Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Dough! Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton reveals childhood baking disasters and other family secrets

By Arthur Martin

Childhood memories: Kate Middleton has opened her heart in an intimate interview which appears in a blog on her family's business website


Kate Middleton is fiercely protective of her privacy. Just ask the photographers hit with a £10,000 damages bill for taking pictures of her playing tennis on a private holiday.

But it seems Prince William's princess-in-waiting is not always so keen to keep her life under wraps.

Those who logged on to her family's Party Pieces website this month were given a rather generous glimpse into Miss Middleton's childhood as she enthusiastically recalled some of her most precious memories.

All in the name of business, of course. On the website, Kate from Party Pieces, as she called herself, told how she used to love dressing up as a clown in giant dungarees and playing musical statues as a child because she has 'always been a keen dancer'.

Asked what she thought made a good party bag, she replied: 'Any-thing that Mummy would normally never allow me to have. They were always such a treat.'

The interview appeared in a blog on the family's partyware firm website but it was removed earlier this week.

Miss Middleton's ideas for the perfect party were printed next to a smiling photograph of herself.

She recommended a 'cooking party' for girls, involving cupcakes and cookies, and a 'camping party' for boys as 'a great way to get Daddies involved'.

The Prince's girlfriend described music as a 'great ice breaker for any party' and listed her best party memory as the 'amazing white rabbit marshmallow cake that Mummy made when I was seven'.

And she confessed she once had a 'cake disaster' during her brother's birthday when she forgot to add the self-raising flour and was forced to turn the flat sponge into a trifle cake.

Her tips for parents planning a child's party included hiding the party bags until the end so the children didn't rummage through them.


Royal party: Kate Middleton (right) revealed all the vital ingredients of a good party

The Party Pieces business was established by Miss Middleton's mother Carole in 1987.


Carole Middleton: Kate referred to her as 'Mummy' on the website


Before working for the firm, which is based close to the family home in Berkshire, Miss Middleton was an accessories buyer for the junior fashion range at Jigsaw.

Her decision to speak publicly about her family life came after a string of recent measures to defend her privacy.

Earlier this month Miss Middleton, 28, won a controversial claim for alleged invasion of privacy after a photographer took pictures of her playing tennis during a private holiday in Cornwall.

She is understood to have received at least £10,000 in damages, plus substantial legal costs, after threatening to sue a photographer and two British picture agencies over pictures taken of her at Christmas. The shots were never published in Britain.

Her interview on the Party Pieces website was removed on Monday as were interviews with her siblings, Pippa, 26, and James, 22.

St James's Palace and Party Pieces declined to comment.


Family flavour: The Middleton's website, Party Pieces


source: dailymail