The Middletons are caught up in poster hate campaign over the collapse of family business Party Pieces – as Kate’s brother James gets angry and ‘caught tearing them down’
- Messages were placed on lampposts around the couple’s home in Bucklebury
Last night it was reported that Kate Middleton’s parents were the subject of a malicious poster campaign over the collapse of the family’s party business.
Messages have been placed on lampposts and trees around the couple’s home village of Bucklebury in Berkshire, where they have lived for several decades.
Kate’s brother James, 36, who lives nearby with his pregnant French wife Alizee, 33, was said to be angry about the posters and was reportedly seen tearing them down.
The closure of Party Pieces, which was sold by Kate’s mother Carole, 68, and father Michael, 74, shortly before it went bankrupt earlier this year, left suppliers without any funding.
Last night it was reported that Kate Middleton’s parents (pictured) were the subject of a malicious poster campaign over the collapse of the family’s party business
The closure of Party Pieces, which was sold by Kate’s mother Carole, 68, and father Michael, 74, shortly before it went bankrupt earlier this year, left suppliers without any funding
The creditors asked the couple to pay the outstanding amounts out of their own pockets.
A source told The Sun on Sunday of the shock felt by villagers at the attacks on the couple. “It is unfair to do this in their home village, just a few meters from where they live,” they added.
Party Pieces failed in the summer with debts of £2.6 million.
The company was founded by the Middletons in 1987 and sold decorations and party supplies for children’s events from catalogs.
Its business model was transformed by the Internet revolution of the 1990s, which allowed the Party Pieces website to begin selling products to customers at home and abroad.
Kate’s brother James, 36, (pictured), who lives nearby with his pregnant French wife Alizee, 33, was said to be angry about the posters and was reportedly seen tearing them down
The company’s soaring profits are said to have helped the couple send their three children to the prestigious Marlborough College, where fees are £42,000 a year, and also helped finance their £5 million, seven-bedroom Georgian mansion in Bucklebury care for.
But the pandemic hit the company hard: children’s parties had to be canceled, and the cost of living crisis caused a further slump in business.
In June, Party Pieces went under after 36 years in business, just two weeks after it was revealed that the company had been sold to a Scottish businessman named James Sinclair after falling into administration.
A friend said at the time that former British Airways stewardess Carole was “deeply saddened” by the fate of the company.
Other friends said she was trying to make sure creditors were paid.
However, suppliers have since criticized the couple, claiming invoices were not paid before the company went bust.
A bankruptcy trustee’s report indicated that it was unlikely that creditors would be paid back the money owed to them.