Kate's parents retire 'to protect daughter's reputation' after business collapse

06 November 2023 , 21:14

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Carole and Michael Middleton have seen their party planning business collapse (Image: WireImage)

Kate Middleton's parents have reportedly decided to retire to "protect their daughter's reputation" after the collapse of their party planning business, it has been claimed.

Carole and Michael had registered a company called First Birthdays with Companies House which they are claimed to have planned to launch once they had sold off their Party Pieces company. But with the party planning business having collapsed with debts of more than £2.6million they are claimed to have decided to give up that dream and instead focus on their family.

It is claimed that with people having lost money out of the business failure, the Palace would not want it to happen again and the Middleton's have now "scrapped any future business plans to protect their daughter's reputation".

Companies House records show that Carole and Michael set up the ‘First Birthdays’ business in 2006 to secure the name but it has remained idle since then. The couple signed on to keep it running as a dormant company in May of this year and changed the address of the company on August 31 from Party Pieces Childs Court Farm to The Manor Bucklebury in Reading, where the family now lives in a plush £4.7million mansion.

The decision has been made to protect Kate Middleton it is claimed (PA)

A source told the Express: "The Windsor name took a minor dent when Party Pieces collapsed because of all the money it owed to hard-working people. There's no way that the Palace will want that kind of thing to happen again. The royals are meant to be inspirational for hard-working people, not those that are seen to profit from the loss of others.

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"The couple were busy planning their next move but have now scrapped any future business plans to protect their daughter's reputation. Anything the Middletons do will inevitably swing back on Kate, so it's best that her mum and dad keep a low profile moving forward."

Last week, it came to light that the Middletons have been targeted by a nasty hate campaign in Bucklebury since their Party Pieces firm went bust. "Everyone was surprised by how much money paper hats and cups were making, so nobody was surprised when Party Pieces collapsed," the source claimed. "We just hope that the people affected will get their money back."

The Middletons haven't had the best of luck in business. Kate's brother James has seen several of his companies collapse over the years and his current company Ella & Co, which shows a significant drop in assets from last year, is the fifth venture for the future Queen's brother.

He also set up the failed Boof marshmallow business and the Cake Kit Company. He founded Nice Cakes and Nice Wine, and in 2015 he applied to have the two cake businesses as well as his wine label removed from the official register at Companies House. "James will most probably set up another company because he needs to support his family," the source said. "But Carole and Mike are going to focus on family and their grandchildren instead."

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Nathan Kay