Carole Middleton uses Marie Antoinette phrase about starving masses about Queen’s Jubilee

Carole Middleton risks raising Royal eyebrows by using Marie Antoinette’s ‘Let them eat cake!’ cry to cash in on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Party Pieces, the company founded and run by the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother, is selling £4.99 ‘Best of British Cupcake Sets’ to celebrate the Monarch’s 70-year reign, featuring the phrase on cake-toppers.

The party paraphernalia firm’s website does not mention the Queen directly, but does boast that each set would make ‘a perfect addition for the Platinum Jubilee’.

Party Pieces, the company founded and run by the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother, is selling £4.99 ‘Best of British Cupcake Sets’ to celebrate the Monarch’s 70-year reign

With planning under way for street parties and family celebrations to mark the milestone, Party Pieces is keen to assure shoppers it can meet the needs of a nation gripped by patriotic pride.

Its website says: ‘Get ready for the Platinum Jubilee and celebrate all things British with our range of red, blue and white party supplies!

‘Our Great Britain party supplies are ideal for any patriotic occasion. From Union Jack bunting to balloons and tableware, our Great Britain party decorations will add the perfect touch.’

But the firm’s inspiration for its decorations may ruffle Royal feathers, given the historical significance of the saying.

The luxury-loving French queen, who was executed by guillotine in 1793, is claimed to have had such little regard for her country’s starving masses that she said ‘Let them eat cake!’ when told they had no bread.

The phrase has become shorthand for the attitudes of an out-of-touch elite, although historians say there is no evidence Marie Antoinette uttered the words.

While the current Party Pieces range may attract comment, the items on sale are unlikely to prompt the ‘tacky’ jibes drawn by the trinkets sold for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee ten years ago.

The phrase ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ has become shorthand for the attitudes of an out-of-touch elite, although historians say there is no evidence Marie Antoinette uttered the words

Then the firm offered state-carriage-shaped vases made out of cardboard, coat-of-arms cups with the words ‘Long Live G & T’ and canape flags featuring crown-wearing corgis.

Royal biographer Margaret Holder said: ‘I don’t think that the Queen will be annoyed about it. She has a sense of humour and the Queen is very fond of Kate.’

Party Pieces, which celebrates its own jubilee – coral or jade – this year, marking 35 years in business, was approached for comment.