me!!!!”
Settleling a bankruptcy legally takes an average 1 year. We’ve only been notified of the PP mess since about 1 mouth, so expect the debt to get to a higher amount when all creditors, court/lawyers and administrators’ costs are listed.
The Middletons are grifters and keepers of appearances. I’m curious how they’re going to present themselves as ‘connected to the royal family’, going forward, because it looks like the Windsors are going to cut them loose (and maybe together with their daughter?).
They just did present themselves as connected to royalty – the Jordanian royal family. And royals from all over the world were there at the wedding. This explains what they were doing there.
I’ve always understood that wealthy people do not use their own personal wealth to bail out a business… they use other people’s. While I have no clue where their money now comes from, I have no doubt, they will be fine.
And I love the little hint here ” paraphernalia” — In Canada, that is used more in association with drugs… not sure if that is the same in the UK.
Same in the US! (most of the time)
I know that for example “scheme” has a pretty negative connotation in America, but not in the UK — isn’t the Prince’s Trust known as a “scheme?” So maybe it’s something like that.
But yeah, if I owned a company, I wouldn’t want it to be known for selling “paraphernalia!”
Con artists don’t use their own money either. These folks are gamers, gold diggers, social climbers, whatever you want to call them. They are everything that the press and trolls claimed Meghan and Doria were but surprise! Smh.
It’s very telling that Burger King did not bail out Carole, and that the Fail was given the go ahead to headline the extent of CarolE’s thievery. And that’s what it is–that helium balloon supplier whose services she used but did not pay for is also a small business that was affected by the pandemic.
I looked up Lord Illife; his Berkshire estate is called Basildon Park. His parents invested in restoring the home and nowadays it rents out for filming–Bridgerton, The Gentlemen, Downton Abbey, the 2005 Pride and Prejudice were filmed there. Iliffe doesn’t present as an aristocratic oaf and it seems they work hard to keep the estate financially afloat, so losing fifty-five thousand pounds of income has to hurt.
So it seems that CarolE just kept borrowing and borrowing while stiffing the little guy, the taxman, and her landlord. It fits in with her ruthless pursuit of Burger King. I saw some tweets yesterday of bad reviews of Party Pieces where apparently they sent out cakes that were expired by three weeks.
The family gave Basildon Park to the National Trust and a large endowment for its upkeep, so they no longer own it.
Yes but the impression I got was that they still live on the estate and that they need the money.
The Illifes live in the South Pavilion of Basildon Manor–the entire south wing of the house. They appear to have been admirably strategic in their planning in renovating the house then giving it and an endowment to the National Trust, thus ensuring its survival. Obviously they reserved the right to live there and I’m confident they also reserved rights to income from the extensive filming that’s been done on the estate as well as rights to other sources of income (including the rental to the Middletons) from portions of the estate. £55,000 would be a big loss to them.
Karma karma karma comes back to you hard.
Karma is coming from Middleton’s big Time there house of cards is falling apart Carol was gleefully to go after Meghan fully throttle. Carol and Kate were arrogant they thought that they had made Kate was conceited with her new titles Carol was using her connection to the royal family to get loans for every day citizens . I’m enjoying the down fall of the Middleton family they flew too close to the sun they cozying up to the press and now the press is turning on them . I hope people sue them for lying .
This truly shows the crazy way the business world works – because neither Carole or Michael owe anyone money and I am sure they are doing great financially. It’s the company’s debt and therefore they can just walk away, into retirement. It’s only Party Pieces that’s bankrupt, definitely not them personally so let’s stop talking why their sons in law don’t bail them out – they don’t care about party pieces as it’s debt doesn’t affect any of them!!
AFAIK the company was a partnership. Partners are ‘jointly and severally liable’ for the firm’s debts. This means that the firm’s creditors can take action against any partner. Also, they can take action against more than one partner at the same time. So yes, both/all the partners of PP are liable.
Party Pieces is an LLC, not a partnership. The Middletons would only be liable for any loans they personally guaranteed (which appears to be none).
What will their source of income be? And the way they were working to find a buyer tells me they were hoping to get something from this, not walk away with nothing. Do they have a big family trust or endowment? If they are counting on William then why didn’t he bail them out before it got this? Even structure a low interest loan?
As directors of the bankrupt company the Middletons could still be liable on personal capacity if the administrators of the insolvency proceedings find evidence of misconduct (breach of fiduciary duty, etc). For example, if they benefited personally while the company was going into insolvency (I’m thinking about taking directors’ loans from the company). Administrators will look at the latest 2 years of financial accounts.
Almost every musician I know lost their entire livelihood during Covid because they couldn’t tour. My business was also decimated. I don’t have employees and couldn’t take out a PPP loan. So it makes perfect sense to me that a business that relies on people having parties would be sunk by the pandemic. Especially one that was becoming obsolete anyway. Nothing shocking here.
PP was failing before the pandemic, but that was the nail in the coffin. Initially they did well but allegedly much of their money was being funneled into PP by filthy rich Uncle Gary. They were eventually sunk by the likes of Amazon and dollar stores who sold the same stuff for much less.
It takes a good deal of money to con… I mean woo a royal heir: think of all those posh yachting vacays Peggers spent with Carol and family
$3M is a drop in the bucket for William or Charles.
But be realistic, Charles and William are in the position that every.single.relative is grifting for money or connections to them.
Paying Andrew and Fergie to keep quiet. Plus paying for Andrews settlement, lawyers, etc.
The Middletons + Camilla setting up each of her kids, etc.
How many times can The Mids expect to get Millions from William?
He must have bought the $4M house for them.
I’d argue you should never be surprised by the wealthy trying to weasel their way out of debt obligations and exploiting other people for money lol.
Couple of things:
1) For the RF these amounts are kind of nothing. KC could have quietly bailed PP out in a hundred ways if he wanted the future future kings other grandparents to save face. The RF (meaning the ruler) historically controls other royals, minor royals, hangers on, etc via purse strings. Everyone is useful for something, especially taking the fall for someone higher up. CarolE was somehow uncontrollable and this is punishment time. They want the Middletons bloodied, reputation totally damaged. Why?
— Impending divorce/keep Katie in line. I don’t think Wills will ever divorce – he saw the public fallout from his parents divorce, the prying. If he’s single, there will be TONS of unrelenting public interest in his love life. Katy is a privacy shield. With parents in the poorhouse/no ability to fight back in the press, she will have to eat shit and like it.
— Harry’s media lawsuits. This one might be a stretch, but what if the journalists need to eventually produce their “sources”? Camilla must be protected at all costs, right? That’s how KC operates. So what if the papers are given a quiet ok to point to Carole? She was around during those waity kaity years. And if she’s been shamed, impoverished, pummeled in the press already – the public won’t believe any denials. And if she’s quietly told to accept the blame in exchange for a quiet pension in another country out of sight…
Where is Mike Middleton in all this stuff?
Carol just leads him around in a suit?
We never hear Boo from him.
What did he do for a living?
It’s all been Carol and PP publicly.
IKR? Mike just shows up occasionally with his head down and his mouth shut. He always seems to have a hangdog look on his face. I don’t think all is well in the Middleton marriage, like he’s totally hen-pecked or something.
European magazine reported years ago that the Middletown’s had separated or divorced. British press didn’t print it.
Long ago my Grandmother did sewing and couture. ‘My name is enough’ was a common ploy to avoid paying for any of it. My Gran remembered this all her life. There are many stories of hauteur by CarolE and Kate. All of it is going to come out. Serve them right
As others have noted, It’s just despicable for the Middletons to screw over their suppliers by not paying what’s owed. I know it’s the way wealthy people and grifters operate, but it’s gross.
Nice family of grifters and tax cheats you got there, Princess Never-Puts-a-Foot-Wrong.
The Wales divorce has a green light. This is just the beginning. William will throw Kate and the Midds under the bus. It’s begun!
Decades ago the company I worked for went under, with no notice.
Turns out all of us employees never got paid for the last 3 weeks of work we did.
The Owner, VP, and CFO all got their assets and their money out tho.
We employees came together filed a lawsuit with the State to get paid.
Nothing. Folks had kids, no paycheck, no health insurance, no vacation or other benefits due ever paid out.
Over 30 years ago. I still hope that Owner burns.
The Midds are no different. Shame on them for leaving others in the lurch while they go on acting better than others.
2 words.. Pay Up. They are worth millions and the amount owed is small potatoes to them, Kate and William. and not to mention Pippa.
Yes, this is a delicious story to savor. I’d love to see it come home to roost on Kate Middleton herself. Grasping, greedy parents launching their daughter at the heir to the throne as a secret weapon to prosperity, ill-gotten riches, fame and immunity to prosecution. The machinations planned by Kate and Carole to snag poor, innocent William, Diana’s despairing son, and catch him in a spider’s web of treachery, corruption and middle-class money lust. I’d like to write the stories myself.
I think this information is coming out now so KC3 can have more influence over George. There have been tons of articles about how the Middleton grandparents will mold the future king. and this is KC3’s way of taking them out of the equation. Also insuring they aren’t given any proxy jobs filling in for Katertot.
So I guess some vintage!! -mint condition !!–rare-!!! tiaras are going to popping up on ebay soon?
If only you had some other millionaire in-laws that could help you bail out you parents to avoid the shame… Oh, well. You burned that bridge and karma is a bitch.
This is a genuine question: “make no mistake, Charles and Camilla are the reason why the Mail feels emboldened to come after the Middletons. This is all part of the larger revenge scheme led by two septuagenarians to marginalize Kate and her family. It’s been a long time coming, honestly….” Revenge for what?
Carole made it a point to exclude Charles from seeing George as a young baby. Petty, but that’s how this family rolls.
Revenge for the Wails’ campaign (spearheaded by Uncle Gary) during the final years of QEII’s reign that the crown should skip Charles and Camilla because Baldimort and Khate were young, popular, couldn’t put a foot wrong, etc. Revenge for Khate crashing the first day of Chelsea Flower Show and stealing KC3 and Cam’s thunder. Revenge for Khate wearing her fake tiara to the coronation despite the tiara ban.
It’s a long list.
The British people need to care about this . If it was Megan’s family, there would be a non stop full on assault including receipts, interviews, bank statements and gossip to the infinities.
How is this not ma major story? There is so much dirt here
Exactly.
I suspect the Middleton showing up at the royal wedding in Jordan rubbed some people the wrong way. I also think the Press may have gone to Charles and say “Give us something or we oust Camilla” and that something was the Middleton. All those stories about Kate the future Queen, savior of the BRF did not sit well with Charles.
So all this time I’ve wondered how successful business people like Carole and Mike Middleton can run such a successful business, but not pass any of that information and work ethic onto their children.
Kate has never worked and still doesn’t. She doesn’t even know how to speak in public.
Pippa wrote that awful book that was mocked.
James failed at making personalized marshmallows.
I guess it turns out that Carole and Mike were never that successful, and COVID just made it tank faster.
The Middletons are arrogant snobs who think they’re better than everyone but in reality are career social climbers and scammers to the core. And the world now gets to see what nasty piece of work they really are. Isn’t karma a b$&tch lol..
I thought I read, Someone mentioned in one of the comments a week or so ago that they or their associate run a Twitter account called Caribbean Prince . That account always say something bad about Meghan with their fake and crap posts . I just blocked that account.
So they’ve been taking in VAT taxes but not forwarding it on to the government? Not sure that is legal. That’s not just not paying income tax, that’s taking in retail tax and not paying to the government. I’m not sure what UK laws are, but states in the U.S. will close businesses for stealing retail tax.
I want to know if it was Camilla or William who got Richard Eden to write this because it is far harsher than the last article and the amount of debts is in the millions.
This is a bad sign for Kate and the Middletons. There would not have been articles like this a few years ago. Or it would have been quickly pulled.
Bring out the popcorn.
What is that face she is pulling? Its bizarre
Mummy and her tribe of grifters must know a lot of family secrets, otherwise they would have not come so far. The protection of the crass publicity seeking family who have openly used their connection to the BRF to scam others, has been insulting to the british and anyone mildly intelligent. Princess perfect seems to be able to squirm out of everything, other than posing for photos, shopping and going on holidays. Worldwide Royals all seem to pull their weight and respectfully honor their positions, not this lot of married ins. William may regret bringing them into the family, you cannot buy class you either have it or not, this lot have none and money has made them even more trashy. Mummy could write a book about scamming and social climbing and how they infiltrated the BRF. Mummy will still expect to be given a title, Daddy created a coat of arms just before the wedding, probably expecting the entire family to be declared to be titled aristocrats. A new reality show could be “Trailer trash invading the BRF” with weekly episodes showing their determination and low level grifter attitudes.
LOL at the photo choices 😂😂😂
It will be interesting to see whether the Middletons are investigated and potentially prosecuted for trading whilst insolvent. See extract below for a quick legal summary.
Trading whilst insolvent is a serious offence in the UK. It means continuing to trade when you are unable to pay your debts as and when they fall due, or when your assets are worth less than your liabilities. If you are found guilty of trading whilst insolvent, you could face a prison sentence and/or a fine.
@Salty Pom 🤔 Interesting!
I would watch the schitt out of a reality show that has the Middleton family trying to pay off their debts “Schitt’s Creek” style.
Same here–and I’m right selective about which reality shows I watch. 😂 😂
Classic keeping up with the Joneses. Seems like it was staged to make them look well off and get their son and daughters married off, and now their house of cards has fallen apart. Karma’s list is nicely getting ticked off.
Trusting low grade married in grifters was a huge mistake. Publicity hogs whose debts were mounting up with no end in sight, other than an association with the BRF. Not a problem for the Midds, the BRF was supposed to bail them out, after all William supposedly stated that they were better than his own family. There must be something happening, considering how many coverups there were, stopping their entire family’s trashy behavior being made public.
The Middletons really are almost beyond parody: the UK TV series The Windsors portrayed them comically as a family of pikeys (gypsies) all of them – a rough, sharp elbowed mother, grasping Pippa, and KM……..
Now it’s revealed that life really was stranger than fiction
What a bunch for P William to get tied up with.