Carole Middleton criticized for the ‘galling’ way she screwed over vendors, creditors

I still can’t get over the story, this weekend, about a “malicious poster campaign” in Bucklebury. Carole and Michael Middleton’s business, Party Pieces, went bankrupt earlier this year, and the dying shell of PP was sold off for pennies on the dollar. The Middletons stiffed creditors for over £2.5 million, including government loans, bank loans and tons of small businesses which had extended credit to Carole specifically because she is the “future queen’s mother.” Carole left a lot of anger and debt in the wake of her financial mismanagement. Now someone is putting posters up all around Bucklebury, demanding that the Middletons pay their creditors. The Middletons own a £5 million manor home in Bucklebury as well as commercial real estate in the area. Well, I just wanted to follow up with the Sun’s exclusive coverage, which had a couple of other quotes and an interesting aside:

Kate Middleton’s parents are the target of a cruel poster campaign — after the collapse of the family party business. Malicious messages have been put up on lampposts and trees around the couple’s home village, with Kate’s brother James seen tearing some down. Angry suppliers are still owed money after the closure of Party Pieces, which was sold by Kate’s mum Carole, 68, and dad Michael, 74, shortly before it went bust earlier this year. Some want the couple — also parents to Pippa, 40 — to pay debts out of their own pockets.

However locals have been appalled by the posters, plastered around Bucklebury, where the family have lived for several decades, and the neighbouring West Berks village of Yattendon.

A source said: “Carole and Michael are incredibly popular. Everyone is horrified by these posters. It’s unfair to do this in their home village, just yards from where they live. Their son James lives nearby and so does Pippa who has moved around there recently with her family so they all have to be confronted by this. They are doing their best to make things right and don’t deserve this kind of abuse.”

Carole, a former British Airways stewardess, was said by a friend to be “desperately sad” to see the company flounder under “a new management team”. Pals claimed she was trying to make sure creditors were paid. Kate’s parents are believed to have stepped away from the day-to-day running of the firm several years ago.

However suppliers have criticised the couple for the “galling” way invoices were left unpaid before the firm went bust, and have called on them to pay outstanding debts. The administrator’s report made it clear that creditors — including small companies supplying balloons, toys and party bags — were unlikely to be repaid cash owed.

[From The Sun]

Here’s my thing – in all of the analysis and ass-covering after Party Pieces crashed, it was clear that Carole was desperately trying to say that she handed the management of PP over to other people years ago. That was directly contradicted by vendors and creditors, who said Carole was personally contacting them in recent years, promising them that they would be paid eventually. “Suppliers have criticised the couple for the ‘galling’ way invoices were left unpaid before the firm went bust” – in fact, the Middletons continued to rack up even more and more debt because Carole was making personal promises to small businesses, vendors and banks. “Carole and Michael are incredibly popular. Everyone is horrified by these posters.” The Middletons fancy themselves the king and queen of Bucklebury and their house of cards collapsed. There are businesses within Bucklebury affected by PP’s collapse as well, so no, I don’t think the Middletons are really “incredibly popular.” I would imagine the village has been highly amused, actually. I still think it’s interesting that the coronation was the last time anyone saw Carole – she’s been in hiding for months now. She’s humiliated and she deserves it.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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59 Responses to “Carole Middleton criticized for the ‘galling’ way she screwed over vendors, creditors”

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  1. Are these people appalled by the posters or are they appalled at what the posters are saying because I believe they are appalled at what the posters are saying. That they live near a person who is a fraud and deep in debt and who won’t pay back the people she owes. The spin is ridiculous on this story.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      This is clearly come from Carol(e) as its been reported before that the locals in Buckleburry don’t care about them. I recall reading one local say they were ‘stand offish’ and ‘kept to themselves’.

    • Jane says:

      They may well be appalled by both – the posters because they’re lowering the tone of the picture postcard perfect village and what the posters are saying because it’s an unwelcome intrusion of poor people and their poverty issues into the residents’ carefully constructed upper middleclass lives. They’re being confronted with the unpleasant reality that often lies behind carefully curated facades. After all, if the future king’s in-laws can go bust, anyone’s can.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Jane, where did you get the impression that the people unpaid by the Middletons are “poor” and that this involves “poverty issues?” That comes across as extremely condescending and insulting.

        They are small business owners operating within the community who were screwed over by people living in a multi-million dollar mansion (and closely related to one of the wealthiest families *in the world*) who are trying to publicly distance themselves from the issue and make it sound as if this is all the fault of the “investors” and that they didn’t do anything wrong. IMO they are well within their rights to bring attention to their plight in whatever way they think will work.

        As Kaiser explained, the Middletons ARE in the wrong, and this is clearly coming from CarolE, as evidenced by the line about how popular they are in Bucklebury.

    • Nic919 says:

      I mentioned in the related post that the town always knows when kate visits her parents because the local resources like police and ambulance are reserved for her. So the town is likely not very thrilled with this in the first place. And then knowing her parents are simply grifters ripping off the small businesses only adds to it.

  2. Nubia says:

    So clearly Peg or Charles wont help thats their choice. Maybe Pippas husband also said he has had enough Middleton bailing outs after James screw ups. What about Kate!!?? After 20 years together and 12 years of marriage,she has NO independant money whatsoever!?? She has no Princess access to anything in case of miscellaneous circumstances and private emergencies!!???

    • JT says:

      I doubt Kate has a single dollar to her name. Everything is owned and paid for by the firm. She has never been responsible for taking care of herself in her entire life. She went straight from her mom’s house to the taxpayers.

      • Nubia says:

        Thats so sad and rather pathetic TBH. She had such a tunnel vision to hook William nothing else was a thought. I dont know if royals sign prenups or other marital contracts but i would have demanded every year something be put into some sort of trust or some upfront lump some for a rainy day. It is actually a frightening prospect to have zero access to any money. She owns absolutely nothing, even her kids can be taken from her.

      • JT says:

        I imagine that prenups aren’t necessarily common amongst the royals since they don’t own much of anything themselves, besides the monarch. William had an inheritance, but those are typically off limits as far as marital assets go. They are funded through the sovereign grant, so I doubt it could be used in terms of settling a divorce. And you’re right, it is frightening to not have access to any money or assets if you had to divorce. I don’t know if Kate truly understands this. Everything Kate buys has to be vetted an approved by someone. She wouldn’t get much leaving either. Couldn’t be me. It’s probably why there was so much angst around Meg being a self made millionaire. She couldn’t be controlled. She had options. The “royal lifestyle” could not be used to keep her in check like Kate.

      • Em says:

        If she’s smart she’d start selling the multiple free clothes she gets

      • Snuffles says:

        This. Kate doesn’t have her own money and being financially controlled by The Firm. And I wouldn’t be surprised that her access to money has been severely restricted in recent years. Especially in the past year once William got access to the Cornwall money and Charles stopped financing them. I bet William is giving her the bare minimum to keep up her household.

      • Harper says:

        Since the inevitable NDA will cramp Kate’s chances at a blockbuster memoir, she’s going to have to open Ye Olde Fancy Dress and Hat Shoppe in downtown Bucklebury once she is officially off-loaded. She could make bank by selling her coat dresses to the tourists, especially if she is there to mumble and jazz hands in person. She could even have a kids’ clothes rack where tourists could buy Little Lord Fauntleroy boys shorts and shoes, boys’ bank manager suits for sports events, and blue smocked dresses from Charlotte. To keep up status, entry will be by appointment only.

      • BeanieBean says:

        I never really thought about this, but it’s interesting. Back in her royal GF days, she was photographed at cash machines. Do we think that was an account set up for her by her parents, with their names still on it, and not her own? I cannot imagine in this day & age a woman not having her own bank account.

  3. Digital Unicorn says:

    Those photos – we can clearly see where kHate gets the gurning from. And I just realised that what Pippa is wearing is very similar to what we’ve seen kHate wear – is she still sharing clothes with her sister?

  4. Professor Plum says:

    W and K are so dumb. Tossing $2M to the creditors and having it be known that they stepped in to make sure that these small businesses weren’t harmed would go such a long way in terms of optics. And it’s not like the BRF can’t cover it.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      Seriously. Imagine the headlines and goodwill that paltry amount (to them) would buy.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      None of the people involved care one bit about the small businesses. Carole, goes without saying. William found out the truth about the whole house of cards at one point and has been binding his time to start using it against them and here we are. Charles and Cam obviously gave their blessing to Peg’s campaign to bury the Midds. The media is just loving that there is finally a meaty bone to chew on. Kate is hiding in his separation closet, holding on to her coatdresses for dear life.

      • Lorelei says:

        They might not care about the small business owners, but they do (or should) care about their own PR, and what awful optics this is for the RF and everyone else involved who is in the position to help but chose not to.

    • Ciotog says:

      I feel like today’s BM articles have the same underlying message: “The Waleses are separated and we can’t talk about it!”

    • Julianna says:

      I agree 100% Professor Plum! While the Royal media won’t touch the following – Prince William and King Charles have access to a lot of money. It’s not a good look for them to let these small businesses suffer. I am in no way condoning the Middletons; they are grifters! If you compare and contrast King Charles, Prince William and the Middletons – the Royal Family are grifters too! Charles accepting millions in bags of cash; selling titles; selling access; selling overpriced products at Highgrove House Shop; owning many, many homes (I can’t keep track); spending over 200 million on a fancy coronation while people in England can’t afford their homes, food, and medical attention; saying he’s going to cut staff while getting a raise in taxpayers funds to the tune of increasing from 86 million pounds to 125 million pounds), etc. William also has more homes that I can count and has been involved in many shady finance deals. An example is spending 12 million in the first year for Earthshot when the winners only received 5 million in total; meaning 7 million for expenses; which is unbelievable. Owning many, many homes, taking helicopters at the drop of a hat and spending a minimal amount of time doing actual work, etc. No one will ever know the whole of the Royal family’s questionable finances but we know that the Queen was hiding assets that were revealed in the Panama Papers along with many other wealthy people. Again, I will never condone the Middletons but the financial amount of their grift is small compared to William and Charles. So for William to not step in and help out the small businesses owners that are really hurting over the unpaid bills is outrageous!!! William trying to score off Kate and the Middletons by letting the small businesses suffer in this manner is pathetic. This is the ‘Royal Family’ and King of the Church of England. Shame on them!

    • Debbie says:

      I get what you are saying, but why should the Windsors swoop in and toss out 2 million pounds to pay off some else’s non-rape-related debts? After all, they get enough good press even with that story out there. I would imagine that the amount of adulation they’d get if they paid off Carole’s debt would be too much for them, and there would develop a new storyline that Carole was so beloved and valued that they helped her.

      • C71 says:

        After all this time the Middletons still have not paid their debt.
        I tend to think it will not go away and the whole scandalous situation will end in court. That sort of thing rumbles on until its sorted once and for all. The posters episode could be merely a start. A lot of people affected by it could have their Christmas ruined from unpaid bills. That is not on.
        Also the Freedom of speech thing has another side called rudeness.
        Meghan and Harry might be a ginger and winger , which in turn could make William and Kate, work shy and shirker. Worth a thought.

  5. Mslove says:

    Doesn’t Carole have jewelry or a painting to sell? Good grief Carole, scoot your ass down to the pawn shop & pay the vendors their money.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      My Christmas wish:
      can an investigative journalist (a real one with integrity and balls) do a write-up – or even better, a book – about the rise and fall of the Middleton-Goldsmith clan?? Including the snaring of Young Peg with cheesy toast and cuddling in Carol’s lap and the vacations none of them could afford. I just hope it happens one day.

  6. MaryContrary says:

    What exactly are they doing to “make it right”? The fact that they’re trying to portray themselves as the victims in all of this is so gross.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      It is really gross. I read the excerpt as another hitpiece, even though it appeared to tell their side of the story it is full of shade.

    • Lorelei says:

      Right? They’re doing absolutely nothing to help “make it right.”

      If they cared, they’d sell their mansion (and downsize to a home that would STILL be incredibly luxurious for two people by most standards!) and pay off the debts that they owe.

      Pippa owns an enormous estate nearby, and James lives close by as well, so it’s not as if CarolE and Mike need the space to host everyone. (CarolE needs to let go of her beloved “tradition” of putting an individual Christmas tree in every single room of the house 🙄) It would actually buy them some goodwill, for once (which, btw, they will *desperately* need if W does decide he’s done with K and kicks her to the curb.

      But they’re far too greedy and proud to ever consider such a thing, IMO.

      • C71 says:

        Lorelei is angry and rightly so. The Middletons are immoral. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would see that. Having read the reports of the Uncle and his suspicious dealings . I wouldn’t trust any of that lot. The Hedge Fund relative reminds me of the likes of one Jeffery Epstein and his money.
        The Middleton son has supposedly been bailed out of debt about 5 times. The money that lot has flushed away is absolutely criminal.
        I sincerely hope justice is seen to be done all round ASAP. They have lied and cheated so many people, something has to give. As for the Bucklebury Villagers they are being tolerant at the moment. Next year that could all change ?. Mmm I wonder ?

  7. Rapunzel says:

    So I keep hearing “why didn’t Will/James Matthews/Charles/Kate help?”

    Have we considered that maybe the Middletons don’t care about paying their vendors back? Like, when it was clear the business was failing, these folks deliberately restructured the business to not affect their personal wealth once it collapsed. They deliberately let it be sold without debt, when they could have looked for a buyer who woukd have made restitution. The rumors were the Midds sold client data as their means of really making money.

    The Middletons are not good people. I don’t believe they asked for help because they don’t care. I truly believe they thought the story would be covered up and are only mad because of the publicity. As for James Matthews/Will/Kate/Charles, I suspect they are as awful as the Midds and aren’t paying cause they don’t care.

    The question isn’t “why aren’t they helping?” The question is “why aren’t they covering up the story?” That doesn’t require paying the debts, but it’s still not happening. That’s the truly bad sign.

    • Jenn says:

      I agree that selling private data is predatory but, to be fair, it has become a typical business practice—even banks here in the US sell your data. On Shark Tank you see Kevin O’Leary buy duds just for those lists of private information. I’ve heard that in the UK you have to “opt in” (as opposed to here, where the onus is on the user to opt out), per the law. Is that just with cookies and tracking though? Hmm.

      • Nic919 says:

        The GDPR is very strict in that you have to get each customer to provide explicit consent for their information to be sent to a third party. And it applies to North American companies that deal with European companies too.

        Also Kevin OLeary is a scumbag in so many ways. He and his wife were involved in a fatal boating accident where his wife admitted to having a drink after she smashed into a pontoon and they didn’t offer assistance and simply went home to set up an alibi to discredit the DUI charge.

        This happened in the muskoka area.

      • Jenn says:

        Thank you very much, Nic, that answered my question exactly. I wish we had similar law here—but between the money and our creaky old legislators, no chance.

        Sadly, the tragic thing with the O’Leary boat is all I can think about when I see him. I assume she took responsibility for the fatal accident for his sake—horrible.

    • Becks1 says:

      @Rapunzel I think the two things go hand in hand, at least for me. Paying off the debts would make the story go away. So these rich people all suck and are okay with not paying their debts but its a bad story for most people reading it. So by not paying the debts they’re just letting the story stay out there.

      and yes the royals could likely kill this story – all William would have to do would be to arrange an outing with him and the three kids and I feel like this story would go away – but they aren’t doing that either.

      So whether they would want to help or not, this story lingering is a really bad look for the Middletons and its interesting that its still just…..lingering.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Rapunzel, the only thing I can come up with is that CarolE never thought that Will would throw her under the bus like this…she thought he’d care enough about his own reputation — and theirs, to the extent that it reflects on his — to make sure that either the small business owners were paid OR, that at the very least, he’d make sure the story was kept out of the press.

        But William is clearly beyond done with them, and IMO that probably took CarolE by surprise. She might have sensed a “cooling off” from William, but still believed that when it came down to it, he’d protect their reputations. And he just didn’t. I’m sort of surprised the Middletons were all invited to the coronation, tbh. So now she’s humiliated and in hiding. Hopefully that’s where she’ll stay.

  8. Amy Bee says:

    What happened to never complain, never explain? Don’t the Middletons also allegedly subscribe to that mantra as well? If they don’t they need to start.

  9. aquarius64 says:

    The Firm not stepping in to squash this story about the Middletons means Charles and/or William want them dragged for various reasons. Carole knows this story gives out of favor with the BRF and downward spiral of the family’s social standing. It also gives Kate’s future queen’s status may be in jeopardy. Congrats Middletons; you are now the Markles. Both of Diana’s sons have trashy in-laws; Harry was/is smart enough not to give his a dime.

    • Nic919 says:

      The fact that Sinclair, the guy who bought the company for cents on the dollar is out there spinning for Carole is more evidence that the Windsor side isn’t going to pull any strings to stop media coverage.

      This is different from how the pot farm story got buried and the excuses to justify the Nazi marshmallows coming out of Bomf.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Ma will be on the warpath about this – her social standing is EVERYTHING to her, EVERYTHING. She’s not going to be reacting well to this esp that she dare not show her face in public at any more royal events, events that she LIVED for.

      They grasped and pushed too far – the people they used and abused in the climb have now clearly stood to the side when they fell.

      The fact that this story isn’t going away also tells you a lot – that they have lost favour with the press.

      • Smart&Messy says:

        Peg and Charles are doing this deliberately. This story first came out in early summer and then died down after a news cycle or two. Now it is dragged up for no apparent reason because there is zero new information to report on. This round is for no other reason than to throw a bone to the press and keep hammering it in that Kate’s family are grifters who preyed on Peg.

      • Lorelei says:

        @DU, ITA. The next time that I think we could reasonably expect to see the Middletons out with the RF will be Kate’s Xmas concert, if she does it again — and IIRC, wasn’t it said last year that she was planning on making it an annual tradition?

        So it will be interesting to see what happens with that. If Kate just cancels it altogether, or if the Middletons try to show up and act like everything is normal, etc.

      • Jaded says:

        @Smart&Messy — exactly. It’s being dragged up again because it will give Pa and Pegs more ammunition with which to smear the Midds and put Kate in a harsher light than she’s already under. The biggest mistake was when William chose her to be his bride because he inherited her whole grifting family. Now he’s trying to unload her and she’s digging in her heels, but William and Charles probably have enough receipts on the Midds to bury them. One of these days the truth will out and it’s going to be a doozy.

    • Tessa says:

      Aquarius Dori and others in Meghan family are not trashy.

      • Nic919 says:

        Doria is a Ragland though. I assumed the reference was to Thomas and the step sister and step brother.

      • aquarius64 says:

        I meant Bad Dad, Scammy and Jr as Harry’s Monsters in Law.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Tessa I think everyone here knows exactly who is being referred to when M’s family is called trashy, and it’s not Doria.

  10. Mamasan says:

    It does make you wonder, who has the missing jewelry? Personally, my money is on Baldy Buck has the jewelry but he’s letting Can’t and the Mids take the suspicion.

    • Sunday says:

      lol exactly, maybe Kate has been building herself a little nest egg. Why should Charles get all the brown bags full of cash?!

  11. Vanessa says:

    Karma is coming from Carol gone are the days where William will pay things off for the Middleton . Gone are days where the press would bury the story Carol house of cards are falling apart and she definitely trying to spin as many storylines as possible she used her connections as a grandmother to the heir to line her pockets take money from people .

  12. MsIam says:

    I always think Camilla and Charles are involved in this. All those “Keen Crown Jewel” and “Skip Charles for William” chickens are coming home to roost. And William seems to have abandoned them completely. I guess Pippa’s husband has had enough too, after bailing out her brother. I don’t feel sorry for these folks but damn. This is the “phase out” that Kate wanted for Rose.

  13. Lady Digby says:

    Any photos of the posters or do we know what they say?

  14. Jenn says:

    Honestly? These stories seem like a cry for financial help—“well, my kids haven’t bailed me out, so my hand has been forced; it’s time to embarrass everyone publicly,” Tom Markle style. “Oh my god you guys it’s really bad, the creditors are threatening me now, they know where I live.” Of course they know where you live! Everyone knows where you live! In a giant manor!! Come on!

    I realize times are tough, but cash-strapped boomer parents are the worst. I watched a friend’s dad treat his hardworking, guilt-tripped daughter like his personal piggy bank, until finally their relationship was ruined. Financially abusing your kids! It’s an epidemic!

  15. KASalvy says:

    Karma.

    Often times when you least expect it.

    • AC says:

      Yes, and It seems there’s a lot of that happening this year.
      Also, PP has been questionable for years, but the press never questioned it until now. Although there were some of us who have been suspicious of their business model all along. They’re definitely not getting protected anymore. Even their children are getting visibly mentioned in the article. Pretty embarrassing.

  16. Eurydice says:

    I don’t know about other bank loans, but the Covid loan was guaranteed by the UK government, so the bank didn’t care about credit worthiness and was made whole by the government. It’s the taxpayers that got stiffed there.

  17. RoyalBlue says:

    The Royal family has certainly chosen a side. They shelled out millions to pay and silence a woman who was “not trafficked” by their dearly beloved Duke of York, but won’t pay a fraction of that for their dearly beloved in-laws.

  18. Nina says:

    Are there no images of these posters? I want to see one so very badly.

  19. Tanisha says:

    All I got is, “Until they do right by Harry and Meghan, everything they touch is going to crumble.” I would wish them luck but I’d be lying.

  20. C71 says:

    So much is going on in the world at the moment, even the Ukraine conflict has gone a bit quiet.
    I tend to believe the Middletons will get the light of day, justice will be seen to be done and it won’t be nice. Their popularity will be brought into question . It has been said Kate was not favoured
    due to her parents being in trade. Well that opinion tends to be showing its true colours now. Its all a wait and see game and one hell of an embarrassment. What ho! Rock On.