Carole Middleton, mother of the Duchess of Cambridge and grandmother to future king Prince George, has long been praised for working her way from stewardess to successful entrepreneur with the company Party Pieces. However, ex-employees are now spilling the beans on what went on within the company — and it isn’t pretty.
According to the Daily Mail , just the “sound of her Range Rover pulling up” managed to set the staff “on edge.”
“Often we would have to work late or over the weekend because she hadn’t signed something off until very late. She insisted on signing off everything but often she would disappear for hours. She was once needed desperately to sign something off but no one could get hold of her. I then saw her on the TV at Wimbledon.”
Other employees spoke of receiving 71 emails from Carole in one day, or on occasion having to spend their weekends working because the Middleton matriarch had decided on last-minute changes to the catalog.
“People had to work throughout their weekend putting it together because she insisted on last-minute changes. There was never an apology, she just expected people to do it.”
Multiple ex-employees spoke of the fact that Carole would often snap her fingers at staff, a gesture that was seen as demeaning and rude. Business meetings often degenerated into angry “arguments” where “personal stuff” would be aired, say sources.
“I couldn’t handle it. It got to the point when I was stressed… it was more or less taking me over, really. They kept promising me pay rises but it was all take, never give.”
Though Carole received poor reviews, the same can not be said for her husband, Michael Middleton. The former airplane dispatcher was heralded as a “lovely guy” and even a “father figure.”
He was described by multiple accounts as a mediator, who would both encourage employees with kindly-worded emails and have a “word” with Carole when she clashed with the staff.
The rumors of Carole’s monster boss behavior come at a time when many are whispering about the poor finances of Party Pieces. As The Inquisitr reported, the Middletons fired several staffers, including the company’s web designer, PR agent, and SEO specialist right before Christmas.
The staff was reportedly “shocked” at the unexpected terminations.
However, Richard Kay, a royal reporter for the Daily Mail , tried to set the record straight with an article that claimed that the company had many interested investors and was actually hoping to expand, rather than contract.
Party Pieces was founded in 1987 by Carole and Michael Middleton. The company is said to have brought great success to the couple, enabling them to send their three children to private schools and university, holidays in Mustique, where weekly rentals run about $25,000, and purchase a London apartment worth around $1.5 million for their two daughters in cash.
Carole’s daughter, Kate, is famously the Duchess of Cambridge. Though Carole might not receive high marks as a boss, she has been described as a doting grandmother to Kate and Prince William’s three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis. She has one other grandson, Arthur, who is the son of Pippa Middleton and financier James Matthews.