Without British Airways, Kate Middleton Might Never Have Been Born
It’s no wonder Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, loves to travel so much. It turns out it’s in her blood.
According to The Daily Beast, Middleton likely got her penchant for traveling from her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who met when he was working as a flight dispatcher and she as a flight attendant with British Airways in the mid-1970s. The pair then dated, and traveled, for a number of years before marrying on June 21,1980 at the Church of St James in Buckinghamshire.
Just two years later, in 1982, Catherine was born. Two years after that, the Middletons welcomed Kate’s younger sister, Pippa, into the family.
In May of 1984, the Middleton family moved to Amman, Jordan for Michael’s job. There, the Telegraph explained, Carol took her extended maternity leave from British Airways to spend time with her two girls.
In September of 1986 the family returned to England. Just a few months later, in 1987, the family welcomed their youngest child, James, into the brood.
As Town&Country explained, in 1987 Carole left the travel industry behind and founded her company Party Pieces, which started as a small mail order party supply and decoration company. Now that company is estimated to be worth more than $50 million.
“Party Pieces was born the same year as my son James, 1987. After spending 3 years working for British Airways in Jordan, we decided it was time to return to the UK for Catherine's schooling,” Carole wrote on the company’s site. “In January 1987, when I was 6 months pregnant, I decided to take myself off to the Spring Fair in Birmingham where I found a good selection of suppliers. From there the idea evolved.”
And Party Pieces truly became a family business for all of the Middletons. “Over the years all my children have played a huge part in it from modelling for the catalogue to developing new categories for the brand,” Carole added. “James established our personalised cakes, Catherine started the 1st birthday side of the business, and Pippa developed the Party Pieces blog.”
Of course now Catherine is a bit busy, you know, being a princess, but she undoubtedly remains proud of her parents' traveling past and party supplier future.
It’s no wonder Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, loves to travel so much. It turns out it’s in her blood.
According to The Daily Beast, Middleton likely got her penchant for traveling from her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who met when he was working as a flight dispatcher and she as a flight attendant with British Airways in the mid-1970s. The pair then dated, and traveled, for a number of years before marrying on June 21,1980 at the Church of St James in Buckinghamshire.
Just two years later, in 1982, Catherine was born. Two years after that, the Middletons welcomed Kate’s younger sister, Pippa, into the family.
In May of 1984, the Middleton family moved to Amman, Jordan for Michael’s job. There, the Telegraph explained, Carol took her extended maternity leave from British Airways to spend time with her two girls.
In September of 1986 the family returned to England. Just a few months later, in 1987, the family welcomed their youngest child, James, into the brood.
As Town&Country explained, in 1987 Carole left the travel industry behind and founded her company Party Pieces, which started as a small mail order party supply and decoration company. Now that company is estimated to be worth more than $50 million.
“Party Pieces was born the same year as my son James, 1987. After spending 3 years working for British Airways in Jordan, we decided it was time to return to the UK for Catherine's schooling,” Carole wrote on the company’s site. “In January 1987, when I was 6 months pregnant, I decided to take myself off to the Spring Fair in Birmingham where I found a good selection of suppliers. From there the idea evolved.”
And Party Pieces truly became a family business for all of the Middletons. “Over the years all my children have played a huge part in it from modelling for the catalogue to developing new categories for the brand,” Carole added. “James established our personalised cakes, Catherine started the 1st birthday side of the business, and Pippa developed the Party Pieces blog.”
Of course now Catherine is a bit busy, you know, being a princess, but she undoubtedly remains proud of her parents' traveling past and party supplier future.