The Family and Background of the Duchess of Cambridge, the Middletons 1, Until 2022


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'Royal baby shower' pieces shortly before George's birth, 'Corgi line', 'Royal Wedding' pieces just before the wedding in 2011. All Party Pieces lines. Yes, you could say that all companies that sell stuff similar to Party Pieces were promoting similar things before Royal occasions, and why should the Middletons miss out? To me however, and to others, that is a very very thin line between commercial enterprise and profiting by a Royal connection.

But its a free enterprise. No one is forced to buy anything from the Middletons. If the people of Britain think they're cashing in they wont buy the merchandise and they go out of business.

Prince Charles sells royal baby related merchandise through the Duchy of Cornwall. The royal collection made a bundle from Kate's wedding gown

The Middletons are in a competitive business and if they must operate with one hand tied behind their back, they should be compensated for it.
 
When we really stop and think about it, how do we even know about the Middleton's business Party Pieces? Its not because the Middleton's have taken full page ads in the Daily Fail advertising they have "exclusive, in-the-know things for your party to make it just like the royals do but because the Middletons just happen to have a daughter that married a future King. The press has been all over not only the Middletons but they, themselves, have been pretty darned good at putting the link between Mike and Carole and Party Pieces any chance they get. If anything, this business got a whole lot of pretty good advertising and the Middleton's didn't life a finger to get the word out there so to speak.

Even articles that are moaning and groaning that Party Pieces is capitalizing on their "royal connections" are doing the opposite of what the intent of the article was about (to denigrate the Middletons and accuse them of cashing in) but rather free advertising for a business with all your party needs.

Go figure.
 
The palace gift shop sells a stuff corgi plush. They also put out special Royal baby collections for George and Charlotte but the Middletons are cashing in on princess or prince generic baby shower items? Little Prince/Princess is popular baby shower theme. In the US without royalty, there is a ton of party supplies for little prince/princess baby stuff. Just like there are tons of stuff to have pirate birthday parties and princess birthdays parties. Disney has everything under the sun for their Princesses. So Party Pieces established long before Kate met William is not suppose to sell the same party supplies that the rest of the world can because Kate married William? ?


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I think the problem is that some people are used to the old way of the royal in-laws disappearing into the sunset once their relative has married into the royal family. Those days are over. The media is interested in the Middletons, and the Middletons have tried to deal with the constant attention with grace and dignity.


Absolutely - with digital media and the recent high profile royal events, namely the Cambridge's wedding, there is a hunger for everything Royal.
Yesterday, People magazine had an online story about Princess Ingrid Alexandra's birthday. When was the last time an American magazine would have been interested in the NRF?

So, the Middletons get caught in that.

Can I say that I am most troubled by the comparison of the Middletons to the Kardashians? That, to me, is ridiculous. The Ks absolutely profit off of the media frenzy around them, and it all started with a sex tape. This is NOT analogous to the reasons the Middletons are interesting to the press. It is an absolutely unfair comparison IMO.
 
'Royal baby shower' pieces shortly before George's birth, 'Corgi line', 'Royal Wedding' pieces just before the wedding in 2011. All Party Pieces lines. Yes, you could say that all companies that sell stuff similar to Party Pieces were promoting similar things before Royal occasions, and why should the Middletons miss out? To me however, and to others, that is a very very thin line between commercial enterprise and profiting by a Royal connection.


I think people are offended by the Middletons because of their humble beginnings. There's not as much criticism of other family members of royals, but the Middletons are (a) close to the future monarchy and (b) businesspeople in an industry that caters to everyday people, something that can't be said about other royal family members.

IMO all of this fuss has a lot to do with jealousy. Let me clear, though, Curryong, I'm NOT talking about you - I'm talking about commenters on websites and comment sections of tabloids.
 
It will be interesting to see what happens if James marries Donna. Donna was born working-class, much like Carole. I have a feeling that the snobs on this site will rev up their animosity. Every time she appears at an award show or attends a commercial event - which she gets paid for, I think this thread will be active with complaints about how she should stay home and know her place, and that she’s exploiting her royal connections in a appalling way. Even though, she’s been famous since the early 90’s, and has been paid to attend events long before she met James. I’m sure her wedding pictures will be featured in Hello! magazine, which will cause certain people on this thread to shriek from the rooftop. They will deliberately ignore her fame, the fact that she works as style editor for Hello!, and the fact that she would get a spread irregardless of who she married. It’s always interesting to see posters expose their true colors.
 
Well, I'm neither snobbish, nor do I care whether James marries Donna Air, who seems pleasant and had a TV career. (If Donna married James and then appeared in a drama playing Camilla or Diana, that would be something different.)

Nor do I care if Pippa marries James Matthews who also appears to be quite nice and works quietly as a financier. I hope she does marry him in fact.

Objecting to the Middletons pushing of PP and of Pippa and Carole's being constantly in the spotlight has nothing to do with snobbery. I've said what my objections to people who profit from Royal connections are already in previous posts, and I'm not going to repeat myself.
 
Well, I'm neither snobbish, nor do I care whether James marries Donna Air, who seems pleasant and had a TV career. (If Donna married James and then appeared in a drama playing Camilla or Diana, that would be something different.)

Nor do I care if Pippa marries James Matthews who also appears to be quite nice and works quietly as a financier. I hope she does marry him in fact.

Objecting to the Middletons pushing of PP and of Pippa and Carole's being constantly in the spotlight has nothing to do with snobbery. I've said what my objections to people who profit from Royal connections are already in previous posts, and I'm not going to repeat myself.

So if James and Donna marry and appear on the cover of Hello! magazine, give the magazine exclusive wedding pictures, and Donna give them a interview about the "wedding of her dreams", you're vowing to be uncritical of the situation?
 
I agree that much criticism of the Middletons is due to the snob factor. No one cashed in more than Charles Spencer, but he never got half the criticism the Middletons contend with.


They had their business years before Kate even met William; why shouldn't they sell the same items other similar businesses offer? (That includes royal venues such as the yacht Brittainia, which offers a huge selection of such things).


And it's true the Middletons get much more press than other in-laws but I base that on two things: they are an attractive family, and William is the future king.
The press isn't going to pursue the Tindalls or the Lawrences.
 
The conduct of the Middleton family [in business, as in their connection to the Royal family] has been EXEMPLARY imo. Clearly also in HMQ's opinion too. Do you think she would tolerate any exploitation of the Crown, by business for ONE MOMENT ?
 
So if James and Donna marry and appear on the cover of Hello! magazine, give the magazine exclusive wedding pictures, and Donna give them a interview about the "wedding of her dreams", you're vowing to be uncritical of the situation?

No I won't be critical, they won't be getting married more than once presumably and Pippa, who will probably have the same arrangement, won't be marrying multiple times either, even though that is hooking into the celebrity type thing with Hello, which is what I would expect.

They could then (all four) retire into private life, and, as far as Pippa is concerned, hopefully it will be the end of paps photographing her near pubs, bars and restaurants and shops in the West End every five minutes along with her appearing in the tabs. The British public could have a rest. It would also hopefully be the end of all the Middletons tagging along on semi-Royal occasions like some pseudo extras in a BRF drama.

I've said it before in posts in this argument but I'll repeat it again. Charles Spencer may have been titled and came from a long line of aristocrats but I objected in the 1980's and 90's just as much to his profiting career-wise because of his sister as I do with the Middletons. He was still harping on about Diana when he published his last book. Tom Parker Bowles is upper middle class and went to Eton, but he never grants an interview without mentioning his mother or stepfather or both. If he's that great a cook he could manage to impress without talking about his family!
 
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The British public could have a rest.

You obviously don't speak for the British public. You don't like the Middletons or the Cambridges that is clear but don't try and project your own views on to a country of 70 million people.
 
I was speaking from my point of view. Of course I don't speak for Britain. You feel that the Middletons are wildly popular in the country, I guess. Well, you have your opinion and I have mine.

Have you read the comments online when the tabloids feature Pippa in any articles, Rudolph? It's quite clear the tabloids put in these articles as clickbait, and to be provocative.
 
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No I won't be critical, they won't be getting married more than once presumably and Pippa, who will probably have the same arrangement, won't be marrying multiple times either, even though that is hooking into the celebrity type thing with Hello, which is what I would expect.

They could then (all four) retire into private life, and, as far as Pippa is concerned, hopefully it will be the end of paps photographing her near pubs, bars and restaurants and shops in the West End every five minutes along with her appearing in the tabs. The British public could have a rest. It would also hopefully be the end of all the Middletons tagging along on semi-Royal occasions like some pseudo extras in a BRF drama.

I will remember your Hello! magazine vow, just in case you have a change of heart in the future.;) And there’s no guarantee that Pippa will choose Hello!, she works for Vanity Fair, so they might have an inside edge.

And Donna will not be retiring into private life. That’s what my previous post detailed. She is a public figure, who makes her money being in the public. Her career is writing for magazines, attending events, and making guest appearances on television/movies. That won’t change if she marries James. In fact, she’ll probably be the main bread winner in that relationship.

I’ve never seen the Middletons “tag along” on semi-royal occasions. So I'll assume they will continue their present good behavior.
 
Have you read the comments online when the tabloids feature Pippa in any articles, Rudolph? It's quite clear the tabloids put in these articles as clickbait, and to be provocative.

I don't read the comments because they don't mean anything. Positive or negative. Its anonymous

Remember the Scots voting for independence? Disgruntled Scots would flood twitter and online comments with their bile and we find out later most of them weren't even scottish.

'Donald in Glasgow' was actually Juan in New Mexico. If the comment sections in tabloids represented real life, the world would be a bizarre place.
 
I will remember your Hello! magazine vow, just in case you have a change of heart in the future.;) And there’s no guarantee that Pippa will choose Hello!, she works for Vanity Fair, so they might have an inside edge.

And Donna will not be retiring into private life. That’s what my previous post detailed. She is a public figure, who makes her money being in the public. Her career is writing for magazines, attending events, and making guest appearances on television/movies. That won’t change if she marries James. In fact, she’ll probably be the main bread winner in that relationship.

I’ve never seen the Middletons “tag along” on semi-royal occasions. So I'll assume they will continue their present good behavior.

Whether it's Vanity Fair or Hello I won't care. If Donna starts trading on Royal connections and mentioning the Cambridges in every interview she gives after her marriage I will care, just as I do when Mike Tindall can't shut up about the royals or Tom PB about his mother/stepfather or Earl Spencer about Diana.
 
Well clearly there is only ONE solution. The Middletons just MUST retire and give their business to someone else, possibly James. They certainly couldn't sell it as that would be chasing money and we couldn't have them profiting from the sale because of their association to the BRF. Of course, then everyone would want to know how they are managing to maintain their lifestyle, as they would obviously be on the dole/supported by the British taxpayer.(That's assuming that they don't sell their house (making no profit) and move somewhere in the hinterlands to a small cottage on a dirt road never to be seen or heard from again.):whistling:
 
The Middletons aren't going anywhere, so the conversation is pointless, IMO. Its sad to think some folks could care less about the love and support between Cambridge's and the Middleton's.
 
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I agree that much criticism of the Middletons is due to the snob factor. No one cashed in more than Charles Spencer, but he never got half the criticism the Middletons contend with.


They had their business years before Kate even met William; why shouldn't they sell the same items other similar businesses offer? (That includes royal venues such as the yacht Brittainia, which offers a huge selection of such things).


And it's true the Middletons get much more press than other in-laws but I base that on two things: they are an attractive family, and William is the future king.
The press isn't going to pursue the Tindalls or the Lawrences.

Yes I agree with your post completely, the snob factor and they are physically attractive, close to the monarch. They sell, just as Diana did, beauty and style trump it all, who is dying to see a picture of princess Anne in a thirty year old dress, even though she is famously super hardworking?
 
I agree that much criticism of the Middletons is due to the snob factor. No one cashed in more than Charles Spencer, but he never got half the criticism the Middletons contend with.


They had their business years before Kate even met William; why shouldn't they sell the same items other similar businesses offer? (That includes royal venues such as the yacht Brittainia, which offers a huge selection of such things).


And it's true the Middletons get much more press than other in-laws but I base that on two things: they are an attractive family, and William is the future king.
The press isn't going to pursue the Tindalls or the Lawrences.
^^^Excellent points! Had the internet, digital cameras/phones and non-stop media coverage existed three decades ago, then I do believe we'd have seen even more "clickbait" articles about the Spencers and Fergusons. Now everyone can camp out in public spaces to take photos of the Middletons going about their lives and sell them to the press. :sad:
 
Well, the Middletons will go somewhere eventually, as do we all. Pippa might not be so attractive to paps in her forties or fifties as a married mother and grandmother, James may fade from public view with middle age. People age and are no longer of interest, they die. The monarchy will still endure, hopefully, and I'm holding on to that hope.
 
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We're all holding out hope the hard working Middletons don't bring down the monarchy :p

They've been around for well over a decade and William and Kate have been married for 5 years and the monarchy is at an all time high in the polls.

Never mind the abdication crisis, never mind the war of the Wales, never mind Camilla as 'princess consort'. It will be the Middleton family that causes a nation to rise up and storm the palace with pitch forks, all because the pesky Middletons vacation together and are included in family gatherings during the holidays

Her Majesty better pack her bags
 
Well, the Middletons will go somewhere eventually, as do we all. Pippa might not be so attractive to paps in her forties or fifties as a married mother and grandmother, James may fade from public view with middle age. People age and are no longer of interest, they die. The monarchy will still endure, hopefully, and I'm holding on to that hope.

I'm talking about the Middleton's presence in the Cambridge's lives, because that includes the family appearing together in public and attending some events as a family. This is a very close, loving, and supportive family we're talking about. The medias interest will die out at some point, but that's many years down the line. The Middleton's are the immediate family of the future King and Queen. They're presence will always be there and people shouldn't have any problem with that.


We're all holding out hope the hard working Middletons don't bring down the monarchy :p

They've been around for well over a decade and William and Kate have been married for 5 years and the monarchy is at an all time high in the polls.

Never mind the abdication crisis, never mind the war of the Wales, never mind Camilla as 'princess consort'. It will be the Middleton family that causes a nation to rise up and storm the palace with pitch forks, all because the pesky Middletons vacation together and are included in family gatherings during the holidays

Her Majesty better pack her bags

Exactly, lol.
 
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^ I'm not suggesting there will be a revolt Rudolph, I'm not that idiotic. I'm just hoping for a fading of the media's ever present interest in the Middletons, (who are really not that physically attractive or young or extraordinarily popular) I think it may well happen after Kate's siblings marry, actually. Then the attention can get back to the royals.
 
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^^But you won't get it. The media will continue to care about the Middletons because they're pretty normal and connected to royalty. They're the window into the "mystique" of royalty.

However, you must make a differentiation between tabs, like the DM, whose sole purpose seemingly is to tear people down, and responsible media sources who just report on items of interest without any evidence of prodding by the Middletons.
 
^ I'm not suggesting there will be a revolt Rudolph, I'm not that idiotic. I'm just hoping for a fading of the media's ever present interest in the Middletons, (who are really not that physically attractive or young or extraordinarily popular) I think it may well happen after Kate's siblings marry, actually. Then the attention can get back to the royals.

The royals will always maintain the media said interest. The British royals are the most famous and respected royal families in the world. The Middleton's don't have an interest in taking the interest from the royals, and it's impossible to do anyway. They're just trying to manage to live they're normal lives with the media on their backs.
 
We're all holding out hope the hard working Middletons don't bring down the monarchy :p

They've been around for well over a decade and William and Kate have been married for 5 years and the monarchy is at an all time high in the polls.

Never mind the abdication crisis, never mind the war of the Wales, never mind Camilla as 'princess consort'. It will be the Middleton family that causes a nation to rise up and storm the palace with pitch forks, all because the pesky Middletons vacation together and are included in family gatherings during the holidays

Her Majesty better pack her bags

I can see it now. James running around screaming "Let them eat cake!" :lol:
 
^ I'm not suggesting there will be a revolt Rudolph, I'm not that idiotic. I'm just hoping for a fading of the media's ever present interest in the Middletons, (who are really not that physically attractive or young or extraordinarily popular) I think it may well happen after Kate's siblings marry, actually. Then the attention can get back to the royals.

When has the attention ever left the royals?

What is 'cashing in' though? Making a living? Prince Michael of Kent no doubt gets a boost in his consulting business by being a royal highness and the Queen's cousin, but that doesn't mean he cashes in.

I have no idea if the Middletons business receives a boost or not. I wouldn't be surprised but it doesn't mean they're cashing in

Very true. Are the Queen's own cousins cashing in? Margaret Rhodes wrote a book about her life with the Queen, and Lady Elizabeth Anson has a party planning business and has been interviewed numerous times discussing it (and the royal family). What about Charles and his selling baby items after Charlotte was born? Then we have Mike and Zara with their various ventures and Lady Pamela Hicks and Princess Michael and their books.

It's interesting that the media blasts the Middletons for using their royal connections, but isn't as harsh when it comes to other people close to the royals. I mean, Peter's firm just secured the Queen's birthday street party, yet I've barely seen any accusations of him cashing in.
 
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