Kate Middleton Lived Lavishly Before She Married William. Here's How Her Family Made Their Fortune

Although it may seem that Catherine, Princess of Wales, had a very humble upbringing prior to her marriage to William, Prince of Wales, she actually lived quite lavishly before then. For instance, Kate Middleton's family moved into an approximately £1.5 million house when she was a young teenager. She and her siblings also went to an expensive boarding school prior to university. Kate's family had connections to the royal family before her marriage through her mother Carole Middleton's family line. However, according to MailOnline, a good portion of Kate's family's wealth was from her father Michael Middleton's side.

Kate's great-great-great grandfather Frank Lupton was a successful businessman, and he had five children. One of the five was Francis Lupton. Francis was well-off, inheriting what is £1.5 million in today's money after Frank's death. After Francis' wife, Harriet, passed away, he became focused on work. He had five children of his own, but unfortunately, his three sons all died while serving in World War I. 

After Francis' own death, he was survived by his daughters Anne and Olive. Olive Lupton, who became a Middleton by marriage, was Kate's great-grandmother, and she left a total of £2.9 million for her four children. The money Michael inherited from his family isn't the only money the Middleton family had, however.

People have called Carole Middleton "the British Kris Jenner" in part due to her business savvy. When Carole met Michael Middleton, she was a flight attendant at British Airways and he was a flight dispatcher for the same company. Years later, they started a company called Party Pieces that helped grow their family's wealth. When Catherine, Princess of Wales, was turning five years old in 1987, Carole couldn't find good party supplies. She spoke about the conundrum in a Daily Mail interview from 2021.

"All I could find were basic clown plates," Carole told the outlet. "I realised there was a gap in the market for party ware that wasn't too expensive and which looked good, so decided to design my own. I took some prototypes to various High Street retailers and was turned away." So Carole launched Party Pieces from home to sell party bags. It started as a mail-order model before moving to online sales, and in 2021 it was announced it would be sold in-person at certain stores internationally.

Early in the Party Pieces journey, Michael left his British Airways job to work with Carole at the company. Kate Middleton and her siblings all contributed to the business at various times as well.

In a 2022 interview with SheerLuxe, Carole Middleton talked more about how Party Pieces was an all-hands-on-deck situation for the Middleton family. She and Michael Middleton handled all the responsibilities of Party Pieces when it began. Their kids were sometimes part of the process too. "My family have always been my biggest supporters and biggest critics," Carole said. "Their honest feedback has been invaluable in helping to shape the business."

Carole also explained the different responsibilities Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her siblings had with Party Pieces when they got older. She continued, "Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I'm very proud of that. Pippa wrote our 'Party Times' blog, James did the cakes when he first left school and Catherine developed our first birthday and baby category." The business grew and grew over time, but it suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately, Party Pieces had to be sold in 2023 due to some debt issues. Prior to the sale, the company went into administration, which meant they couldn't pay what they needed for the business. Despite that, Carole and Michael's net worth is £54 million as of 2024, according to The U.S. Sun. And of course, William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales, live an insanely lavish life as the future king and queen.