Kate Middleton is one of the most famous faces in the royal family — but who's her dad? What’s
his take on being a public figure? And what does any of this have to do with party decorations?
Despite what many people believe about the Middletons, Princess Catherine's father,
Michael Middleton, did not come from a middle-class family. Michael Francis
Middleton was born in Leeds and comes from a line of financially well-off businesspeople.
His grandmother's side, the Luptons, was a family of business owners and property developers who
established a trust fund that reportedly still serves the Middleton family today. Meanwhile,
his grandfather, Noel Middleton, comes from a long line of affluent solicitors.
Michael's father was Captain Peter Francis Middleton, a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
His mother, Valerie Glassborow, was a banker's daughter who worked as a Duty
Officer at Bletchley Park, a code-breaking center during WWII. Michael's parents had four boys,
including Michael, who all attended Clifton College in Bristol. One of
the family's neighbors told The Telegraph that Michael and his brothers all attended boarding
school and that the family was "clearly well off." However, the neighbor added:
"They were never showy, but they were what you might describe as refined."
[affluent chuckling]
Inspired by his father's career as a captain in the Royal Air Force,
Michael decided that he wanted to become a pilot. However, after attending British European Airways
flight school, he became a flight dispatcher instead. During his time at British Airways,
he met his wife, Carole Goldsmith, who was a flight attendant for British Airways.
In May 1984, Michael's job led him to travel with his family for a posting in Amman,
Jordan. The Middletons lived in Amman for two years — Catherine
was two years old at the time, and Pippa was eight months old,
so Carole extended her maternity leave to look after her daughters while Michael worked.
Hanna Hashweh, a chief executive of the Hashweh Corporation travel agency in Amman, was a British
Airways agent when the Middletons were in Jordan. Hashweh told National News that Michael Middleton
"was a man of integrity" and that, due to Michael's long work hours, they didn't have
much of a social life. However, Hashweh added that the Middletons enjoyed playing tennis at
the British Embassy Club and rented a two-story villa close to a park and Catherine's nursery.
Michael Middleton and his wife, then known as Carole Goldsmith, had a workplace romance,
having met when he was a flight dispatcher and she was an air attendant with British
Airways. Michael and Carole would not have met, however, if they had followed
their initial career paths of choice. Michael wanted to be a pilot like his dad, of course,
while Carole's first passion was teaching. Her family couldn't afford the college tuition,
however, so she chose to make money and ended up working as a flight attendant instead.
Michael and Carole tied the knot in Buckinghamshire on June 21st,
1980, and the pair had three children. They welcomed their eldest daughter,
known informally as Kate at the time, in 1982, then had their daughter, Pippa, in 1983,
followed by their only son, James, in 1987. Michael and Carole have had a successful marriage
and will celebrate their 43rd anniversary in 2023, coinciding with Prince William's birthday.
Michael Middleton had a substantial amount of wealth made available to him from a network of
trusts set up by previous generations of his family. However, he and Carole eventually set
up a successful side hustle to grow their wealth even further. In 1987, Carole saw
a gap in the market for party bags and decided to found her own company called Party Pieces.
"It was a very clever idea, it filled a gap. It's a very affluent area,
and there were lots of children, lots of people in the area, that just wanted that service."
In 1995, Michael left his job and joined his wife
as the business boomed. Carole later told Good Housekeeping:
"We realized we needed a warehouse. In 1995,
we moved to Child's Court Farm, where we've been ever since."
Although Carole Middleton is listed as the Party Pieces founder on the company's website,
she told People magazine that the business was a family effort. She said:
"When [my husband] Michael and I first started Party Pieces, we did everything
ourselves. Taking orders, filling boxes, and sometimes making the deliveries."
It has been reported by some tabloids that the company is worth over $35 million
today, although these claims have not been substantiated as
the Middletons prefer to keep their finances to themselves.
Michael and his wife, Carole Middleton, created a close and stable environment
for their family. Prince William and Princess Catherine were so impressed with how Michael
and Carole parented that they decided to follow the so-called "Middleton model," which is how
Catherine was raised. In an interview with OK! Magazine, royal expert Duncan Larcombe said:
"By the time Kate was in her early twenties, she counted her mother and father on the list
of her best friends. That's what William and Kate are aspiring to with their children."
Naturally, Michael and Carole wanted their children to get the best education their money
could afford. So Kate, Pippa, and James all attended the prestigious Marlborough College,
a boarding school in Wiltshire, England, with annual boarding tuition fees of almost
$50,000. Michael and Carole's party supplies business, along with the family inheritance,
was a big help in sending their children to private school.
Michael Middleton has been a strong father figure for all his children,
even inspiring them to develop a love for sports. In a blog post on the Hoka website,
Pippa Middleton mentioned how her parents took her and her siblings on outdoor adventures. She wrote:
"My parents inspired my love for walking in the mountains,
and both joined me and my brother to the first hut when we climbed Mont Blanc."
Pippa added that her older sister, Catherine, and her dad, Michael Middleton, climbed Mont
Blanc together before Catherine became a royal. Michael has a particularly strong
bond with Princess Catherine, in fact, with the pair being big tennis fans and regularly
attending matches. In 2017, Princess Catherine appeared on the BBC documentary Sue Barker:
Our Wimbledon, and revealed that she had watched Wimbledon with
her family since childhood. She called it "a quintessential part of the English summer."
One of Michael Middleton's most significant public moments was walking his daughter down the aisle on
April 29th, 2011. Kate's lavish royal wedding to Prince William at Westminster Abbey was attended
by 1,900 guests, which probably made her lowkey dad feel like a fish out of water — although
he certainly didn't show it. Dressed in a dapper suit, Michael Middleton looked on lovingly as his
daughter joined the royal family, knowing her life would change forever. His presence was undoubtedly
helpful in keeping Kate calm with so many eyes on her. Besides the guests present on the day,
approximately 17.6 million people tuned in to the televised event to witness the wedding.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Although Michael and his wife Carole did not have to contribute financially to the wedding,
the pair insisted on helping pay for the big day. A senior royal aide told Vanity Fair:
"It is something they absolutely wanted to do, and William graciously accepted."
According to the Daily Mail, the bride's father
contributed over $100,000 towards his daughter's wedding to Prince William.
He may be a successful businessman and supportive husband and father,
but Michael Middleton is uncomfortable with being a public figure.
After his daughter's wedding, Michael delivered a speech that tackled the
issue of equality between his family and the royals. According to the Daily Mail, he said:
"Today was everything I had hoped for, and I'm thrilled that equality ruled
the day. I thank the Royal Family for welcoming us as easily as they have."
But moments later, Michael expressed his relief at his official role being over, telling a friend:
"Thank goodness that's over, and I'll never have to do it again."
Michael Middleton and his wife have often been described as "reserved." The couple
tries to avoid being in the tabloids as much as possible by living away
from the city. The Middletons also limit their communication with the media. His wife, Carole,
does talk to the press about her business, Party Pieces, but keeps silent about matters
relating to her family as she is cautious of what is said about her family. As she once told Vogue:
"Over the years, it's proved wise not to say anything."
Nowadays, Michael Middleton is a doting grandfather, too. Michael and Carole
reportedly enjoy spending time with all their grandchildren and have been photographed looking
after George, Charlotte, and Louis on numerous occasions. Judi James, a body language expert,
told the Daily Mail that Michael and his wife are "very hands-on" grandparents. James says
the royal children have grown up "with their traditional 'grandma and granddad' presence."
Prince Willam apparently has a lot of respect for Michael and Carole Middleton,
expressing admiration for them by telling Marie Claire:
"Some people are happy they haven't seen their in-laws for a year. I love my in-laws."
William and Catherine even decided to move to Berkshire,
a location that is closer to Michael and Carole Middleton's home.
In 2023, Carole Middleton announced that her husband would retire,
telling Good Housekeeping that he would take a step back from their business. She said:
"He is in his early 70s now, and he can concentrate on other stuff. He is
really supportive and quite excited to see what is going to happen."
A family friend of the Middletons told Vanity Fair that Michael
and Carole live in a quiet area in Berkshire where they are well-liked,
and that the village is "very protective" of their privacy. According to the source,
Michael is a down-to-earth man and has influenced Princess Catherine to be the same. They said:
"Kate's feet are still on the ground,
largely because of Michael. He doesn't get too swept up in the grandeur of her new life,
and Kate loves him for that. She gets a lot of her characteristics from him."
With so many accomplishments up his sleeve,
it seems Michael Middleton is now ready to kick his feet up and take life at a slower pace.