There’s a semi-annual tradition: rumors and questions about whether Carole and Michael Middleton will receive royal/noble titles when their son in law, Prince William, becomes king. I’ve long believed that the Middletons are the ones circulating the “rumors.” It does feel like the rumors got put on the back burner after Carole and Michael were exposed as frauds and bums who had been lying about their finances and the state of Party Pieces for years and years. But then, magically, the “will the Middletons get a title” rumors reappeared in 2024, during the Princess of Wales’s health crisis. I still say that whatever went down behind the scenes, Carole and Mike negotiated their own re-entry into society, facilitated by the Windsors. Long story short, I actually believe that William will give them titles now.
When Prince William becomes king, Kate Middleton will be queen consort. Does this mean that her middle-class parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, will receive royal titles?
According to experts, it is highly unlikely. Although the former flight attendant and the former pilot are very close to the royal family, very close to William, and very present in the lives of grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, there is no hint of royal titles in their future because they are reserved for those who are born or marry into the royal family.
Instead, titles of nobility are passed down from generation to generation or granted by the reigning monarch. There are rumors in English high society that Carole and Michael, who went out of their way to help William and Kate when the princess was being treated for cancer (and continue to support them now that their daughter’s illness is in remission), deserve to receive the title of earls. However, no such precedent appears in history: family members of a queen consort have never received such an honor.
“No such precedent appears in history…” Modern history, maybe, but “a monarch raising the positions of his in-laws” has been around for centuries. That was one of the biggest reasons why families thrust their daughters into the paths of kings – because it would provide for the whole family, and raise the family’s position. Anyway, as I said, it would not surprise me at all if the 2024 negotiations included some longer-term plans for the Middletons. The Viscount and Viscountess of Bucklebury, perhaps. Baroness of Berkshire! Not a royal title, but a noble title. And definitely some kind of bribe to keep everything rolling.
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