Carole Middleton praised for wanting to 'spend more time with her family' after Party Pieces business sale

Carole Middleton has been praised for wanting to “spend more time with her family” after Party Pieces business sale.

The Middletons are known to be a close-knit family and the Princess of Wales’ mother Carole Middleton previously credited her loved ones with inspiring her and supporting her with her party supplies business, Party Pieces. The business was started at her kitchen table in 1987 and whilst it has now changed hands after going into administration in June, Carole has been praised by the man who’s taken it over, James Sinclair, for her ongoing commitment to her family.

It’s claimed she stepped away from the business in April and this major move is something Carole is said to have done out of a desire to focus on being a devoted grandmother to her grandkids.

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Opening up to The Telegraph, James expressed admiration for the Princess of Wales’ entrepreneurial mother, saying, “Carole had reached her mid-60s and quite rightly wanted to spend more time with her family.”

James then went on to share how he feels she’s been unfairly “blamed” for Party Pieces going into administration in June. 

The businessman added, “She ran that for three decades on her own. She’s obviously not a wally. You think only five per cent of businesses make it past 10 years old. They managed to do three decades. And you are allowed to retire at 65 and spend time with your grandchildren.” 

Carole celebrated her 65th birthday in January and a few months ago exciting Middleton baby news was announced when her son James and his wife Alizée confirmed they were expecting their first baby. She’s already a grandmother to Prince William and Kate’s three children Prince George, Charlotte and Louis and Pippa and James Matthews’ children Arthur, Grace and Rose. 

Her grandchildren are understood to be hugely important to her and so the suggestion that Carole might have wanted to prioritise spending more time with them is incredibly heart-warming. She was said to have been a regular visitor at Kensington Palace when the Wales family still lived there during term-time.

Speaking on the True Royalty documentary, Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again, royal expert Katie Nicholl explained, “One of the things that allows William and Kate to be so ordinary is the presence of the Middletons in their lives.”

“Carole is a regular through those golden gates at Kensington Palace,” she continued. “She whizzes through in her Land Rover. There is no security because everybody knows her. She turns up to help with bedtime and bath time. She is absolutely indispensable.”

Now the Prince and Princess of Wales have relocated to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor the family are even closer to Carole and Michael Middleton in Bucklebury. Their other children Pippa and James are also said to have homes nearby in Berkshire. And with a new grandchild arriving in late 2023 and the festive season drawing closer things are likely to get seriously special for Carole this autumn/winter.  

She’s known to have a cute tradition of having a separate tree for her grandkids to decorate however they like, as well as a memory tree with meaningful baubles and one decorated to perfection to suit a theme. It’s not known whether she will be spending any of Christmas Day with the Wales family, but she’ll no doubt see them at some point over the festive season, as well as spending time with her other children and grandkids.