Carole Middleton to face huge life change after 'terrible' Christmas season

Carole Middleton's party supplies business, Party Pieces, has been sold after struggling to make profit in the US, according to reports. 

• Carole Middleton has sold her party supplies business for an undisclosed sum after running into financial difficulty, according to reports. 
• The mother of the Princess of Wales founded Party Pieces in 1987, after realizing there was a gap in the market for affordable children's birthday party supplies. 
• In other royal news, King Charles's bizarre reaction to this household item will make you chuckle.
  

Carole Middleton's party goods company has officially been sold, according to reports. 

Party Pieces, which was founded by the Princess of Wales's mother in 1987, was bought by British entrepreneur James Sinclair on Thursday following a period of financial stress. 

The news comes just one month after it was reported that Carole Middleton had a 'terrible' Christmas because of postal strikes and the cost-of-living crisis affecting the company's sales. 

It remains unclear how much Sinclair, who runs a £30 million business that includes outdoor attractions, childcare, and commercial property, paid for the company. The exact reason for the Middleton's decision to sell Party Pieces is also unknown, but it's believed to be influenced by the resignation of two of its three investing directors and the disappointing results of its US expansion. 

Party Pieces Holdings, the owner of the firm, had also accumulated a debt of £1.35 million, making it difficult for the Middletons to secure new investors. 

It's understood that Carole and her husband Michael hired Interpath Advisory, a financial advisory firm, to find a buyer for Party Pieces earlier this year. In a statement to the Telegraph, a spokesperson for the consultancy business said, "Party Pieces is a well-established brand with a proud British heritage, but like many other companies across the retail space, had been impacted profoundly by the effects of the pandemic and the ensuing restrictions on social gatherings." 

Carole had never been shy about her passion for Party Pieces, which she was inspired to establish after struggling to find suitable celebration supplies for Kate Middleton's fifth birthday bash. 

"All I could find were basic clown plates," she told the Daily Mail in 2021. "I realized there was a gap in the market for party ware that wasn't too expensive and which looked good, so [I] decided to design my own." 

After her idea was rejected by multiple High Street retailers, Carole decided to start the business from her home in Berkshire. Her determination ultimately paid off, and by 2013, the company was estimated to be worth over £30 million. 

"They say if you do a job you enjoy, you don't work a day in your life, and I truly feel like that," Carole added. 

It remains to be seen what the former British Airways flight attendant will do now, but it's understood she's determined to spend more quality time with her six grandchildren. Carole is the granny to Prince William and Kate's three kids, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and five-year-old Prince Louis, as well as Pippa Middleton's children, Arthur, 4, Grace, 1, and baby Rose.