32 facts about the Middleton family you probably didn't know

The Middleton family have spent more than two decades in the royal spotlight. During this time it feels like we've got to know the clan rather well - including the Princess of Wales' Berkshire-based parents, Michael and Carole, as well as her younger sister Pippa and younger brother James. 

Much of what we know about the famously discreet Middletons has very slowly emerged since Catherine, the Princess of Wales first began dating Prince William during their St Andrews university days. We have seen them make appearances at numerous high-profile royal events - including Catherine's 2011 wedding and the King's Coronation - and it is clear their role in the princess' life remains strong.

However, while their faces may be very familiar by now, much about the lives of the Middletons remains a mystery. From how Carole and Michael first met and the details behind their grand home, to what Pippa really thought about her bridesmaid's dress and James' new business venture, let's get to know them a bit better...

32 facts about the Middleton family you probably didn't know 

1. Michael dismissed royal romance

Catherine made her first official appearance as William's girlfriend, alongside her parents, at his Sandhurst 'passing out' parade in 2006. However, just three years before, her father had quashed rumours of their brewing romance - likely to protect their privacy - telling reporters, according to Vanity Fair, that 'we are very amused at the thought of being in-laws to Prince William, but I don’t think that is going to happen'.

2. Pippa isn't her real name

The middle Middleton sibling, Pippa, has been frequently pictured at Catherine's side throughout her time in the public eye. However, it turns out her name is actually a sweet moniker - according to Town & Country, she was born Philippa Charlotte Middleton in 1983.

3. Carole's unusual Christmas

In 2016, William and Kate took a young Prince George and Princess Charlotte to spend Christmas at the Middleton's in Bucklebury for a change - and they are likely to have enjoyed festivities with a twist. Carole revealed to The Telegraph that she has two trees - one for her to decorate and another for the grandchildren - and she'll also serve up a vegan option alongside something 'traditional' for lunch. 

4. Pippa's verdict on dress

Pippa, who married her husband James Middleton in 2017, first came to global attention as the maid of honour at her sister's royal wedding. 'You know, I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress,' she told Today, of the iconic Alexander McQueen bridesmaid dress she had worn. 'Really just to sort of blend in with the train.' She later said that it fitted 'a little too well'.

5. Michael and Carole's fortune

You probably know that the Middletons ran their own business, Party Pieces, until 2023. What you might not be aware of is that Carole established the mail-order party supply and decoration company within months of welcoming her third child, James, in 1987. According to Hello!, she got into the entrepreneurial spirit after taking redundancy from her job at British Airways when she fell pregnant with Kate - and it paid off, being valued at £30 million in 2013. 

6. The Middleton's grand home

The Middleton family home of Bucklebury Manor, in the village of Bucklebury, Berkshire is very much out of bounds to the public. However, we do know that the Grade II-listed Georgian mansion was bought by Michael and Carole for £4.7 million in 2012, and is only a short drive from where they raised their three children at a smaller property called Oak Acre. According to Berkshire Live,  the home has seven bedrooms, a drawing room, a library and 18 acres of land.

7. Kate's secret lessons

It is well known that Catherine, patron of the All England Club, is a huge fan of tennis - and she has been seen enjoying the action at Wimbledon for years. However, according to Hello!, she is so gripped by the sport that she even took private lessons at London's exclusive Hurlingham Club, where membership costs £1,400 per year. 

8. Sibling therapy sessions

James has previously opened up about his battle with depression - however in a piece for The Sunday Times, in 2023, he shared just how supportive his family had been during his mental health journey. He revealed that both his sisters had come with him to therapy sessions. ' They’ve always been there during difficult times,' he wrote of Catherine and Pippa.

9. Carole's royal wedding influence

William and Catherine's wedding in 2011 was watched by an estimated one billion people around the world. While many would have expected the royals to foot the entire bill, the Middletons insisted on contributing a six-figure sum, according to Vanity Fair. Additionally, Carole, told The Telegraph at a later date of her further involvement: 'We talked about music…everything. I was involved lots with both Pip’s and Catherine’s weddings.'

10. The Middleton family business

The Middleton's company, Party Pieces, came about thanks to Catherine - with the future princess' fifth birthday celebrations providing the inspiration that her mum Carole needed for the venture. However, it continued to be a family affair, with the businesswoman telling SheerLuxe 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 was sold in 2023.

11. Michael and Carole's love story

Catherine's parents could quite easily have never met. Yet their fate was sealed when Michael and Carole crossed paths by chance, according to Hello!, when he was working as a flight dispatcher and she was a flight attendant for British Airways. They married in 1980 at Dorney Court, a Tudor mansion in Buckinghamshire, where champagne and canapés were served. 

12. The Middleton coronation invite

We have become used to the Middleton family's regular appearances at important royal events - however it could have been otherwise. According to Tatler, William was reported to have gone out of his way to secure Catherine's parents and siblings invitations to his father Charles' coronation in 2023, which had 2,000 attendees. There reportedly wasn't even enough room for Pippa and James' partners.

13. The Middleton move abroad

The Middletons haven't always been in Berkshire - they lived with their two oldest children in Amman, Jordan from 1984 to 1986 for Michael's job. In a speech during a visit to the country in 2018, William said: 'My wife Catherine is very sorry she cannot be here with me so soon after the birth of our son Louis, but her family remembers very fondly the almost three years she spent here as a child when her father worked for British Airways.'

14. Michael's unexpected link to politics

There has been much debate over the Middletons' middle-class status - but Michael is himself from a relatively privileged background, having been educated at the private Clifton College in Bristol. According to Town & Country, he was born in Leeds to a wealthy Yorkshire family with aristocratic links. His grandmother, Olive Middleton, came from the Lupton family - who were considered a well-known political dynasty. 

15. Surprising Middleton day out

We may always see them dressed to impress, but the Middleton family have a love of hiking the great outdoors. That's according to Pippa, who wrote in a 2021 blog post: 'My parents inspired my love for walking in the mountains and both joined me and my brother to the first hut when we climbed Mont Blanc.' 

16. Catherine's first ever job

Between graduating from St Andrews and getting engaged to William, Catherine kept herself busy. According to Town & Country, she worked part-time as an accessory buyer for fashion brand Jigsaw from 2006 to 2007 and also helped out her family's business Party Pieces - assisting with catalogue design and production, marketing and photography.

17. Carole's semi-relatable background

Much has been made of the Middleton's regular middle-class background - and in the case of Carole, her working-class origins have been emphasised, with ancestors who worked as coal miners in County Durham. However, Town & Country reported that Carole, née Goldsmith, is also a very distant relative of the Queen Mother.

18. James' very talented wife

James became engaged to Alizee Thevenet after just ten months of dating, having met at a bar, and the pair - who welcomed son Inigo in 2023 - married two years earlier in France. According to Town & Country, she is a financial analyst who speaks French, English and Spanish.

19. Pippa's celebrity connections

Pippa's sister Catherine isn't the only famous face in her close family. The mother-of-three - who shares children Arthur, Grace and Rose with her husband James Matthews - counts the reality TV star Spencer Matthews as her brother-in-law. The former Made In Chelsea cast member is, in turn, married to Vogue Williams. The families often holiday together at the Eden Rock Hotel in St Barths, which is owned by James and Spencer's parents David and Jane Matthews.

20. Middleton sisters' Scottish education

While Catherine memorably attended St Andrews where she met William and studied History of Art, her sister attended another Scottish university. Pippa earned a degree in English literature from Edinburgh, graduating in 2007, before going on to earn a master's degree in Physical Education, Sport and Physical Literacy from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in 2022.

21. William's proposal dilemma

One aspect of William and Catherine's love story that doesn't get much airtime is the prince's admission that he was too scared to ask Michael for permission to propose - meaning he only told his future father-in-law after he had got down on one knee in 2010. 'I was torn between asking Kate's dad first and then the realisation that he might actually say "no" dawned upon me,' he told ITV News. 'So I thought if I ask Kate first then he can't really say no. So I did it that way round.'

22. James' niche company

After trying his hand at several businesses over the years, James then leaned into his passion for dogs. As well as being an owner of several pet pooches himself, he launched a dog food company, Ella & Co, in 2020. Additionally, Kate and William's first black cocker spaniel Lupo - who passed away, aged eight, that same year - and their second, Orla, were both gifts from him.

23. Carole's grandmotherly instincts

Much of their family dynamic is private, but it's clear that Carole is a hands-on grandmother to her seven grandchildren - who include George, Charlotte and Louis. In 2021, she told Good Housekeeping: 'I want to run down the hills, climb the trees, and go through the tunnel at the playground. As long as I am able to, that’s what I’ll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides.'

24. Catherine's royal premonition

There may have been clues that Catherine was destined for her royal role. The princess was born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton in 1982 - with a middle name perhaps inspired by her future grandmother-in-law. She often accompanied the late monarch on public engagements before her death in 2022.

25. Wedding guest disappointment

Despite her and Michael paying for part of the celebrations, Carole put forward a list of guests she hoped could attend a post-wedding reception at Buckingham Palace in 2011. However, according to Gyles Brandreth in his book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, none of them made the cut - which was a source of 'embarrassment' for her. However, Catherine's mum saved face by 'hosting a flurry of B-list sidebar events'.

26. Exotic family holidays

While Balmoral is for the Windsor side of the family, the Middleton parents have joined Kate and William on family holidays to the private Caribbean island of Mustique. According to The Mirror, the group stayed together in a luxury £27,000 villa in 2019, having regularly visited the exotic destination - which has a no-fly zone - since 2008.

27. James' celebrity ex

James is now married to financial analyst Alizee Thevenet. However, before they met, he had a high-profile relationship with Donna Air, who he had been dating since 2013. The actress announced over Christmas 2017 that they had split up, insisting that they would 'remain the very best of friends'.

28. Michael and Carole's Sandringham anniversary

Michael and Carole spent their 34th wedding anniversary weekend, in 2014, at the royal estate of Sandringham in Norfolk - at William's invitation - staying at a property near Anmer Hall, which was being renovated. According to the Daily Mail, the prince treated the couple to a celebratory barbecue.

29. Middleton's RAF link

The Middleton connection to the royals actually goes back a couple of generations. Michael's father Captain Peter Middleton served as an RAF fighter pilot during the Second World War and actually flew alongside Prince Philip on a two-month flying tour of South America in 1962. Just decades later their grandchildren, William and Catherine, would go on to marry.

30. Carole's kitchen parties

Carole has revealed that her kitchen is her happy place. According to Hello!, she said: 'It's the heart of the house.' She continued: 'I love a kitchen supper, where I have a small number of guests. I'll cook something delicious and make it look lovely, then we'll finish with a kitchen disco.'

31. Pippa's business venture

It was reported that Pippa and her husband James had purchased a £1.5million park, Bucklebury Farm, in Berkshire in 2022 - two miles from where the Middleton parents live at Bucklebury Manor. According to Tatler, the couple plan to open a lodge on the estate for a variety of events, such as parties and Pilates.

32. Pippa's healthy cookbook

Pippa has demonstrated her passion for healthy pursuits over the years, including a charity cycle ride for the British Heart Foundation with her brother James in 2015. But you may not know that she also collaborated with the organisation on a cookbook, Heartfelt, which featured over a hundred 'heart-healthy recipes'.