Carole Middleton's 3,400-mile house move for daughter Princess Kate | HELLO! (2025)

The Princess of Wales' mother and father, Carole and Michael Middleton, live a wholesome life in Berkshireat an amazing property called Bucklebury Manor. But the Middletons used to have a very different life – in Jordan!

Carole and Michael lived in Amman, Jordan from 1984 to 1986, where Michael worked as a manager for BA, but in 1986 the decision was made to return home for family reasons. At the time they moved, Kate was two years old, and her sister Pippa was just eight months.

"I wasn't convinced I wanted to be an expat mum and Mike's job there was coming to an end," Carole explained to The Telegraph,while reminiscing about her choice to return home.

So, seeking an English upbringing for the children, the Middletons returned to England in September 1986.

Kate's life in Jordan

In an article from UAE's National Newsin 2011, we discovered more about the years the Middletons spent in Jordan.

Hanna Hashweh, chief executive of the Hashweh Corporation travel agency in Amman, visited the Middleton home during their years there, telling the publication thatthe family "lived in a two-storey rented villa, close to a park and the nursery where Kate went. I remember she was a very beautiful little girl."

Carole the matriarch

Family is at the heart of everything Carole does and her now-sold business Party Pieces was created because of her daughter Kate. She had a lightbulb moment after struggling to find appropriate party supplies for her Kate's fifth birthday.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Carole said: "All I could find were basic clown plates," she said. "I realised there was a gap in the market for partyware that wasn't too expensive and which looked good, so I decided to design my own."

Carole's children even got hands on with the company when they could. The mother-of-three previously told Sheer Luxe: "Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I'm very proud of that. Pippa wrote our 'Party Times' blog, James [made] the cakes when he first left school, and Catherine developed our first birthday and baby category."

In summer 2023, Carole's business, Party Pieces went into administration, and it was sold in part to a company called Teddy Tastic Bear Company.

Now, Carole has more time to focus on being a hands-on grandparent. Carole has previously told Good Housekeeping that she loves being involved with the grandchildren. "I want to run down the hills, climb the trees, and go through the tunnel at the playground," she says. "As long as I am able to, that’s what I’ll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, and we go on bike rides."