Carole and Michael Middleton, parents of Kate Middleton, are said to be experiencing renewed distress due to the downfall of their party supply business. Carole initiated Party Pieces from her residence in 1987, and the online venture enjoyed significant prosperity.
However, in June 2023, the company went into administration, accumulating debts exceeding £2.6 million. Interpath Advisory, a restructuring firm, was appointed as administrators.
Despite incurring costs surpassing £260,000, The Times reports that the firm has been unable to fully recover the fees owed for their services.
The newspaper reports that Party Pieces’ assets were “insufficient to cover the advisers’ time costs of £268,928” and that Interpath’s team were unable to recoup the total fees for the work by its restructuring professionals, who have “charged an average hourly rate of £566”.
The City-based firm has received fees of £51,437, but in a report says it “does not to intend to draw our fees in full”. Party Pieces experienced a decline in revenue, dropping from £4.5 million in 2021 to £3.2 million last year, resulting in a pre-tax net loss of £900,000.
According to The Times, the company was acquired by entrepreneur James Sinclair through a pre-pack administration deal for £180,000, leaving Interpath Advisory with limited funds to fulfill obligations to creditors. Carole, aged 69, established the business when her children—Kate, Pippa, and James—were young.
She disclosed in a 2021 interview that the idea for the business struck her after facing difficulties in finding suitable party supplies for her daughter Kate’s fifth birthday.
Speaking to The Daily Mail at the time, the Middleton matriarch said: “All I could find were basic clown plates,” she said. “I realised there was a gap in the market for party ware that wasn’t too expensive and which looked good, so decided to design my own. I took some prototypes to various High Street retailers and was turned away.”
Before marrying into the royal family, Kate helped out at her parents’ business. Carole previously told Sheer Luxe: “Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I’m very proud of 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.”
