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CAROLE MIDDLETON

How Kate inspired me to build my business

INTERVIEW BY Helen Weathers Partypieces.co.uk

Surely, if Carole Middleton were looking for the perfect opportunity to retire after more than 30 very successful years in the party supplies business, then the pandemic provided it.

The nation’s party spirit deflated like a punctured balloon as we endured one miserable lockdown after another.

Families were separated, schools and churches were closed, restaurants and pubs were shut, weddings were postponed, Christmas was all but cancelled and parties took place on Zoom. Sausage roll, anyone? No, men either. Cleaned out by the supermarket panic-buyers.

Carole’s 66th birthday celebration in January’s lockdown was no different from everyone else’s; a quiet affair at home with just Michael, her husband of 41 years, rather than their usual joyous, big family get-together. Not that she was complaining, though.

So, as mother to the future Queen, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and grandmother to future King, Prince George, eight, was she not tempted to pour her energies into the family — rather than her firm after the recent challenges?

Absolutely not, she insists, never even crossed her mind.

‘They say if you do a job you enjoy, you don’t work a day in your life, and I truly feel like that; even when it’s very busy,’ says Carole, who is announcing that the business, Party Pieces, is very much back with the launch of a new collection, promising enhanced ‘wow’ factor.

Which is just as well, as suddenly everyone seems to want to party again like it’s 1999. Or 1989, or any time before March 2020.

It turns out that Carole — far from wanting to put her feet up — is fizzing with fresh energy, and new ideas about how to get the nation back in the groove. Carousel treat tray, anyone? Go on, then.

Wearing a fashionable pair of slim-fit blue jeans, Carole appears at least 20 years off retirement age and insists she has no plans to slow down, let alone give up work.

‘I spend a lot of time with young people which can help keep anyone young!’ she grins. ‘I hope I haven’t become set in my ways, which can perhaps age you. I like to hear about trends in fashion, sport and design.’

Nor does she seem to have lost too much sleep over what must have been a tricky time for many businesses such as hers.

FOr it turns out that just as she and Michael, 72, tried to make her birthday special, despite the pandemic, so did their customers.

‘We were very lucky in that we were able to keep trading; and while demand dropped for certain ranges such as hen parties, it grew for other pieces such as personalised cakes and balloon bouquets that people were sending straight to someone’s door,’ says Carole.

‘Our customers enjoy making a fuss of their loved ones whether they can do it in person or at a distance. Their creativity was inspiring,’ she says.

‘Now some parties are happening again and we have a lot of catching up to do. I think people are enjoying celebrations with a renewed appreciation of being together.’

Carole Middleton rarely gives interviews. But she is rightly proud of the business she built from nothing, long before the family was thrown into the spotlight when Prince William fell for her daughter Catherine at St Andrews university.

ever since the eldest of her three children married the Prince ten years ago, she has been the model of discretion.

The same code of silence applies to her younger daughter Pippa, 38, who married financier James Matthews in 2017 (they have two children), and son James, 34, who this month married financial analyst Alizee Thevenet in France.

The beautiful Alizee may have paid tribute to her new motherin-law by revealing her ‘something borrowed’ was the stunning gown Carole wore to her own 1980 wedding. But Mrs Middleton’s lips remain sealed.

Carole Middleton has an unenviably fine tightrope to walk between her high-profile role as Britain’s (second) most famous granny and that of successful businesswoman.

But it is touching when Carole offers a rare snippet, such as how Princes George and louis plus Princess Charlotte helped decorate her Christmas tree by video last year.

Or how, in lockdown, she felt the same pain we all did at not being able to see loved ones in person — though they managed to stay close. Or how she shares her love of gardening with the grandchildren, setting up outdoor activity tables, so it doesn’t descend into muddy chaos.

‘For me, my personal and my business life are not two separate things; they are both an essential and interwoven part of who I am,’ says Carole, an ex-flight attendant, who turned a small party bag business into a multimillion pound venture.

Over the years Carole’s one-stop mail order company for kids’ party paraphernalia has become a slick online operation offering something for everyone — civil partnerships to baby showers, Christmas parties to engagements.

‘My children inspired my business and have been involved

from the start, and the success that we’ve had has helped us build the life we have currently. I feel incredibly fortunate to have found the professional fulfilment I always wanted,’ she adds.

From the outset, family and business life were always linked, with all three Middleton children working for the company at some time. The best of both worlds, for Carole.

‘The only thing I can say about being a mother is how much I loved it and still do. Mike was a good hands-on father and we found a way to make business and family life work.

‘I’m going to continue to live life to the fullest: spending quality time with my children and grandchildren, and growing my business to help me turn my ideas into realities.’

Today, the company is run from a converted barn near the Middletons’

seven-bedroom, Grade IIlisted Georgian manor in Berkshire. It appointed a CEO, after going public in 2019, but the Middletons still own a majority share and Carole remains the firm’s very dynamic figurehead. But she reveals Party Pieces might never have happened if she hadn’t had a lightbulb moment after struggling as a young mum to find decent party supplies in the shops for Catherine’s fifth birthday party.

‘All I could find were basic clown plates,’ she says. ‘I realised there was a gap in the market for party ware that wasn’t too expensive and which looked good, so decided to design my own. I took some prototypes to various High Street retailers and was turned away.’

Undeterred, Carole set up her own party bag business from the kitchen table of their Berkshire home, leafleting parents at her daughters’ nursery school. The rest, is history.

‘Thirty-five years later, I’m launching the Party Pieces collection. I suppose some things are worth the wait!’ she says. ‘So rather than slowing down, this is an exciting new chapter for me. I think I’ll always be interested in party trends.’

Michael, who gave up his career as a British Airways flight dispatcher to help run the business, shares his wife’s philosophy that everyone deserves a day to remember — regardless of who you are, where you are from or the size of your budget.

‘Children’s parties are about fun, games and a bit of silliness,’ says Carole, who adds that it’s all about creating memories which last ‘long after the candles have been blown out’.

‘As a child, we lived on the outskirts of London in a modest house and I remember all my school friends cramming into our front room for games and tea,’ says Carole, whose father was a builder. Her grandfather was a Durham coal miner.

‘My parties were always like this, even my 21st, which was at home with all my friends and family in that same room. Then it was more popular to have parties at home, with traditional games and a little tea. It then became popular to go out to restaurants or to do a big activity, but parents are starting to choose small, simple parties at home or in a hall again.’

Carole credits her parents, who began married life in a council house in Southall, West London, with instilling in her the work ethic which made her strive for success. Her children provided the inspiration.

‘I remember my parents working hard to provide for us, and so it has always felt natural to me to do the same,’ she says.

‘My children continue to inspire me and, as they have grown up, our brand has evolved. From just selling children’s products in the early days, you can now buy one of our popular personalised cakes or balloon bouquets, we curate pieces for all kinds of celebrations, including milestone birthdays, anniversaries

and graduations.

ADDS Carole: ‘Having a big family has made me think carefully about how children’s parties, for example, work from the point of view both of the children enjoying it and the parents organising it.

‘It’s so special when children walk into the room to see the table looking amazing. We’ve taken that “wowfactor” to the next level; that’s why we have centrepieces like our carousel treat tray, fun dino-truck lunch boxes and party bags that match the theme of the party.’

The Party Pieces collection, which is launched officially online today, includes Unicorn Fairy Princess, Dino Explorer and Shooting Star ranges.

Soon, the collection will, for the first time, be available at select distributors worldwide.

Next month, their Metallic Nutcracker Christmas range is launched. And ten new ranges with more than 200 products are set to go live by the end of next year. More eco-friendly products are planned, too.

As for throwing the perfect party, Carole is happy to share her sure-fire tips. ‘If you’ve got friends and family helping to host, ensure everyone knows what their job is,’ she advises.

‘If they’re the sociable sort, ask them to get people chatting and to make sure no one’s left without someone to talk to. If they’re shy, but very efficient, they can be in charge of drinks.

‘I always make sure the party space looks beautiful. Make it look amazing and you’re halfway to a fabulous time.’

So what birthday party theme would Carole Middleton like?

‘I don’t mind — as long as there’s music and dancing!’

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