Catherine's supportive sister act
A deep dive into her relationship with James Middleton
Hi Royal Clubbers,
It's Ainhoa here with my weekly newsletter, sending it out a little earlier than normal.
This week I wanted to focus on the Princess of Wales' younger brother, James Middleton, because it's a big week for the entrepreneur-turned-author. He has written his debut book, Meet Ella: The Dog who Saved my Life, and ahead of its Thursday release, he sat down for an exclusive chat with HELLO!
Highlights from his open and raw interview, which touched on all sorts of topics from his struggles with depression to the joys of fatherhood, plus how his close-knit family support each other through testing times, can be read below.
Supportive siblings
But first, I wanted to do a quick dive into James' relationship with his older sister Catherine. He has typically given few interviews in the past and said even fewer words on his royal sibling, but throughout Catherine's cancer journey, he has been a bit more vocal on social media.
When the Princess announced she was having preventative chemotherapy, James shared a childhood photo of the pair standing in front of a mountain and poignantly wrote: "Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too." And when Catherine released her heartfelt video on Instagram this month to announce her course of chemotherapy had ended, James replied, writing: "I couldn't be more proud."
Despite their private relationship – they're rarely photographed in public together – it's clear James, 37, and Catherine, 42, are each other's biggest cheerleaders, in a similar vein that Catherine and her younger sister Pippa are. By the way, I wrote all about the two sisters' tight bond in a previous newsletter.
James has been a key supporter at significant royal events, showing just how valued he is, including attending the King's coronation in 2023 and the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Party at the Palace the year before. He and his wife Alizée were also on hand to support Catherine at her inaugural 2021 carol concert, Together at Christmas, which the Princess spearheaded and hosted at Westminster Abbey.
And at William and Catherine's royal wedding in 2011, James was given the honour of delivering a Bible reading in front of the 1,900-strong congregation – no easy feat for someone with dyslexia. In his new book, he writes: "A reading? I thought they were joking. My mind raced back to school and my stumbling, incoherent efforts to read in front of the class. What were they thinking? Being dyslexic, reading is my least favourite occupation." James recalled asking them, "Seriously?" "Seriously," they replied. "If that was what my sister and William wanted, then of course I'd do my best not to let them down."
James practised the reading for months, taking it everywhere with him, and on the day, delivered it so successfully that he received hundreds of messages and invitations to read lessons at churches around the globe.
Battle with depression
His new book is a tender tale of his relationship with his cocker spaniel Ella, who came into his life when he was 20, and the adventures they encountered along the way, including trips to the Scottish mountainsides, royal weddings, and meeting his future wife Alizée, with whom he now shares one-year-old son Inigo. But its also a story of survival as he opens up about suffering from clinical depression and feeling suicidal. "Only Ella gave me cause to keep living," he writes.
It is far from the first time James has spoken out about his mental illness. In a previous interview with The Telegraph, he praised his royal sister for supporting him in his recovery, revealing how his whole family attended cognitive behavioural therapy sessions with him. "That was so important because that helped them understand me and how my mind was working. And I think the way the therapy helped me was that I didn't need my family to say, 'What can we do?' The only thing they could do was just come to some of the therapy sessions to start to understand."
While Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Catherine's 2016 Heads Together was always positioned as a joint mental health initiative from the former royal trio, it was Catherine who was credited for coming up with the campaign, thanks to her genuine passion in the sphere, and now we know, first-hand experience of having a loved one struggle with their mental health.
"It was Catherine who first realised that all three of us were working on mental health in our individual areas of focus," Prince William said in a speech on World Mental Health Day. "She had seen that at the core of adult issues like addiction and family breakdown, unresolved childhood mental health issues were often part of the problem."
Shared canine love
James cannot make it clearer that he owes his life to his late pet Ella, who sadly died last year, and just how much of a dog-lover he is. It's something that runs in the family. He has bred six litters of puppies and has given Catherine two of Ella's relatives – Lupo, from her first litter in 2011, who died at the age of nine, and more recently Orla. Pippa, meanwhile, is the proud owner of black spaniel Rafa.
When asked whether he believes Orla has helped the Waleses through Catherine's cancer treatment, he told HELLO!: "I know how much the dogs, for me, have helped in taking your mind off something. So, I'm certain that for them, Orla is doing her job in supporting her family."
Highlights from James' interview with HELLO!
And now for those highlights I promised you…