The Middleton family’s business, Party Pieces, has been in dire financial straits for several years, if not longer. Their products are not unique, and almost everything they sell can be found for cheaper at party-supply stores, or found a lot cheaper online. Things seem to have come to a head earlier this year, when suddenly the Middletons were talking openly about how the business is going down the drain. Carole Middleton blames the post office, the cost of living crisis and the pandemic. In late March, we learned that Carole has apparently hired advisors because she either wants to sell PP or bring in more partners. Well, now it looks like they’re going to just try to sell the whole company. Offload it on some Russian oligarch, perchance. Carole is going down bravely, and by that I mean, she’s openly briefing the Daily Mail that she wants to retire to spend more time with her grandchildren.

Carole and Michael Middleton are heading for a very good Coronation. At the event on May 6, which they are expected to attend, their daughter Kate will take a delicate step closer to being Queen one day. No parents could be prouder of their daughter, who discharges her royal and familial duties with such impeccable grace.

As entrepreneurs, they will also be hoping that by that point they will have done some brisk pre-Coronation business at their company, Party Pieces, which is selling a range of Coronation-themed items on its website. There is Coronation Flag Bunting (£4.99 for three metres), which features the side profile of the King in gold on a Union Jack background, not to mention the Great British Party hats and flags set (£5), which features paper crowns and tiaras, plus essentials such as Union Jack paper plates (£4.99 for eight).

Yet for the Middletons, who have built their kitchen-table business into an empire, this will mark a rather significant moment in their business journey for other reasons. For friends reveal that Carole, 68, and Michael, 73, are planning to step away from the firm. The couple have decided that the time is finally right to retire — and they are hoping to sell the company in the coming weeks to investors who will continue the brand.

They own just over half the company, with two investors owning the rest. To this end, they have appointed strategic advisers at the company Interpath. Last week, a Party Pieces spokesman commented on news of Interpath’s involvement: ‘We are working with our advisers to secure additional investment which will help support the business as we look to embark on the next phase of our growth plan.’

In truth, the ‘next phase’ of the growth plan is that the couple are ready to walk away, the better to enjoy their six grandchildren. A friend says: ‘Carole and Mike are ready to retire, and rather than just shut up shop, they are looking at the options to see whether someone will buy the business. Carole has poured her heart and soul into Party Pieces and loves the business, but she’s 68 and is there running things pretty much full-time every day. It’s too much of a commitment — she wants more time for family, gardening and travel.’

I’m told there wasn’t one particular spur that led to her decision but, instead, the question of Party Pieces and its future has been a conversation in the family for some time, and she has gradually realised that this is the moment to move on. The friend says: ‘It has taken her a while to come to terms with the fact that she’s ready to step away and enjoy her time more. There are now a lot of grandchildren and she loves being a granny.’

Carole has George, nine, Charlotte, seven, and Louis, four, through daughter Kate and Prince William. Late last year the Cambridges moved to Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate — much closer to the Middleton family home in Berkshire. This has made it easier for Carole, already an involved grandmother, to become yet more indispensable to Kate. And let’s not forget that, following the Queen’s death last September, Kate and William have never been busier with official duties.

[From The Daily Mail]

A few things – notice there’s zero talk of handing off the business to one of the Middleton children. I guess Pippa has no need for it considering she’s got a terribly moderately wealthy husband. And James… well, James has failed at every business he’s ever started. James would run Party Pieces completely into the ground in about two weeks, tops. As for Carole needing to be “yet more indispensable to Kate” because “Kate and William have never been busier with official duties,” I can’t believe we’re supposed to take any of this seriously. Kate is still lazy, William is somehow even lazier and the kids already have at least one nanny. But sure. Anyway, I suspect that my theory will come true: some shady Russian, Kazakh or Emirate billionaire will “buy” Party Pieces and ensure that they have a backdoor channel to the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.