Northern breeding underpins Kate’s adventure

Michael Middleton was born in Leeds. Ancestry buffs give him a clear line back to one of Yorkshire’s most famous soldiers, Sir Thomas Fairfax. Born at Denton Hall, near Otley, Sir Thomas led troops for King Charles I against the Scots in 1639-40 and was knighted for his efforts, then turned against the King to support the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. He and his wife Anne are buried at Bilborough, near York.

Michael’s wife Carole looked effortlessly regal yesterday, the mother of the bride wore a Catherine Walker sky blue silk shantung “Sydney” day dress with short pleated sleeves and pleated pockets.

Over that she wore a sky blue wool crepe coatdress with matching satin piping and passementerie – braid trimming – at the waist and cuffs and a hat by Berkshire-based Jane Corbett.

Carole had a grandfather who was a Durham miner and she started life in a council flat in Southall, London, where her father was a builder.

One of her Durham cousins, Peter Beedle, owner of Beedle’s Chippy in Bishop Auckland, was frying as usual yesterday.

He said: “Kate’s grandmother Dorothy is my mum Shirley’s cousin. We’ve got the bunting and balloons out. We’ve got chocolates on the side. We’ve got Middleton’s Mushy peas, Kate’s Cod and Buck House Burgers. I drew the line at getting some skate in.”

Mr Beedle learned he was related to Kate four years ago when a newspaper approached his mother Shirley to ask if she knew she was related to the Middletons.

Pete and Kate share great-grandparents Thomas Temple and Elizabeth Myers and generations of Kate’s family were born and raised in the County Durham former pit town of Hetton-le-Hole.

By the time Kate was born, Carole Middleton was a British Airways air hostess and her husband was a British Airways manager. They bought a big house in one of the leafiest corners of Berkshire and Mrs Middleton started a party supplies business to keep herself busy while the children were growing up. It became an internet business and made a good contribution to the £30m Mr and Mrs Middleton are said to be worth.

Partypieces.co.uk was employing eight people before the Royal engagement doubled the number of hits it got. Now the staff is about 30. While Mr and Mrs Middleton were learning how to address the Queen as a very close in-law, their staff were busy selling corgi cake toppers and plastic hats emblazoned with Union Flags.