She’s an ace on her own tennis court

CAROLE was raised by her dad, Ron Goldsmith, a painter and decorator, and mum Dorothy, in Southall, West London. She had ambitions to be a teacher but was apparently thwarted as there was no money to send her to college. These days, money is no object. She lives in a magnificent £5.5 million home in West Berkshire, thanks to the success of her business, Party Pieces, which was founded 30 years ago when she was pregnant with son James. Somewhere along the way, perhaps when she was based in Jordan with husband Michael, a flight dispatcher, she took up tennis. She plays several times a week on the hard court at their home, is reportedly ‘very competitive’ and prefers grinding out victories in singles matches to the jollity of doubles. She often goes to Wimbledon to watch tennis with Pippa or Kate, and went to dinner with Swiss tennis champ Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka, last year — the Federers are friends of Pippa’s and were guests at her wedding. Both Kate and Pippa are also keen tennis players, and they excelled at the sport while at school. Kate plays at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, West London, and apparently says this is the one sport at which she can beat Prince William. Carole also has a heated swimming pool at her home, and for decades she has been a fan of swimming, which is an excellent exercise for core strength and can burn off around 500 calories an hour. Pippa has been known to go to hydrospinning classes and aqua-aerobics, although it’s not known if Carole has tried either.