The royal wedding

When the last of the bunting is taken down, the marriage of William Wales and Catherine Middleton may be remembered not so much as a magical fairytale, but as a hard-edged business case study.

Think of the bride’s mother, Carole, as the chief executive of Middleton Inc. Her first smart decision was to marry up. Partnering with Michael, a scion of very minor gentry, gave this descendant of labourers, messengers and clerks some cash to start a business, and a drop of blue blood. Heavy expenditure on Marlborough College fees and a flat in Chelsea could then be capitalised in the asset values of the three children, and of Kate in particular.

Not only did Middleton mère dispatch her eldest to the same university as the young Prince, she even sent her to Chile beforehand, months after William, to give them something to talk about. After graduation she kept Kate in expensive outfits and – with the help of siblings Pippa and James, events caterer and upscale cake-maker, respectively – in the right sort of circles. There were a few PR stumbles along the way (hello, rogue uncle Gary) but the “waity Katie” campaign was otherwise superbly handled.

The Wales/Middleton merger is truly transformational for the family stock. Web searches for Party Pieces, the parents’ mail-order business, have soared since November’s engagement, while neither sibling seems shy of trading off connections with royalty. Even if – heaven forbid – the marriage were to founder, the Duchess of Cambridge and her entourage should be welcomed into the international party set so beloved of William’s late mother. This is a union of souls made possible by textbook planning: spotting an opening, then pursuing it with resourcefulness and determination. It belongs in the McKinsey Quarterly as much as in Debrett’s.

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