Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 12, 2026

Kate Middleton's parents sell party supply company

Kate Middleton's parents sell party supply company

Carole Middleton founded Party Pieces in 1987

Carole and Michael Middleton are saying goodbye to their nearly 40-year-old party supply company.

On Thursday, entrepreneur James Sinclair took to his Instagram story to confirm that he purchased Party Pieces, which Kate Middleton's mother founded in 1987.

"The latest acquisition," Sinclair wrote on social media.

Per People magazine, Carole started the party supply company when she could only find clown plates for Kate's fifth birthday party. She grew her company, which started right at her kitchen table.

According to Sky News, Party Pieces was "severely impacted" by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and suffered financial losses over the last financial year.

James Sinclair's Instagram story.


"Sources said the sale had been implemented through a pre-pack administration, meaning it had appointed insolvency practitioners before being sold without some of its liabilities," the outlet reported. "It was unclear what price Mr Sinclair's company, Teddy Tastic Bear Co Ltd, had paid or how big the liabilities were that had been left behind."

In 2022, Carole told the touching origin story of her party supply company in an interview with Sheer Luxe.

"Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I'm very proud of that," she said.

Kate Middleton is Michael and Carole Middleton's oldest child.


Carole and Michael share three children: Kate, 41, Pippa, 39, and James, 36.

"Pippa wrote our 'Party Times' blog, James did the cakes when he first left school and Catherine developed our first birthday and baby category," Carole continued. "My husband and I were young and a little inexperienced, but very enthusiastic, so we didn't worry too much."

"We took any early setbacks in our stride and had a lot of fun building the business together. When Michael and I first started Party Pieces, we did everything ourselves. Taking orders, filling boxes and sometimes making the deliveries. The children were often there too after school. Partyware was a relatively new idea back then, so we worked hard to build our customer base and relied mostly on the odd letter or phone call for feedback," Carole explained.

Carole Middleton reportedly launched the company after finding a limited variety of children's birthday decorations while looking for Kate's fifth birthday.


"My family have always been my biggest supporters and biggest critics. Their honest feedback has been invaluable in helping to shape the business. Party Pieces has evolved from just selling children's products in the early days to curating pieces for all kinds of celebrations, including milestone birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings and new babies," she concluded.

In December 2021, Carole took to her company's official Instagram to share a few holiday gnomes and her excitement for the Christmas season with her grandchildren.

Kate Middleton and Prince William share three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.


"I’m going to need a few of these cheeky chaps this December, to hide around the house and make my grandchildren laugh," Carole said. "As much as I love immaculate decorations, we can’t be too serious at Christmas!"

Carole and Michael are grandparents to Kate and Prince William's children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. They are also grandparents to Pippa's children: Arthur, 4, and Grace, 2.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
Microsoft Lays Off 4,800 Employees and Xbox Suffers the Hardest Blow
Morocco and France Advance as 2026 FIFA World Cup Enters Quarterfinals.
Historic 2026 Tour de France Opens in Barcelona With Revamped Team Time Trial.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions Approach $4 Trillion Defying Geopolitical Tumult.
Negotiators Advance 20-Point Framework for Gaza Ceasefire and Demilitarization.
OECD Warns Middle East Conflict Will Depress Global Economic Growth.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg.
World Meteorological Organization Issues Urgent Alert Over Rapidly Intensifying El Niño.
United States Commemorates 250th Anniversary With Diplomatic Summits and Global Flotilla.
Iran Begins Days-Long Funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff.
Technology giant reports surging carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Artificial intelligence adoption accelerates workforce reductions across the technology and financial sectors.
Global technology and financial conglomerates collaborate to launch a new stablecoin standard.
United States regulators lift export restrictions on a major frontier artificial intelligence model.
Luxury bags take over the World Cup: style, status symbol, or just showing off?
×