League of Strong Women: Carol Middleton is the grandmother of the Prince of Cambridge. The story of Carol Middleton, or how to raise a future queen and a millionaire from daughters Rule number four - games

Carol, who lives with her husband Michael in a mansion in the small town of Bucklebury, 80 km from London, often hosts her two eldest grandchildren, heirs to the throne, at her home. The 63-year-old grandmother said that on Christmas Eve, five-year-old Prince George and three-year-old Princess Charlotte set up their “personal” Christmas trees in the rooms.

According to her, this is done not only because of the common love for the holiday, but also so that the children "can decorate everything on their own."

Although Carol is very close to her daughter and often hosts her at her home, the duchess's parents warned the portal representatives in advance that they would not discuss Kate's relationship with them.

When the mother-to-be of the three heirs to the throne married Princess Diana's eldest son, many accused Carol Middleton of pandering - partly because of this, she decided not to talk about her eldest daughter.

In 1987, the parents of the exemplary Duchess Katherine started their own business selling decorations and cakes for various occasions, which quickly became successful and made a fortune for the suburban housewife. The improvement in their financial situation made it possible to provide Kate, her sister Pippa and brother James with a decent education. Katherine met her future husband while studying at the prestigious Eton.

When asked why the businesswoman continues to run the store and does not retire, Carol replied that she still has a lot of ideas to implement. In addition, the mother of Kate Middleton admitted that she will miss her grandchildren if she decides to travel. The entrepreneur also shared that she has not read about herself in the press or on the Internet for a long time, because the information very rarely turns out to be true.

Most of the interview was devoted to the upcoming holidays. Mrs. Middleton's life's work remains her main passion, so she always tries to come up with something new for everyone. family holidays so that children and adults do not get bored. According to close friends of the Middleton family, Prince William visits his mother-in-law and father-in-law with special trepidation - in his home, warmth and care were not always a priority for caregivers. In return, they tried to meet the spouses no less warmly at Buckingham Palace, although some Windsors, like Prince Philip, did not like it at first.

Carol also commented on her approach to raising her grandchildren. In her opinion, children should sit at the table with adults - of course, from an age when babies are able to sit and eat on their own. Moreover, royal status, according to her, does not give parents the right to refuse to share a meal with their heirs, as was customary in the home of most monarchs.

On December 2, it became known that for the second year in a row, Kate and William will spend holidays with their children at Sandringham Palace, the official residence where members of the royal family traditionally celebrate Christmas in the company of Elizabeth II. However, Carol did not develop this theme.

Sources familiar with the situation told the tabloids that the Dukes of Cambridge decided in this way to put an end to rumors about the discord between the couple and younger brother William and his wife. The relationship between Kate and Meghan Markle never looked too friendly, but this did not stop their husbands from being close people in every sense: they were practically inseparable from the day their mother died. But when other influential women appeared in their lives, it became noticeably more difficult to remain friends.

Speculation about the conflict between the brothers escalated at the end of November 2018, when it became known that the 37-year-old pregnant Duchess of Sussex Megan and the 34-year-old would not live next door to the future king and his wife.

Instead of moving from a small Nottingham cottage to a neighboring spacious 21-room house on the grounds of Kensington Palace, the most popular couple of the year decided to move to another city.

The task of their assistants, who have already completed the renovation in "Apartment 1A" in London, complicates the birth of a child - by the spring of 2019, all 10 rooms of the Frogmore cottage in Windsor should be restored. Previously, this house was occupied by numerous royal assistants. By the way, it was in it that Megan and Harry had an informal party in honor of their wedding on May 19, 2018.

The reason for the quarrel of the heirs to the British throne at the moment is the unwillingness of Prince Harry to admit that his wife cannot have everything she wants. In early December, information appeared on the network that William and Kate were also not going to spend extra time with scandalous relatives and would rather spend a holiday at the house of Kate's parents. However, someone still has to behave like a big one - the official representatives of the couple denied the rumors.

Despite family feuds, Prince William, as the future king, must understand the significance of the Windsors' reputation better than anyone else. Yes, and sources in the palace stubbornly declare that the move of the former Hollywood actress and prince in love to Windsor should not be considered an alarming sign.

Carol Middleton, mother of Duchess Catherine and grandmother of the newborn, was born on 31 January 1955. There is not a hint of aristocracy in her pedigree - Carol's father was a truck driver, and her mother was a simple housewife, so Carol studied at the most ordinary school.

Carol's acquaintance with her husband Michael took place in 1979: they both worked in one of the largest British airlines as stewards. On June 21, 1980, they married and bought a small Victorian house near Berkshire.

Two years after the wedding, on January 9, 1982, Katherine was born, a year and a half later her sister Philippa was born, and after another three and a half years James was born. When her children were young, Carol sincerely tried to fill their lives with joy and constantly organized children's parties, performances, costume parties and performances. It was then that the idea of ​​a family business arose - a company selling props for children's parties. As Carol recalls, at the beginning it was very difficult, the costs barely paid off, but she did not give up and stubbornly promoted her business - by the way, Kate and Pippa were more than once models for T-shirts and carnival costumes.

Over time, by 1995, things went uphill, the business began to bring real income, and Carol and Michael bought a bigger mansion in Berkshire - it was in this house of Kate with a baby.

At the moment, the state of the Middleton family is estimated at millions of pounds and, according to the Western press, they are representatives of the "prosperous middle class."

Carol has always loved fashion and over the years has developed her own style - graceful fitted dresses that are a palm above the knee, well-defined silhouettes and catchy colors. She pays great attention to accessories and carefully selects small everyday bags and clutches, classic shoes with medium heels and is known as a big fan of hats.

By the way, Carol has repeatedly been included in the lists of "the most stylish women Britain" and even Karl Lagerfeld, who called her "gorgeous, full of energy and sexy." Let's discuss her style?

Carol Middleton Style:

On the first weekend in December, the mother of the Duchess of Cambridge gave an exclusive interview to the British edition of The Telegraph, which made a splash among fans of the royal family. Carole Middleton spoke about raising her daughters, and also shared the plans of the royal family for Christmas. ELLE has collected the most interesting fragments of the interview, which are now being discussed by the whole world.

About raising daughters

It is impossible to start raising your child at the age of 13, when something does not suit you in him because of the transitional age. It is important to invest more energy and time in your children, because every child is a big responsibility. I am still included in the life of Pippa and Kate one hundred percent. When preparing for the weddings, we discussed all the details, from the scenery to the musical arrangement, and now, with the advent of grandchildren, we have become even closer.

About Prince William

I have two wonderful sons-in-law, I love both William and James very much, my daughters are very lucky. I used to worry that after marriage, Pippa and Kate would move away from me and completely go to their families, but William and James often initiate our family meetings and holidays themselves, we love spending time together. I am sure that with the bride of James (brother of Pippa and Kate) I will also be lucky.

Everyone knows Middleton. The story of modern Cinderella, who married a prince out of great love, has captivated all the media. This event has become one of the most memorable for the whole world. And what is known about the mother of this "Cinderella", Carol Middleton? Only that she is the grandmother of the prince and princess? It turns out that Carol is not only the mother of the Duchess. She is a strong woman who raised amazing children and built her own business from scratch. It will be discussed in this article.

Carol Middleton in her youth

The mother of the Duchess of Cambridge was born into a poor family. My father worked all his life as a truck driver, and my mother was engaged in housekeeping. Carol Middleton was born on January 31, 1955, and received her education in the most ordinary school. If someone had told her then that years later she would be warmly welcomed in the royal palace, she would have simply laughed.

After school

After training, the girl immediately got a job as a flight attendant. She met her husband Michael here, but he was an air traffic controller and later a pilot.

On June 21, 1980, they got married. The wedding took place in the parish church of Dorney (Buckinghamshire). Their life began, like any married couple: work, saving money for their own home. They soon managed to acquire housing. They bought a house near Bergshire, which was built in the Victorian style.

Two years after the wedding, the first daughter appeared in the family - Kate, who later became the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Elizabeth Mountbatten-Windsor. The baby was not the only child, and soon her sister Philippa appeared, and three years later her brother James.

family joys

Carol Middleton, whose biography is described in our article, was the happiest mother. Since childhood, she dreamed of a big friendly family and her wish came true.

Once upon a time, her parents could not afford to pamper their daughter, constantly busy with household chores and work. The woman did not want to repeat their mistakes, and constantly organized costumed performances and holidays for her children. Children laughed, rejoiced, and this brought happiness to their mother's life.

Carol Middleton says that there is nothing more beautiful than motherhood, the laughter of your own children. She did everything to ensure that the life of their children was happy, so that they did not need anything. And finally, she came up with the idea to go into business.

Carol Middleton: business

The Middleton family decided that it would be ideal to create a business aimed at children. They loved to take care of their kids, Carol herself sewed clothes for them. That is why I decided that it is possible to sew for sale, creating unique gizmos that children and their parents will like.

So Carol Middleton began her production of carnival costumes and props for children's parties. Children often became models for the costumes that their mother created, thereby contributing to the family business.

According to Carol, initially it was unrealistically difficult. The costumes were not as popular as she expected. The funds spent on materials practically did not pay off. But Carol Middleton is not one of those people who give up at the first difficulties. She fought, moved forward, and by 1995 things were going uphill.

Thanks to the mail order business, it was possible to increase the turnover of goods even more. Soon the Middleton family earned funds for a large mansion, and their bank account became a million. Carol and Michael Middleton were able to become successful businessmen, give their children a prestigious education, open up opportunities for them that were once inaccessible to them.

Now the Middletons do not belong to the rich, but to the "prosperous middle class", but this is enough for them. They live better than many, and are not going to stop there. Recently there was news in the press that the duchess was going to become a mother again, and Carol was able to carefully use her daughter's position to flourish her business. She created a line of things "for the smallest princes and princesses." Here you can find everything from diapers to clothes.

Carol style

Carol Middleton has always been a fashionista. Even doing housework, she looks great. Her style is reminiscent of royalty: the length of the skirt is a palm above the knee, well-defined silhouettes, graceful fitted blouses and dresses. The color scheme is always chosen with taste, the tones are combined, even if they are bright and catchy. Carol Middleton also loves a variety of hats. It is difficult to meet this woman without an elegant headdress.

With special trepidation, Carol refers to accessories: she has small everyday handbags, clutches for going out. Middleton's shoes are classic, she loves low heels.

You can be a caring grandmother

Kate and her husband the Duke were due to leave for a week on an official visit to Bhutan and India. For the first time, the Duchess left her children for such a time, and therefore she was very worried. She asked her mother to look after the prince and princess, as she trusts her more than the most first-class nanny.

Carol Middleton was enthusiastic about the assigned mission, because Kate's children are famous for being spoiled tomboys. Grandmother had never had the opportunity to spend so much time with her grandchildren, and this idea seemed wonderful to her.

As they say, she coped well with the request of her daughter. She had a great time with the restless kids, and was very pleased with this change of scenery.

“You need to know two things. Carol is very nervous and never agrees to photos on the couch,” the Telegraph team warned me a day before I was supposed to go to Bucklebury (East Berkshire) to interview her. “When we once asked her to sit on the sofa, she replied:“ Who even takes a photo in this position? ”The journalists continued.

Perhaps that is why a couple of days after filming, when Carol with a soy latte in her hands (she recently switched to veganism) ran late to the headquarters of her Party Pieces empire (founded in 1988), she did not sit down to catch her breath, but immediately drove me on a tour of his domain. It's that simple. I don't know what I expected: not fanfare, of course, but some kind of ceremony. But I don't think she knew what to expect. After all, this is her first interview.

The tour lasts so long that at some point I start to wonder if this is part of her cunning plan to tell everything on the run, before I hit the record button on the recorder. However, it allowed me to get used to Carol's life size: incredibly petite, but looking younger than shown in the photo. And this, if you forgot, is the grandmother of the future king of Great Britain. Possibly the second most famous grandmother in the world.

However, empire, as Carol immediately pointed out, is too big a word for a brick building with many warehouses, which is Party Pieces. It is located in Berkshire, just 15 minutes from the Middletons' home. Inside fairly large warehouses, pop music is heard on the radio, and shelves are crammed with prepackaged party bags, carnival costumes, list tables, paper garlands, rose gold plates for the bride and her bridesmaids, and much, much more. "And that's just a small part," says Carol.

In total, there are about 7000 items of goods on the Party Pieces website. She has seen the popularity of cacti, llamas and ferns come and go. But dinosaurs and princesses will always be in trend. Children's holidays make up the largest part of orders. But now there are party decorations for moms-to-be, 30th and 50th anniversaries.

The truth is that Party Pieces is a serious business that was successful long before the "Kate influence" period, as Carol calls it. As a privately held company, they can't disclose numbers, but during peak periods they take about 4,000 orders per week.

Its strong team of 30 is located in an open workspace. No one gets up when she enters, or generally reacts in any special way to her appearance. Here is the workplace of Carol herself. "It's important to be in the thick of things to know what's going on," she explains. "Some people say, 'A hurricane is coming' when I show up for work."

Many of those Americans who used the services of Party Pieces will be touched when they learn that chickens roamed the place before the Middletons moved. But the decor here is more reminiscent of Ryman (Ikea's British equivalent) than country house Soho style. The beige carpets are a little worn, and there are regular wooden tables and swivel chairs everywhere. In the meeting room, the walls are painted bright yellow.

Carol herself draws attention to herself. She's wearing a khaki Ralph Lauren blazer and black skinny M&S jeans (her legs look incredible). She wears high boots from Russell & Bromley and minimal jewelry: small drop earrings, a pair of gold rings and a thin gold chain with whom she constantly plays. Typical Middleton style, although Carol admitted that she likes dresses more (“but not like this, with a tight silhouette: my figure is still changing”). Maybe the hair also affects this image. She styled and trimmed them a little, and they are much more shiny than in recent photos. The fact that they look darker reminds us even more of how similar they are to Catherine, the future Queen of Great Britain. light tan and natural makeup, which does not attract attention, also fit into her style. But if Kate and Pippa look almost exactly the same when the cameras are off, Carol, at 63, with her clear almond eyes, slightly girlish nervousness and petite build, looks much softer in real life than in the pictures.

But everyone wants to know how she speaks. Does it sound like the usual language of flight attendants (in her 20s she worked on British Airways planes) or not? Well done voice? How about Linda Snell? Nothing like this. The most accurate description is the dialect of the modern British high class. Without accent and admixtures of dialectisms. If we measure it on the BBC's leading scale, I would compare her to Mishal Hussain. In terms of warmth…probably Martha Kearney.

And although she rarely looked into my eyes, she felt comfortable when we talked. She proved to be a knowledgeable and interested person. When we were shooting, she asked each team member to tell a little about themselves and gave advice on how to breastfeeding our makeup artist. I don’t think that this behavior is feigned, but it needs to be “warmed up” (not in terms of temperature, of course; by the way, the office is very comfortable coolness). But she seems to like everything.

It becomes clear why the Middletons remain so close to each other (Katherine texted her before the shooting and wished her luck) and why the daughters, being married adults, are so drawn to the Middleton grandmother. “I love good parties,” she later said, “I am definitely a night owl, not a lark. And I talk a lot. Sometimes my children stop me with a look.”

Of course, we did not come here to discuss her children, and even more so their spouses. Carol and her husband Michael have been known to be quite secretive since about 13 years ago when Katherine started dating the Duke of Cambridge. As Carol says, "Over time, I learned that silence is golden."

But Party Pieces - a company that solves all problems in a complex way - has been around for more than 30 years, "and I decided that I needed to celebrate it somehow," adds Carol. This is a good success story, which is partly books by Katherine Cookson, partly - guides for future businessmen. She borrowed a little of everything, and Laura Tenison, the founder of children's clothing brand JoJo Maman Bébé, served as an example for her. When her company first opened, Carol came to lectures to learn something new.

Carol Goldsmith - her maiden name - from the very beginning decided to thoroughly get down to business. Her father, Ron, was a decorative artist, and her mother, Dorothy (who had the nickname "The Duchess") was a woman of character. “Everyone adored my mom,” Carol said after I recounted a conversation with a local taxi driver who drove me from the local train station to the Party Pieces office, in which he mentioned he was friends with the Duchess.

Ron and Dorothy moved to Berkshire from West London ten years after Carol and Michael. Carol's close relationship with her children and grandchildren mirrors the relationship she had with her "small but friendly" family. Her younger brother, "Uncle Gary", owner of the villa Maison de Bang Bang, about which the press wrote a lot in the year of the wedding of William and Catherine, is also engaged in business.

For six months, Carol lived in a council flat in Ealing. At 16, she left school and got a job with the Prudential insurance company in Holborn, and immediately hated it. "It was one of those huge offices with rows of desks." By that time, the 70s had arrived. But Carol knew she could do better, and she asked Ron if she could go back to school to take her A levels. She chose four subjects: art, economics, English literature and geography, which she wanted to teach. "But my parents didn't have the money to pay for my college education, so I decided to save money and support myself."

As she recounts this, she suddenly remembers that she got a job - she doesn't remember the year it happened - at John Lewis department store. He always set the highest standards in the field of trade, and it was very difficult to get there. Carol is extremely surprised by such a gap in her memory: “God .. How could I forget about this? I don't even remember when it happened. You need to ask Mike.

This woman definitely devotes even less time to introspection than to relaxing on the couch. She cooks a lot. She loves to cook. "I probably have more cookbooks than anyone else." Now her favorite authors are Mary Berry ("however, she uses too much cream") and Amelia Freer. The combination of Britain's favorite baker and trendy nutritionist who helped singer Sam Smith shed more than 20 kilos is just like Carol.

Working at John Lewis seemed like a dream come true, especially after she worked in the glass and china department at Peter Jones, where she first realized she was interested in keeping track of which products sold best. But then she was told that she had to replace the sales assistant. “I thought, ‘Give it up! I'm not going to do this for half a year, it's so boring! So she got a job as a secretary (she still has some shorthand skills) at BEA (before it merged with BOAC to form British Airways in 1974), but the job wasn't very exciting for her, so she improved her French and got a job in the ground personnel.

“It wasn't like it is now,” she explains with a Mrs. Bennett note in her voice. “You had to speak another language. It was almost like being at a university." I think from all this we can conclude that Carol Goldsmith made it clear that she is not going to give in to failure.

The newly formed British Airways trained too many pilots, so they had to be transferred to ground services, and Carol found herself working shoulder to shoulder with them, as with other senior personnel.

Michael Middleton appears, six years older than her, "a little shy", but very handsome ... A year after the wedding, Catherine was born to her; 18 months after her - Pippa, and then the Middletons moved to Jordan for three years, where Michael was organizing air transportation (he was never a pilot). Life in Jordan seems attractive. There was a lot of communication and meetings within the walls of the British Embassy, ​​they helped at home, and the girls went to kindergarten. But, says Carol, "I wasn't sure I wanted to be an immigrant mom, and Mike's job was coming to an end."

By the time they returned to Britain in 1987, Katherine was 4.5 years old, Pippa was 18 months younger and Carol, 32, was pregnant with her third child, James. “I was like, ‘Ohh, new bills. But at the same time, I felt that I had achieved nothing. I got married at 25, gave birth to Katherine at 26…”

Party Pieces was born in the same year as her son, in 1987, with a simple idea of ​​a place where you can buy everything you need for a children's party. Carol visited the fair in Birmingham, where she agreed with suppliers disposable plates and cups, handed out homemade flyers in kindergarten Katherine was in Bucklebury and packing the first orders on the kitchen table.

The business was doing well, although without much success: it was born in the era before the Internet, so orders did not fall on your head one after another. But then she hit upon the idea of ​​advertising through The Red House, a children's book club she signed up for as soon as the children could read, starting with 10,000 flyers and then building up to 100,000. Since then, business has taken off.

She moved from the kitchen table to a small office in nearby Hungerford. Mike made the packing tables himself. “That's when Michael left British Airways and went into business. My mom thought it was a big step because at that point, he probably wouldn't be able to get a job there again, but we saw potential in our company."

When I asked about the problems or troubles she had to face, she gave a slight shrug. “When we started doing this, it turned out that we were almost the only ones who provide such services. Almost from the beginning, we knew that the idea would work. Other mothers helped me with paperwork and everything ... I think it's easier to start a business when you're young. You know less about the pitfalls and have little to lose.”

Listening to Carol's story about those years, her ingenuity and resilience are immediately evident. She considers them very lucky. “Running a business is very simple: you buy things and sell them for a profit.” Mike's decision to quit his job was, she says, their wild card. She makes it clear that the idea for the company is hers. "And it was good idea otherwise I wouldn't have grabbed it." Were there any sleepless nights caused by funding issues? “We never took too many risks. We had to finance the development of the company ourselves,” she replies.

She says she's not nervous, but the interview definitely got her excited. Maybe this ability to remain calm on the surface, when everything is seething inside, was brought up in British Ariways?

When I ask her about how she managed to keep a fledgling company with three young children, especially in the days when working mothers were not as common as they are now, she immediately answers. "It was my business, so I could work on holidays." She speaks directly about it. She understands the difficulties of the situation, but in the end, she is the boss here. “I see how hard it is for the mothers who work for me, but if I need them in their place ...”

A few words about family life: “Mike and I often talk about work in the evenings or even on vacation, but we like it. I, like my children, never felt like a working mother, even though I was one. They grew up with it."

The girls were at school until six in the evening. It's a very long day: those who watched them from afar said that Katherine and Pippa always studied hard at school, and Carol encouraged them to do things that would serve them outside of academia, such as skiing. “James was picked up from school, most often by someone else, brought to the office, and he was with me,” continues Carol, “Most often I would finish by six in the evening, and I did not have to take the long train home. I think work is great. She was a part of my children's lives and still is. They came and helped me. They often posed. Katherine was on the cover of one of the catalogs, blowing out the candles. Later, she did some design work and opened the First Birthdays category. Pippa blogged. I still value their ideas and opinions."

The Middletons never doubted that they would live and do business in Bucklebury. “Do you live in London?” Carol asks me and looks at me sympathetically when I nod. Later, when she takes me to the station, raking up a bunch of papers and plastic cups from the passenger seat of her Range Rover, saving me from having to hail a taxi, she shows me the place where she and Michael fell in love.

She loves this secluded corner - that it is only an hour from London, that she can take four spaniels and one retriever for a walk (James, who lives with them when he is not in London, owns two dogs) and his thorough , Scenic Architecture Of Red Brick Buildings. "We have done right choice when they moved here,” she says. Their first home was “A very nice, semi-detached cottage. We lived there until Kate was 13, so the kids spent most of their childhood there.”

They have moved twice - to Oak Acre, the detached home where Prince William landed his Chinook helicopter in 2008, and to the more secluded seven-bedroom mansion Bucklebury Manor. According to her, she knows how to create comfort. “If you choose your home wisely, you won't have to do much. We practically repeated what we did before. You can't go wrong with Farrow and Ball Cord and Hay (shades of beige).

Based on the photographs, Bucklebury Manor is what agents would call "impressive" - ​​a description that would make Carol tense. She tries to make the house look as natural and ordinary as possible. Later, when we discuss her love of Christmas trees and her efforts to put more of them around the house, including one in her grandchildren's rooms "so they can decorate them themselves," there is one of those long pauses when she thinks about how her completely innocent words sound.

“Sounds like I live in a huge mansion, doesn’t it?” Um, you are the grandmother of the future king. Can't we talk about a mansion?

Perhaps she is right in her caution. Over the years, she, rather than Michael, has been basking in the attention of the Middleton family, which is why many perceive her as a meddlesome upstart. She stopped reading articles about herself online over a year ago. I'm surprised it took her so long. “I thought it was better to know what people think of you. But it didn't change anything. I don’t know exactly what they think of me now,” she says, “but the thing is… I live a completely normal life – most of the time.”

When I ask her where she likes to shop, there is another pause. "How will this come out of my mouth?" I almost expect her to admit that she loves the personal shopping department at Harrods, but only if it's closed to the public. But no. Her favorite place is Peter Jones. “The staff there is great and they all know me.” She also enjoys shopping at the Burford Garden Company in the Cotswolds, where she and Pippa will happily spend the better part of the day.

It's hard to imagine someone as middle class as she is. She even loves Michael McIntyre! She even manages to protest when she later says that Jigsaw is slightly overpriced. She loves shirt dresses from Samantha Sung and the Goat brand, but she buys at sales. She finds the music played at the Selfridges too annoying and only occasionally takes orders from Katherine Walker, but I suspect this is all the Middletons.

Carol knows how to get a good deal when she has to haggle - she's a real businesswoman. She is seriously concerned about the fact that if I take the train to London at another station, I will have to buy another ticket (for 22 pounds).

There are things they spend money on - real estate, children's education, vacations - and things they consider a waste of money. Fashion kind of falls into this category. "Do you think she's important?" she asks me. When I reply that she is an important part of the UK's success, that first impressions are important and that style rather than fashion needs to be developed, she nods. "When you talk about it like this, I understand what you mean."

I think Carol has a touching naivety. I don't think any member of the family, with the possible exception of James (I'm only judging from photographs - I've never met him), even considers himself an iota of cool. She would rather be doing something else than buying clothes. Party Pieces is still her full-time work.

“I don’t think I will quit my job. If I did, I would still have a lot of things to do. I would like to renovate the house. I would love to travel, but then I would miss my grandchildren. No,” she thinks, as if deciding that she is not going to retire, “I still have a billion ideas about what I want to do.”

Translation of The Telegraf article from the administrators of the VK group