Carole and Michael Middleton made a grand re-entrance into the upper echelon of British society this week, almost a year exactly since their business collapsed into insolvency and with it, their whole flimsy house of cards. They were exposed as grifters who defrauded the government and small businesses out of millions of pounds. Not only that, we can now see that the Middletons were always lying about the success of Party Pieces and lying about their finances. They were never rich, they never “made millions” off of a catalog company selling party kits.

Even before Party Pieces went belly up, I had felt, for years, that Prince William had distanced himself from the Middletons. The shift happened in 2021, when William told Kate that she wasn’t allowed at the Diana-statue unveiling and suddenly there was a month of blind panic from Camp Middleton as they tried in vain to keep William in line through briefs to friendly royal commentators. When Party Pieces collapsed last year, I thought it was the final nail in the Middletons’ coffin. They would never be allowed in these coveted, elite spaces again. Not only that, but the Middletons’ decades of lies weakened Kate’s position in the royal family – she has even less support and power now that her parents have been so thoroughly exposed.

So imagine my surprise when William went out of his way to get photographed with Carole and Michael at Ascot this week. Not only were the Middletons welcomed at Ascot, there are tons of photos of William with Carole, helping her with her shoe and welcoming her into the Royal Enclosure. Whatever happened, whatever deal was worked out in the past six months, it involved a Middleton Image Rehabilitation. Speaking of, the Mail is pulling from their archived reporting for a new piece about how William and Carole are so, so close. As I said, it genuinely felt like he was keeping the Midds at arm’s length for about three or four years. But yeah, that has changed. Now we’re back to getting stories about how Carole orchestrated William and Kate’s whole relationship and how William used to rest his head in Carole’s lap or whatever.

When Carole Middleton’s heel got stuck in the grass at Royal Ascot yesterday, it was fitting that it was her beloved son-in-law who came to the rescue. Prince William offered a helping hand to ‘second mum’ Carole as she steadied herself before the pair chatted jovially among other guests. The natural moment, caught in a charming set of photographs, was a touching reminder of the close bond that the Prince has forged with the Middletons – and in particular, matriarch Carole. She has fondly watched him blossom from the young, occasionally hot-headed Prince to the loyal husband, father and King-in-waiting he is today.

The Prince of Wales is said to have ‘adopted’ the Middleton family soon after he started dating Kate in the early 2000s – and Carole is now an indispensable part of the Wales’ close-knit family unit. She enjoys making Prince William his favourite snack of cheese on toast and stocks up on the sea salt chocolates that he likes.

This is evidenced by how she made herself constantly available to the family when Kate was expecting Princess Charlotte. She spent many days living with them at Anmer Hall – their home on the Sandringham estate that they swapped for Adelaide Cottage in Windssor in 2022. Carole sourced the fabrics and wallpapers for the family’s nursery and would make William his favourite snack of cheese on toast, which he would eat in front of the television. She also stocked up on the Prince’s favourite sea salt chocolates.

According to one source, Kate and William formed an ‘insular unit’ with Carole and her husband Michael. They added: ‘You could say that Kate and William, unlike most couples with a set of in-laws, feel most at their ease and happiest with her parents around. Tensions dissipate and there’s a party atmosphere.’

Carole was also said to help William decide what he should wear to engagements. Another source said of William’s love for Carole: ‘He is in thrall to her capabilities, her tenacity, high-energy levels, her superb organisational skills and her networking. She above anyone else knows what makes Kate happy, what type of staff she will gel with, and understands her overriding need for loyalty and privacy. Carole leaves nothing to chance.’

[From The Daily Mail]

The fact that Kate and William are still fine with letting people know that they’ve spent their entire relationship being managed and mothered by Carole is something else. This is one of the reasons why Prince Harry was such an advocate for therapy too – these people really need to unpack a lot of their issues and learn how to do things for themselves. Anyway, the Middletons are back and the British media has seemingly gotten orders to not discuss Party Pieces or fraud or how the Middletons screwed over people and left financial catastrophes in their wake.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.