Royal Fans Think Carole Middleton Is Similar To This Celeb Momager
"The Crown" reignited interest in the role Carole Middleton reportedly played in Kate Middleton meeting Prince William. After watching Carole plot Kate and William's marriage in Season 6, fans of the Netflix hit show couldn't help by draw comparisons to America's most famous momager, Kris Jenner. While Jenner has no issues admitting to meddling in her children's lives and taking credit for at least some of the Kardashian-Jenner clan's success, Carole's supposed behind-the-scenes swaying power will have to remain in the realm of conjecture.
That being said, the speculation surrounding Carole's momager abilities isn't just social media and internet forums talk. Plenty of royal experts have argued Carole was indeed a big influence on the fateful decisions that put Kate right on William's path, including being the one who convinced Kate to give up her plans of attending the University of Edinburgh and apply to the University of St. Andrews instead. Carole also reportedly guided Kate into spending time in Chile during her gap year, which William also did.
Omid Scobie, the author of the controversial 2023 book, "Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival," believes that Carole largely masterminded the partnership between the Prince and Princess of Wales. "The Middleton strategy involved more than just aristocratic affectation — Carole calculatingly placed Kate right at the center of young Prince William's world," he wrote. While the rumors have been around for a long time, seeing them play out on the small screen made the similarities between the fictional Carole and real-life Jenner almost impossible not to note.
Is being compared to Kris Jenner a bad thing, though?
Social media users were quick to take sides on the Carole Middleton-Kris Jenner debate. Some even ranked her abilities higher than Kris Jenner's, highlighting that she and Michael Middleton ended up with a $7-million home that Prince William bought using the money he inherited from Princess Diana and that she left the taxpayers to cover the debt of her once-successful business, Party Pieces. "Kris Jenner who?" he user wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.
Others argued Carole continued to implement her social-climbing skills even amid Kate Middleton and William's wedding. "Carole Middleton has planned everything. She wanted to use her daughter's big day to promote her other daughter. Then payed [sic] the tabloids to write all those lies about the butt," one user tweeted, referring to how Pippa Middleton shot to recognition partly thanks to her flattering bridesmaid dress and false bum rumors. "This fake Kris Jenner is the definition of opportunist," the user continued.
However, not all agree that comparisons should be taken negatively. For one royal expert, Carole's social ascension is a lot more honorable than Jenner's in a major way. "She didn't build that company on the backs of her children," Kristen Meinzer told Business Insider in December 2023, in an apparent jab at Jenner. Meinzer also argued that the difference in treatment Jenner and Carole receive stem from cultural perspectives. A woman who rose the ranks through hard work? "In America, we celebrate those stories," she said.
Carole Middleton is a self-made millionaire
Carole Middleton's Party Pieces went bankrupt amid the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing her and Michael Middleton to sell it in May 2023. But even after falling victim to the economic crisis, the Middletons are still estimated to be worth about $68 million, according to The U.K. Sun. And none of it is family money. Carole built the business from the ground up, starting it from her home in Berkshire in 1987. She was a multi-millionaire by the time she was 30, her brother Gary Goldsmith, a contestant on "Celebrity Big Brother," said on the show.
Thanks to her successful business, Carole and Michael could afford a prestigious education for their three children, paving the way for their eldest to become Princess of Wales. Because of this, Goldsmith had major issues with how his sister was portrayed in "The Crown," going so far as to suggest Carole should do something about it. "I don't understand why Carole hasn't taken legal action 'cause literally it's that bad," he said on the Daily Mail's "The Crown: Fact or Fiction" podcast.
By many accounts, Carole had always strived to improve the lives of her loved ones, family members have said. But they never saw it as a negative trait. "She's anxious to better herself and to make sure she is financially secure — you only get that when you're born with nothing. She is ambitious, very ambitious for her family. And why not?" one relative told the Daily Mail in 2011.