While James Middleton is best known as Princess Catherine’s younger brother, his story goes far beyond his royal connections.
From entrepreneurship and mental health advocacy to his deep love for animals – especially dogs – and his family, James, 37, has carved out his own path.
Here we take a look at the man behind the glamorous veneer of society engagements and entrepreneurial achievements. Let’s dive in.
WHAT DOES JAMES MIDDLETON DO NOW?
Most recently, the youngest Middleton has penned his first memoir – Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life.
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Releasing 24 September 2024, the book is described as “touching, honest and life-affirming” and serves as a “love letter to man’s best friend and a beacon of hope to anyone struggling through hard times.”
The book explores the unbreakable bond and healing potential of the human-animal connection as experienced by James.
And it also divulges fun family secrets like how he knew Prince William was ‘the one’ for his sister Kate Middleton.
HOW JAMES MIDDLETON KNEW PRINCE WILLIAM WAS ‘THE ONE’ FOR HIS SISTER
The newly slated author shared an excerpt of his upcoming memoir, detailing that he knew the Prince was “just right” for his sister when he saw how William reacted to meeting his puppy Ella.
“I have not told him or Catherine about Ella,” he wrote.
“They know I am getting a puppy, but they don’t realise her arrival is imminent.
“So I let Ella announce herself; place her on the doorstep and allow her to make her entrance. She bounds into the kitchen to introduce herself to Catherine and William.”
And William, reportedly, smiled when he met her, and told James that he could tell he had something to share as he sounded “a bit sheepish about something” when he phoned.
James goes on to write that he had to put the Prince through his paces when they first met. “Did he deserve my sister? He had to earn my trust.”
He also admitted that it helped greatly that William loved Ella and was completely “smitten” by her.
It turns out Prince William had a black lab called Widgeon growing up who had, sadly, passed away. James believes “William was pining for a dog when Ella was around.”
Upon hearing the news that William and Catherine were going to get married, James wrote: ”William has been in our lives for so long and we’ve grown very fond of him. He feels like our older brother and he and Catherine are so clearly a good fit, just right for each other.
“As we digest the news, I know I haven’t yet experienced the love they feel for each other myself. But I’m hoping one day I will.”
Which leads beautifully into the next question…
DID JAMES MIDDLETON HAVE A BABY?
In September 2021, James married financial analyst and, importantly, dog lover Alizee Thevenet in France.
The two had begun dating in 2018 – seven years after William and Catherine wed – and were engaged just 10 months after meeting.
The lovebirds welcomed their first child, a boy named Inigo Middleton, in fall 2023. James shared the happy news to his Instagram account alongside a few sweet snaps of his newborn.
He wrote: “He has been in our lives for just a few weeks but they have been the most special of my life getting to know our beautiful baby boy,” James wrote. “No matter how prepared I thought I was…I was not prepared for the overwhelming emotion of meeting Inigo for the first time and the love for my darling Alizée as we became three.
“We would like to thank the wonderful team at Basingstoke hospital, from the very first scan to walking out the front door for the first time as three, we couldn’t have felt more supported and looked after throughout so thank you NHS.”
JAMES MIDDLETON MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES
While James comes from a family that keeps much of their private lives under wraps, he has been vocal about his struggles with mental health.
He publicly shared his experience with depression in 2019, writing a deeply personal essay in The Daily Mail about how he struggled to get out of bed and felt disconnected from the world.
James, who has shared that he has dyslexia and ADD (attention deficit disorder), has further opened up about his struggles in his new memoir.
His heartbreaking admission details one of the darkest periods of his life when he considered “jumping from the rooftop” of a London building.
Unfortunately, these types of thoughts were not foreign to James. He recalled numerous times when he would “contemplate ways of dying”. However, the night he thought of jumping in 2017, James found himself “utterly exhausted”.
“I feel misunderstood; a complete failure,” he wrote.
“I wouldn’t wish the sense of worthlessness and desperation, the isolation and loneliness, on my worst enemy. I think I’m going crazy.
“Yet I know I am privileged; fortunate, too, to have a loving and close-knit family – Mum and Dad, my sisters, Catherine and Pippa, their husbands, William and James – but I push them all away.
“I do not answer their phone calls. Emails remain ignored. Invitations to visit go unheeded.
“I hide behind a double-locked door, unreachable.”
Thinking back to being on the roof of a London building with only his beloved dog Ella, James wrote: “I wonder, if I jump, could it possibly be construed as a tragic accident?
“That way my family, although they would grieve desperately, would be spared the added torture of knowing that I had ended my life by suicide.”
ELLA SAVED HIS LIFE
But looking at his dog Ella, sparked a new, more hopeful fate – one that, ultimately, saved his life.
“I glance down the ladder again. Ella has not moved. Her brown eyes are still staring intently at me, soulful and pleading, and as my gaze locks on hers again, my brain quietens.
“In that instant I know I will not jump. What would happen to Ella if I died? How long would she wait alone in the flat for someone to find her?
“I haul myself back from the brink, slowly climb down the ladder and stroke Ella’s silky head.
“She is the reason I do not take that fatal leap. She is Ella, the dog who saved my life.”
Ella passed away in January 2023 at age 15. James shared that sad news on his Instagram, alongside a black-and-white image of her, writing: “It is with great sadness that I announce my dear Ella has passed away
“For 15 years Ella has been at my side, from my darkest days to my happiest. I’m going to miss her terribly
“Ella had a very short illness, she slipped away in my arms at home and is now buried in the garden alongside Tilly. I took this picture just a few hours before she died
“I’m just about holding it together to write this, and despite the fact I knew this day was coming, it doesn’t make it any easier
“Goodnight my darling Ella, Alizee and the dogs will take good care of me”.
CAPTION:
James is still a proud ‘dog dad’ with many furry babies to keep him busy!
JAMES MIDDLETON THE ENTREPRENEUR
More than a famous dog lover, James is quite the entrepreneur. After working for his family’s party-planning business, he decided to go out on his own.
James launched the “Cake Kit Company”, selling kits that made quick work of creating themed cakes. However, the company dissolved in 2015.
His drive didn’t end there. Instead, he launched Boomf, a company that personalises marshmallows and greeting cards with photos. James sold the company in 2022.
In 2020, the serial entrepreneur started Ella & Co – a dog-food order company. Sweetly, James renamed the business to James & Ella after his beloved pup passed away. He shared the news on social media, writing, “James & Ella: a new chapter 📖,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Well, since Ella passed away at the beginning of the year, I’ve spent a long time reflecting on how much she transformed my life. It was a start of a new chapter without her, but I wanted to recognise the incredible bond we had, and to signify the symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs.
“Through James & Ella, I’ll be carrying on the legacy of the most incredible dog I ever had the pleasure of caring for, as she cared for me, with lots of exciting news to share later this year…”
