Where did the Middleton’s money come from?
The Middleton family has enough money to live in sprawling estate worth 1 million British pounds, buy Kate a flat in the upscale Chelsea district of London worth another 1 million British pounds, and send Kate, Pippa and James to the most exclusive schools — with each of their educations worth at least 250,000 British pounds.
Conventional wisdom says this money came from the success of Party Pieces, their online business selling children’s party supplies like paper plates and hats. The company employs 8 people.
Yet most small business owners find this doubtful. Could such a small business really earn this much money?
Answer: Probably not. While Kate Middleton’s mother Carole — whose maiden name was Goldsmith — came from a poor background of coal miners, Kate’s father Michael came from millions. His ancestors include a merchant from Leeds who left 33 million British pounds to his heirs.
While much of that money is thought to have trickled out and disappeared, many believe that this inheritance has something to do with the Middleton’s money, author Claudia Joseph wrote in the biography Kate: Princess in Waiting.
A clue … comes from a promotional article in 2000 in Precision Marketing magazine, now defunct, which offered the children’s party customer database, saying that it had 232,370 names of customers and inquirers.
“The list consists predominantly of … females aged 20 to 30 with children aged mainly from 2 to 7,” it stated. “Although the products are generally inexpensive, the average order for each children’s party is said to be high and the current throughput is in excess of 1000 orders a week.
The Party Pieces website confirms this rumor, saying:
“Along with many other Mail Order companies we occasionally make our customer lists (name & address only) available to other carefully selected companies so that they can mail you with information on products or services that may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive these mailings please tick the opt-out box on the registration page or phone or email us at anytime and we will adjust our records accordingly.”
More than likely, the Middleton money comes from a combination of inheritance, selling a database of client information, and good ol’ fashioned entrepreneurship.
