At first glance, it might seem that Princess Catherine’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are living in a modern-day fairy tale. The couple started out their married life as two typical middle-class Brits who never could have imagined their eldest daughter would one day become the next Queen of England
Originally a flight attendant and a flight dispatcher, Carole and Michael did not always earn a lot of money. However, when they launched their company, Party Pieces, their lives changed forever. For decades, Party Pieces generated a strong flood of revenue for the Middleton family. These days, Carole and Michael drive a Range Rover, flounce designer clothes, and even attend big-name events like Wimbledon and the Royal Ascot.
Of course, nobody’s life is perfect — and that applies to the Middletons, as well. Over the years, the couple has struggled enormously with family tragedies that range from phone hacking to poor representation in the media. Carole and Michael Middleton were even victims of a smear campaign. Beneath the veneer of their picture-perfect life, the Middletons have endured one tragedy after another.
The Middleton family inheritance has tragic roots
In the tabloid news, Carole and Michael Middleton are often portrayed as a typical middle-class couple. But, the reality is that Princess Catherine lived a lavish life before marrying Prince William. Her parents sent her to pricey boarding schools and housed her in a £1.5 million home. Carole and Michael could afford a somewhat opulent lifestyle after launching their successful party decoration business in 1987, but they also sat on a comfortable family inheritance.
However, this financial inheritance had a dark side. According to a report in the Scottish Mail on Sunday, the Middletons were able to found their company and fund their children’s education because of a trust fund that had been set up generations before. Apparently, Catherine’s great-great grandfather, Francis Lupton, came into a million pound fortune that he expected to split among his five children. However, during World War I, all three of Frank’s sons were killed. Only his two daughters, Olive and Anne Lupton, survived to inherit the money. Their share was worth over £2 million in today’s currency.
As per the Scottish Mail on Sunday, Anne Lupton never married, meaning that what was left of her fortune was also passed on to Olive’s children — including Catherine’s grandfather. Although this money was eventually able to benefit the Middleton children, its roots are profoundly tragic.
Carole and Michael Middleton were mocked by Prince William’s friends
In many ways, Carole and Michael Middleton benefited from an “old money” fortune; however, this did not prevent Prince William’s friends from mocking them for their social class. Unlike many members of the British upper crust, Carole and Michael had neither titles nor a historic family home. In fact, Carole Middleton was famously descended from James Harrison, a coal miner based in Northern England. According to The Standard, his “home was to be a humble two-up, two-down miner’s cottage on the main village street.” It was a far cry from the vast estates inhabited by the ancestors of William’s closest friends.
Because of this, when the prince started dating the future Princess Catherine, his circle was quite ruthless in their treatment of his middle-class girlfriend. Many of his friends were particularly snobbish about the fact that Catherine’s mother had previously worked as a flight attendant. As royal expert, Katie Nicholl, explained on Vanity Fair’s “Dynasty” podcast, “William’s friends, I hate to say it, would whisper rather snidely when Kate would turn up at Boujis, which is the nightclub that they used to go to in West London: ‘Doors to manual.'” Nicholl went on to explain, “Obviously, that is a bit of a put-down. It’s a bit of a derogatory reference to Carol’s career as an air hostess”
The press criticized the Middletons for being middle class
Prince William’s posh friends were not the only people who disparaged the Middletons for their middle-class background. The British press was arguably no better. During William and Princess Catherine’s courtship, many commentators argued that Carole and Michael Middleton were not classy enough to be the parents of the next Queen of England.
One piece in the Daily Mail even quoted a courtier, who said, “Put bluntly, the Queen seems to like Kate’s father, Michael, but the courtiers sense that there are big question marks over the mother. She is pushy, rather twee, and incredibly middle-class. She uses words such as ‘pleased to meet you,’ ‘toilet,’ and ‘pardon.’ The irony is that Carole has been so busy pushing her daughter forward and doing her best to groom her for royalty that she’s rather missed the point that she might not fit in herself.”
Following William and Catherine’s breakup in 2007, royal commentator, James Whitaker, described the match as a mistake in an article for the Mirror. His justification? Carole and Michael were not from a good enough family to produce a future queen. “Kate, delightful as she might be, was not from suitable stock to be our future Queen,” Whitaker wrote. “I just believe that evolving from a middle class background (Marlborough public school, her father Michael running a party mail order business while mummy Carole worked as an airline “hostie”) is hardly the best training to becoming Her Majesty.
