It’s the end of an era for Kate Middleton‘s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, as they bid goodbye to the party supply business that put them on the map. However, it really wasn’t a fairy-tale ending to their Party Pieces business.
The company was struggling with finances as the world emerged from the pandemic – two years of party cancellations hurt their business and their future plans for global growth. Carole, who has been the public face of the company for years, tried hard to tie their coronation-themed party ideas into King Charles III’s historic day — but it didn’t seem to help. On Thursday, The Guardian reported that the company was “bought out of administration” by entrepreneur James Sinclair. To translate the legal jargon, the company had become insolvent, and Sinclair is now taking on the company’s 12 employees, while avoiding Party Pieces’ debt to creditors.
Since Carole and Michael are shareholders the company, they will likely receive “very little, if anything” because their business was in administration. It’s a quite a blow for the couple who started the business in 1987 in their kitchen after Carole was disappointed in the types of party supplies that were available for Kate’s fifth birthday.
What the Middletons loved most about Party Pieces was that it was a true family business. Carole shared that sweet sentiment with Sheer Luxe, recalling, “Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I’m very proud of that. Pippa wrote our Party Times blog, James did the cakes when he first left school and Catherine developed our first birthday and baby category.” It’s the end of a chapter for Carole and Michael, but this closure may open up new opportunities to spend time with their grandkids as Kate and Prince William are called upon to represent the royal family on a more global scale.
Before you go, click here to see things you never knew about Kate Middleton before she met Prince William.
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