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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Carole Middleton the ultimate mum raising a future queen?

222 replies

Brightonbabe5 · 02/01/2021 01:11

I'm currently reading Harry & Meghan's book Finding Freedom... Meghan's parents particularly Doria have been applauded for putting such an emphasis on Meghan's education, ensuring she got into an expensive Catholic school & ensuring she worked very hard at school...
Surely the Middleton's should get the same praise but they were ridiculed & accused of being upwardly mobile... Kate & Pippa both attended excellent universities so they obviously worked very hard also..
The other parents in the girkd private school weren't too complimentary about Carole either with snipes about the girls uniforms, sports equipment etc too perfect. I reckon the other parents were jealous.
In my opinion Carole has done an amazing job raising out future queen & should be given more credit...

OP posts:
MamaTookMyEyebrows · 02/01/2021 02:59

Hi Carole waves

Catsup · 02/01/2021 03:03

At the end of the day Carole was a flight attendant. But then again she married well. And who is to call her a cunt for that? Both her girls have also married well, and so frankly had Meghan. Harry has also married well as in no one else seemed fucking keen? Not that surprisingly with his form tbh? So if an American, divorcee was chomping at the bit then fair play her. They're both a couple of numpties, but they suit each other well.

MamaTookMyEyebrows · 02/01/2021 03:08

Meghan didn’t need to marry well. She was wealthy all by herself.

I have two daughters. I really like Kate a lot but I’d far rather my girls accumulated their own wealth than simply “married well”. I just can’t see that as an achievement.

Nikhedonia · 02/01/2021 03:14

Meghan didn’t need to marry well. She was wealthy all by herself.

Depends on what her aspirations were. Yes, she was successful in her own right but she is much more famous and can command a lot more ££ now she is married to PH.

BeakyWinder · 02/01/2021 03:28

If Carole's aim was to marry her kids off well then she smashed it, fair play to her.

When I got pregnant at 16 most people wrote me off - education and career wise. I made it my own personal mission to succeed, set myself goals and worked towards them. I graduated with a 2:1 and 10 years work experience, and was head hunted into a role in April. I'm now on track to be in a director role before dd finishes school. I'm not saying anyone could do what Carole did, but a mixture of determination, right place right time, and some bloody minded focus; it's amazing what you can do..

expat101 · 02/01/2021 03:30

What happened to the half sister's next ''tell all'' book? She seems to have slipped into a pothole compared to her previous rants... did she get a NF deal to shut up?

MamaTookMyEyebrows · 02/01/2021 03:31

I live near St Andrews it’s really not all that.

Nosey people, nice beach, good ice cream. People wandering around in robes a la Harry Potter.

Brightonbabe5 · 02/01/2021 09:06

@JammyGem

DH used to know the Middletons (before Kate actually met William) and had always said that the mother was vile. Her whole life centered around marrying off her children, like a modern Mrs Bennett. Although apparently her husband wasn't much nicer!
I also thought he was supposed to be the nicer one... When the so called locals & neighbours spoke to the press it was always Carol who was accused of being pushy & would only speak to you if you were important enough...
OP posts:
HermioneWeasley · 02/01/2021 09:11

The difference is Kate changed her university course in order to meet William. She had the most expensive education money can buy and has done nothing with her life except wait for a wealthy man to propose.

I’m not a fan of Meghan, but she did carve out a life and career for herself before Harry.

RizzleDrizzle · 02/01/2021 09:12

No

Brightonbabe5 · 02/01/2021 09:19

I really don't believe Kate changed her course to meet William... What were the chances he'd fall for her especially in the aristocratic circles he dated in. I believe at the time it was widely accepted that he might one day marry Jessica Craig..

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DorisDaisyMay · 02/01/2021 09:25

Carole Middleton has done amazingly well. I remember her idea for a catalogue with party bits (Party Pieces) was ridiculed where I live (1984 ish). And she really did take it from idea, to kitchen table, to sustainable and enduring business.

The few occasions I met her, she spoke to me like I was a person, and not a child - and that impacted me back then because I noticed.

Her and her husband wanted their children to have as many opportunities as possible and available - and that is what we all want for our children, to deride them for it is just jealousy.

Brightonbabe5 · 02/01/2021 09:36

DorisDaisyMay, that's nice to hear from someone who has actually met her. I really admire her too.

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OhWhyNot · 02/01/2021 09:39

Carole’s work ethic doesn’t seem to have been passed on to work shy Kate

BloggersBlog · 02/01/2021 09:45

@Brightonbabe5

DorisDaisyMay, that's nice to hear from someone who has actually met her. I really admire her too.
Do you? Well stop hiding your light under a bushel, and let us all know that! Oh, you have, copious times ...
BonnesVacances · 02/01/2021 09:49

I understand what you're trying to say. But the narrative around Meghan is that it was against the odds because the parents weren't millionaires and yet prioritised education. Whereas Kate's is about wealth and opportunism.

Completely agree with your point about the misogyny that means the focus is on Carol Middleton and not the father. I can see that in Meghan's case this would be on Doria as she was a single parent.

flattyres · 02/01/2021 10:17

going to Uni doesn't mean you work hard. Fwiw, Kate never had a proper job... so much for working.

It is easy to go to uni if mummy and daddy can fund it. not sure what is so admirable about it Confused

Rosebel · 02/01/2021 10:17

Carole didn't d herself any favours, she comes across as really pushy and I think she had a lot to do with Kate waiting so long for William.
Michael and James seem alright and don't constantly try and grab the limelight that's why they don't get criticised all the time.
I never understood why the papers wrote so much about Pippa and Carole, who cares?

ChazP · 02/01/2021 10:20

This country hates social mobility.
People should “know their place”. It’s why upper class people like Johnson and Rees-Mogg are lauded and working or middle class people who have worked hard to get where they are are hated and dismissed as the “elite”.

Carole Middleton is a prime example of that (and so was Catherine until Meghan came along for people to hate more). A former flight attendant should not be grandmother to a future King. It’s not the done thing. So rather than praise her for her aspirational parenting, the media (and a lot of the populist-subscribing public) tore her down.

Brightonbabe5 · 02/01/2021 10:25

ChazP you worded it better than me. Carole was born in a council flat, she defied all the social rules this country dictates, rose above it all & now her eldest is the future queen.
That sort of social mobility doesn't happen to everyone who sets out to climb the ladder. She must be made of steel, positivity & confidence.
Obviously Carole was raised to know her worth & to aim high.
I'd love to know more about Michael though as he's nearly portrayed as a bystander to Carol's scheming!

OP posts:
bloodyhairy · 02/01/2021 10:27

Does the book mention anything about Mr Middleton's fathering?
Or is it just the woman who gets it in the neck, as per ...?

GlummyMcGlummerson · 02/01/2021 10:33

As bizarre as I think the gushing is this, let's be fair

  • William and Kate seem genuinely in love. It's not like with his parents where a brood mare was pushed onto him, he picked her.
  • I don't think it's fair to call Kate work shy. She can hardly work in Tesco can she. IIRC she did have a job after Uni but when you destiny is to marry a prince you can only climb so far up the ladder
  • her and William do a lot of PA's and they do them well
  • I really think we are mature enough to realise that Kate changing her course to go to the same Uni as William is probably tabloid constructed poppycock.
  • So what if Carole wanted her kids to marry well. I want mine to marry well. I'm not scared to admit that I want them to marry people who can help them build financial security.
GlummyMcGlummerson · 02/01/2021 10:36

Also William clearly stated he waited so long to propose because he wanted Kate to fully comprehend what a life as a royal meant. That shows huge amounts of sense - unlike his brother who married Meghan, a foreigner (relevant because I believe if you don't grow up in the U.K. you're not as exposed to the more contentious side of the royals and I genuinely believe she had no idea what she was letting herself in for) after 5 minutes and look what happened to them.

Bourbonic · 02/01/2021 10:41

Its all down to perception and personal opinion. I know nothing about either parent as I don't read celebrity gossip.

But one girl was coached to marry a wealthy man and the other was coached to be independent and have her own career. I know where my preference lies.

I'm sure they're both cracking. But why do they need to be compared? Can they not both just be decent parents in their own right? Is one more warmly received than the other because they have a warmer demeanour?

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 02/01/2021 10:41

@bloodyhairy

Does the book mention anything about Mr Middleton's fathering? Or is it just the woman who gets it in the neck, as per ...?
The book doesn't mention Mrs Middleton either. That's why OP is pissed off. Because no one is singing her praises, but Harry and Meghan have written positively about Doria in their own book! The audacity!Hmm