Kate Middleton's Mom Is "Desperately" Trying to Hide Family Debts from Her

"Talk about the business is off limits" as the Princess of Wales undergoes chemotherapy.

As Catherine, Princess of Wales, continues to undergo cancer treatment, the royal family has been rallying behind Kate Middleton in support. Despite facing potentially crippling debt from their business ventures, Middleton's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are actively seeking to keep Kate focused on her recovery—and not their financial woes.

According to British newspaper The Times, Carole and Michael's business, Party Pieces, is on the verge of collapse. The City, the firm handling the company's owed debts, is now "unable to collect the total fees due for the project after incurring costs of more than £260,000 ($329,000)."

The company went into administration last year with Interpath Advisory after owing creditors £2.6 ($3.16) million, but The Times' report revealed that Party Pieces's assets were not enough to cover the cost of advisors' (from The City) time. Interpath, whose employees make a rate of £566 hourly ($717.3), found it will be unable to recoup any of the fees.

While the debt is concerning to Carole, she is reportedly making a point to keep Kate out of it as much as possible. "Carole is desperately trying to keep Catherine fully focused on her recovery,” a source told Us Weekly. “It’s a very worrying time for the family but they are not looking for any assistance from their children and don’t want them to worry ... Catherine and her parents are very close and they always check in with each other, but talk about the business is off limits as she needs to focus on her health.”

Royal commentator Afua Hagan additionally told the outlet that keeping Kate stress-free is a top priority as she undergoes chemotherapy. “She will be pulling out all the stops to shield her daughter from this,” she said. “Party Pieces has collapsed and it’s been devastating for the family, but Carole will be most concerned about Kate’s well-being right now.”

Kate previously worked as a project manager for Party Pieces prior to her wedding to Prince William in 2011, according to TODAY. The first signs of trouble for the business reportedly came during the pandemic in 2021, when the business experienced a loss of £250,000 ($316,000). Soon after, Party Pieces expanded to the United States, but would later fall into the £2.6 ($3.16) million debt after two of its major financial backers pulled out from the business.

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