The Duchess of Cambridge: Family, Wealth and Background

[Elenath]

I suppose they would only give temporary contracts to women in their "child-bearing years" and if these women had a child the contract would not get renewed so to speak. It's not illegal...

[CanRoyal]

Originally Posted by miche

Isn't that illegal to fire a pregnant woman?

I wouldn't believe gossip from a hairdresser's shop.

Not only is it evident that Michael and Carole are very family-oriented, but most importantly, if there were any disgruntled ex-employees - they would have sold their stories to the tabloids by now.

[HRHHermione]

Originally Posted by Elenath

I suppose they would only give temporary contracts to women in their "child-bearing years" and if these women had a child the contract would not get renewed so to speak. It's not illegal...

That would only be legal if they treated their male employees the same way.

I also agree though- if the stories about them being bad employers were true, a disgruntled ex-employee would have sold a story by now.

[MarNoe]

I think I agree with the slow news day theory. If there's nothing going on, make something up. I really don't see the Queen giving Michael Middleton a peerage at all!

[Elenath]

Originally Posted by HRHHermione

That would only be legal if they treated their male employees the same way.

It's legal in the Netherlands though severely frowned upon. But here you can only renew someones contract 2 times. The third time it has to be a steady (?) contract or no contract at all. It's mainly done by smaller companies.

[GracieGiraffe]

Oh, for heaven's sake, I say give 'em a title. They're such nice people, and the surname Middleton for the middle class family whose daughter married the heir to the British throne is the type of name that would be given in a literary work - let's make them Archdukes or something. Perhaps Archangel - there was one named Michael once.

It's true that all they've ever done is sell plastic stuff over the internet, but those titled forbears of others probably had to do something gruesome to get those titles, like ruin enough other people to gain the necessary power.

But whatever is decided, Pippa will always be the new People's Princess, at least to me.

[carlota]

I am against giving titles or other honors to people whose only merit has been to give birth to a person who happened to marry the future king. People who get titles get them because of having given something for the advancement of society. To me, it doesn't justify to give them a title because of the simple fact of being Kate's parents and siblings. It's just unfair to those who actually merited their titles.

[Kataryn]

The fact that there are no such stories means IMHO that it's not true. The Middletons really must be good employers - given that the tabloids would pay quite a sum for any angry ex-employee willing to give his side of the story but that none comes forwards is a clear proof for the fact that there simply are no disgruntled employees. Which makes sense as it must be difficult to come by good, reliable employees in a place like this Bucklebury.

[EllieCat]

People who get titles get them because of having given something for the advancement of society. To me, it doesn't justify to give them a title because of the simple fact of being Kate's parents and siblings. It's just unfair to those who actually merited their titles.

Err Umm... Prince William only got his titles because of who his father and grandmother are... and the Duchess of Cambridge got her title because of who her husband is...

[Kataryn]

Originally Posted by GracieGiraffe

It's true that all they've ever done is sell plastic stuff over the internet,

To me, this does not sound nice. How do you know that? "It's true that all they've ever done is...." is so arrogant a sentence. Can't you try to judge your life first (and learn a bit of understanding) before you start judging others who have not done anything against you?

[GracieGiraffe]

Originally Posted by Kataryn

To me, this does not sound nice. How do you know that? "It's true that all they've ever done is...." is so arrogant a sentence. Can't you try to judge your life first (and learn a bit of understanding) before you start judging others who have not done anything against you?

If you had read the entire post, and my other ones regarding the Middletons, you would have seen that this was nothing but tongue in cheek.

[cepe]

Firstly - I agree with the majority of posters that a title for the Middletons is not appropriate. The only possibility is for one/both of the parents to receive the Order of Victoria but probably not the highest level. Perhaps under Charles or William.

As for Sun Lion's post - that is pure gossip. I thought that this forum didn't run with gossip and that statements made needed to be proven. I wait for the proof.

[padams2359]

If there was a disgruntled former employee out there, they would have been found by now. I would be willing to be that someone got a list of current and former employees long ago. They were hounded for a while, when there was no story, the tabloids moved on.

[GracieGiraffe]

Originally Posted by padams2359

If there was a disgruntled former employee out there, they would have been found by now. I would be willing to be that someone got a list of current and former employees long ago. They were hounded for a while, when there was no story, the tabloids moved on.

Yes, I agree. If the Midds were violating British labor laws (assuming such is a violation as it would be in the U.S.) that would be a story and a half.

The Daily Mail alone could live off of it for a month.

There are simply no stories on this family - as it would have turned up already and there's a certain segment hungry for such news. They're just nice people.

[Dman]

Yeah, you can tell everyone want some royal news and pictures to report on.

[COESpiral]

Man, the Daily Mail is really working the gossip mills to get something going with this rumor if other press is running with it now. Yeesh!

[cepe]

The only title I think would be possible is for HMQ to give the Royal Victorian Order.

From the Royal web site:

The Royal Victorian Order is given by The Queen to people who have served her or the Monarchy in a personal way.

These may include officials of the Royal Household, family members or perhaps British Ambassadors who have helped organise a State Visit to a particular country.

It could be possible for Michael Middleton to be made a Knight Commander of the RVO and therefore become "Sir Michael Middleton"; Carole would become "Lady Middleton"

IMO this is very unlikely.

Here is a link to the page

The Monarchy Today > Queen and public > Honours > Royal Victorian Order

[Dman]

Pippa Middleton's Book Gets Rave Reviews:
Pippa Middleton's Book Gets Rave Reviews

[carlota]

i found this info online which mentions that kate's maternal side of the family is of jewish descent. i wasn't aware of it, so i thought i'd post.

In the family tree of Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, Kate's mother is Carol Middleton, daughter of Ronald Goldsmith and Dorothy Harrison (both Jews).

The parents of Dorothy Harrison are Robert Harrison and Elizabeth Temple (both Jews).

Elizabeth Temple is a descendant of the Myers family, English Jews in the 19th century.

Then Princess Kate is a Jew on her matriarchal side. The future king of England will be a Jew according to Jewish Law and tradition.

[carlota]

Originally Posted by EllieCat

Err Umm... Prince William only got his titles because of who his father and grandmother are... and the Duchess of Cambridge got her title because of who her husband is...

so then let's make all of catherine's ancestors counts and countesses, shall we?

there's a notion of degrees of separation that needs to apply.