For years now, I’ve been on the Boomf beat. Boomf is James Middleton’s marshmallow company – it started out as a company which prints Instagram photos onto high-quality marshmallows, although now Boomf also does other edible specialties, some party stuff and random tchotchkes. Boomf has lost millions of dollars in investment through James Middleton’s mismanagement and sh-tty ideas, and James barely even operates Boomf at this point. Ever since he was diagnosed with ADD and depression, he seems to largely delegate the duties of Boomf. This will probably be his defense if anyone asks more questions about those Nazi marshmallows, or about the Boomf email which was sent out following the birth of Private Archie Harrison.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s brother James Middleton has made a cringeworthy attempt to cash in on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new son Archie. James, 32, sent regular customers of his gift company Boomf an email full of jokes and references to Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor just three days after the baby was born, in an attempt to sell his products.
The email, to thousands of customers, was titled: ‘Boy oh boy – that was a surprise!’ and included baby ‘emojis’ in the title. It went on: ‘It’s a royally exciting week to become a new parent (wink wink). Every parent deserves to have their little prince or princess showered in colourful confetti. Celebrate and congratulate them by sending something a little bit different (we kindly recommend popping over and sweeping up the confetti whilst everyone is sleeping though). P.S Don’t worry, no babies were harmed in the making of this video, we promise!’
The email is illustrated with a short video clip of some of the confetti products and a mother with two young children. The email went on to list products such as the ‘Bomb of Joy’ which erupts with confetti once the recipient opens the envelope. It was captioned: ‘Just like a new baby, our Boomf Bomb will bring an explosion of joy, laughter and let’s face it, a tiny bit of fear.’ Other items advertised included personalised marshmallows, 3D ‘flutter cards’ and fold-up animal characters. The email is not signed personally by James, but he is the founder and owner of Boomf, and calls himself ‘Wonka in chief’.
Royal commentators felt the email was in poor taste. Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said: ‘Everybody cashes in but probably it’s not very good manners for a family member to do it.’
Boomf has struggled financially since it was founded in 2013, posting losses of £1 million a year over the past three years. Last month, James put his Boomf delivery tricycle on eBay for £1,650. He also took a job at his brother-in-law James Matthews’s family hotel in Scotland last year.
It may well have made for an awkward moment when Prince Harry and James rubbed shoulders yesterday at Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding, but last night James said: ‘It’s a bit far fetched to say we are cashing in – I’d say more celebrating!’
I kind of wonder if everyone in the Middleton family AND the Windsor family just treat James like an idiot who will never redeem himself. You know what I mean? Like, he’s dumb and harmless and yeah, he f–ks up sometimes and makes marshmallows for Nazis and tries to profit from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby, but also… it’s *just* James. It would be a bigger deal if anyone expected him to be anything other than a giant f–kup. They expect him to be this unapologetically tacky.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.
Colour me not surprised, the Middletons are just the posh Markles. And why does that company still exist, considering the amount of money it’s lost.
Also I thought James pretty much has nothing to do with the day to day running of it?
Even the Markles haven’t sunk this low. When the Markles can look down on you, you’re REALLY common.
“Even the Markles haven’t sunk this low.”
you think?
Even the Markles haven’t sunk this low – you’re kidding, right?
he is so thirsty for attention, it is embarrassing
He really is, but this lot never miss an opportunity for self-promotion by exploiting their royal connection.
Pippa is still out for attention too, I would think once her life objective (marrying a rich guy whose parents own big chunks of St Barts and moving into a Chelsea home worth millions upon millions) was achieved, she would pipe down a bit. But she’s still out there writing columns for Waitrose magazine!
As does Carole, Mike is the only one in the family who shies away from the media and public attention.
James is a jackass. Nothing more really needs to be said.
Ah, so this is why you were spelling “tchotchkes” lol.
I’m reading this and just cringing for him. First off, the company sells envelopes that explode with confetti when you open them? That sounds like hell on earth.
Second, he put his Boomf delivery tricycle on ebay? Lets just unpack that one a little bit. He had a delivery tricycle. And he put it on ebay? I’m just dying.
I will gave James some credit because it does sound like he’s trying to find his way and do his thing and doesn’t want to just go work at Party Pieces, but I cant quite figure out why the Middleton children don’t do that. I know Pippa did their blog or whatever, but if you were Carole and mike, why wouldn’t you bring James into the company more, teach him how its run, so you can leave it to him when you’re ready to retire? Unless they are really going to sell it so they know they cant leave it to him? Or maybe James hates party supplies. Either way – at least he’s trying?
James strikes me as someone who has ideas and runs with them without thinking them through in practical and realistic terms.
The exploding envelopes, hmm I wonder if JK Rowling knows he pinched her ideas. It sounds soo Harry Potter.
I assumed it was a reprise of the 90’s fad of putting confetti into cards and annoying people who then had to clean up that s…tuff. The high-end techno-cards were gifted with tinny musical segments.
If Boomf cards came with mini cleaning robots, I’d invest.
Yup. Not thinking. I had a relative who would do that, fill a card with glitter so when you opened the envelope and took it out, glitter would go everywhere. And glitter is insanely difficult to get off of anything. She honestly thought that this experience would be fun and brighten someone’s day.
This is a bigggg thing – has been for years. I didn’t know his company did it. But there’s a huge market for confetti envelopes that you can send to your ‘enemies’ haha.
I’ve looked into it. Glitter bombs/confetti bombs. But I have way too high of a guilt drive to actually do it. I’d feel like garbage if I thought someone had their cornea get scratched up from it, even if I hated them.
after seeing what he’s done at boomf, his parents may not trust him with their own company.
^^^ This .^^^
I think there are many companies that try to profit from the birth of royal babies and use them in their marketing campaigns.
Yeah, this just seems like another British company using the royal baby as marketing but it just so happens it’s owned by the baby’s father’s, brother’s, brother in law. I fail to see how James’ connection to the royal family benefits this marketing campaign. It’s not like he promised exclusive pictures or information.
Nope. Because if Meghan had a brother doing this there would be hell to pay.
Let me be clear, from the Ragland side of the family.
That’s exactly what i was thinking – if any of Meghan’s Ragland relatives did this, there would be a huge uproar…but pretty, rich, white James has a company that prints out Nazi marshmallows and all he has to do is post some cute dog photos to Insta and it’s forgotten.
I would like to speak in James’ defence as fellow sufferer of adult ADHD. Bad decision making is a part of this and I’ve done my share. Walked away from good jobs, good relationships to go to a poorly thought out plan. Now I just make sure my big decisions are sourced out. I seek advice from friends who are shockingly stable and I have a waiting period before I act on my own “wonderful” ideas. Awareness of this has made all the difference for me.
But whoever okayed this email was tacky.
@Elizabeth1992 – totally get where you’re coming from. the OG comment and mine were not so much a knock on James himself but the fact that he and the Mids (and most rich, white people in general) get away with alot of behaviors that would never be accepted by non-posh, non-white folks. It is a bit frustrating to watch happen over and over again…esp with what has been going on with Meghan and the media.
@Elizabeth1992, I have ADHD also. Yeah, I’m impulsive, but I’m also not someone who gets to live off of my parents wealth and a trust fund that enables me to do whatever the fck I want with very little consequences for failing repeatedly and sinking millions of dollars into an ill thought out company that sells tired kitsch. There are much greater costs to me when I fail to get a handle on my ADHD, because there are simply not as many people who are inclined to view my symptoms as sympathetically as they would when a rich, white man exhibits them.
None of the Middleton kids are good at working, someone writing about pippas party planning book years ago described them well, because they seem to be more accustomed to being entertained themselves than doing the entertaining
I question whether Carole encouraged them to be that way because it kept them dependent on her long past childhood. Not deliberately or consciously but when all three kids are smart enough and capable of hard work when it comes to sports but are all work shy and somewhat incompetent, there’s something there.
James reminds me of a friend’s son who is the youngest after two super charged ambitious daughters. David is not stupid but he was laid back and I think that coming up behind his over achieving sisters (one attended the Sorbonne in Paris FFS before going on to get an MBA) left him with no way to stand out in the crowd of his family. There was no way to outshine them and earn his own little patch of grass. I think James Middleton has the same problem. And he’s too young to appreciate that just being himself is okay.
Carole wants to be posh. Very rarely do posh people do anything socially useful with their lives these days. Very few aristo doctors, lawyers, academics. It’s the height of privilege to spend your life selling expensive marshmallows, an absolute useless endeavor. It means you don’t have to do anything else.
The thing is all three Middleton kids are like this. Even Pippa, who seems the most together of the three wasted the opportunities she got -like the book deal. James is just the worst case. Kate seems to be slowly pulling herself out of it but until recently, Carole was running her households for her.
Also, Pippa clearly has some kind of deal with Kate Spade. Why is it so hard for her to pull off being an influencer?
Marshmallow mogul. Is there a demand for this type of confectionery? They are very cheap and easy to make.
His girlfriend’s dress is beautiful. That’s all I got.
it’s h&m!
I read an article about something like this. Rich, entitled people get a pass for being dumb or clueless. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it’s true. Take James Middleton, for example. If he were doing these dumb things as a middling executive of a company that was continually squandering investments, people would want to more readily rake him over the coals. I do see your point that he’s just kind of the “consummate family idiot,” but I hope people aren’t giving him too much a pass on the incredibly irresponsible and tone deaf things he seems to continue to do.
I went to law school with many kids whose dads were rich successful lawyers. The kids were living at home and having someone pack their lunch in a paper bag (no lies). None of them had jobs before they finished law school (not in high school or college). So I think it was learned helplessness. These kids were responsible for NOTHING in their lives. So yes, they were pretty stupid. I wonder if this is what happened with James Middleton. His parents thought giving him a rich entitled life was easier than actually parenting him into a responsible, respectable young man. Maybe it’s an age thing – I was the last of four kids born just before my parents’ 20th wedding anniversary and I can tell you what I got was far from their best effort. They were just too tired.
Carole is a helicopter mother, she even admits to this in one of her interviews last year. Given that James is the youngest and her only son I can imagine that she helicoptered over him more so than with everyone else. He has always given off a vibe of having others do everything for him.
I like him better when he’s hanging out with his dogs.
Same. Those dogs are stunners.
I will say I DID see some random marketing tying in with the birth of Archie during that time. It’s definitely weirder because he’s tied into this family – but I seem to recall a photo printing company, or something like that using the whole “print photos of your own little prince or princess” type thing.
Meanwhile, his ladyfriend’s outfit is fantastic.
He should really go to the states and get a degree in recreation management (vein he could handle that) then go to work for a resort. He would have cachet and could certainly handle leading hikes and after hours schmoozing.
I think James might become this generation’s Uncle Gary
Which is embarrassing as is because James has no money.
nah, messy personal life aside, uncle gary is a success, that’s where a lot of middleton money came from.
No, Uncle Gary actually made money & contributed to his relatives’ businesses & endeavors because he was a smart enough businessman to make a lot of money.
James is an embarassment. Somebody actually gave him money to blow on the marshmallow flop. Wonder how long Pip’s husband will continue to subsidize James by giving him a job. How many times can he f** *p before he gets sent to St. Barts to be in charge of the pool towels?
He gives me serial killer vibes.
So cringeworthy. Hey Carole Middleton, your toddler needs a talking-to.
He is such a mess. Aww. No wonder he went to work at the Scottish castle. He can sort of hide there.
He got a pass for MAKING MARSHMALLOWS FOR NAZIS. That ain’t cute. This ain’t cute, either. God, I hate double standards. Because if anyone in Meghan’s circle did this, not even a Ragland family member, but even if a random person who attended high school at the same time she did, someone she didn’t even know, sent an email like this, the British Press would blame HER for it.
He should never have gotten a pass for that. When the company you own is sending off hate symbols by special order, then it’s your fault, either intentionally or through negligence. It’s the epitome of white privilege that he got away with this without any real repercussions. Prior to that he seemed to be a useless dilettante, but this was another level and the media covered for him.
You know it yesterday someone accused Meghan and Harry of using their social media to promote one their friend charity . People are always accusing Meghan of self promotion and but the moment of the Middleton actually use their royal connections to sell a products it’s ok it’s tacky and its not ok . The Middleton can get away with using their connections to the royal family but if one of Meghan friends mentioned her in a positively way all hell break loose people are accused her friends of self promotion but James does it . And it’s excuses away as well he doesn’t mean anything by it . It’s a completely double standard Meghan friends say some nice about her in a special that she doesn’t have anything to do with it’s Meghan is playing with fire she self promotion it’s not royal but James Middleton use the birth of Harry and Meghan baby Archie to promote his failing business which by the way send nazi items it’s ok it’s sweep under the rug because James Middleton is dealing with issues .
Um that was me and it wasn’t an accusation, it was a fact. In an Instagram post talking about mental health and the charities they support that work with people having mental health issues, they included a for-profit yoga classes (which are only offered in certain cities. In the US.) that just so happens to be run by a friend of Meghan’s. It’s literally on their Instagram, as well as everybody calling them out about it. But there wasn’t a peep about it here. Yet there’s a whole article about one of Kate’s connections using her royal status to shill. What James is doing is tacky as hell and he should be called out but don’t cry hypocrisy on others when you’re doing the exact same thing. And it’s adorable that you think Meghan didn’t give her friends permission or even go as far as ask them to defend her.
@vanessa, facts are facts, and as stated above Meghan did indeed promote on Instagram a friend’s very expensive business. But people will believe what fits their narrative.
I need to nerd out for a moment. I’m in the M&A / PE world and my first thought was “hmm what does the cap table for boomf look like at this point?” The company is definitely leveraging its biggest asset – proximity to the royals, and James has almost certainly been stripped of any decision-making ability at this point. What a mess.
Marshmallows. Is there really anything else to say? MARSHMALLOWS. 😐
I had to read over the intro a couple of times, I thought it was a pun or analogy. Nope, it’s really about marshmallows!
The nerve of this guy to profit off a baby whose mother his sister and brother in law has put out racist hit pieces on. And before people try to say he’s not responsible for his family’s actions, if he couldn’t speak up when the racist shit happens, he should continue keeping his mouth shut and not profit off her kid.
If I remember correctly, Carole also took a dig at Meghan. In one of her interviews, she made a comment about how being royalty is about so much more than giving speeches. This was right after Meghan had given a bunch of speeches on tour, I think.
Da f*? Yes Carole your non royal a** is going to be telling what a Royal should. Maybe you should start with telling your lazy children to get off their butts and work for once in their life.
It’s amazing to me that Carole seems like an ambitious, driven woman and her children are useless blobs, all of them. Their accomplishments are… marrying well?
I guess they raised them to aim for status and class, and that’s it. So very vapid and hollow.
Ridiculous and shameless.
A marshmallow company? Hahahahahahahahah. This is the first I read of this. Hahahahahahahahah
As for James he’s trash 🤷♀️
Damn I wish I could be this feckless and still not worry about having a retirement fund.
I’ve always thought he grew that beard to look more aristocratic. Such a try hard. It must be so nice to be able to coast through life, not even sure if he has money to date.
I’d like to ask, for these royal aristocrat weddings, what gifts or amount of cash gifts are expected? Do they register? For example in Chinese weddings, you give a red packet to cover the cost of 1 pax according to the hotel’s rate per table.
No one with depression coasts through life.
@AZE-yes, so true 😢
Maybe the Middletons provide party favours.
@ black sheep I’m glad that you think my comments about Meghan friend is adorable. This is second time you mention the mental post it’s adorable that you are trying to make a what two week post into some fresh new scandal so you can have materials to bash Meghan and Harry on since their nothing else maybe you should try turning the cbs special into a scandal since it just happen.
It’s not about me making it a scandal (they did that without my help) it’s pointing out the sheer hypocrisy of Stans, especially here. If the Cambridge’s did what the Sussex’s did, they would be torn apart. But crickets about H&M. Are you seriously telling me you wouldn’t be up in arms if the Cambridge account did this? And don’t lie, I’ve seen your post, you would GLEEFULLY tear down Kate for pulling something like that.
First of all my posts about Kate I’ve never say anything negative about her the only thing I’ve talk about is the way the British press elevated Kate as the most perfect queen ever while in the same breath dehumanizing Meghan for just doing her job . I would never gleefully tear down another human being so for you to even suggest that it’s stupid show me any of one my post where I’ve never said anything mean spirited toward Kate because the only criticism I have one it’s not against her it’s always the press and the treatment of Meghan all while making the white duchess the saint the perfect one while the black duchess is the bad one . I wouldn’t care if the Cambridge promotion a charity and one of their friends have a hand in it it’s a charity that’s all that matter .
That’s the thing though, it wasn’t a charity. It was a FOR PROFIT BUSINESS. That’s not even available to the general British public. They were pretty much advertising one of Meghan’s friends companIes. Do you seriously not see the difference?
I see someone is back at it again with the BS rather than staying on topic and providing a reasoned opinion about James Middleton’s shilling and “merching” as the haters call it. This 30 April re-post below is direct from Sussexroyal IG account, and no where in this write-up is the word “charity” used:
“May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US and May 13-19 is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK.
To pay tribute to all of the incredible work people across the globe are doing in this space, we are hoping to shine a light on several Instagram accounts that promote mental well-being, mental fitness, body positivity, self-care, and the importance of human connection – to not just hear each other, but to listen.
There are countless organisations doing amazing work for mental health – please consider the accounts we’ve highlighted as a small snapshot of this global support network.
We are all in this together.
We invite you to explore the extraordinary stories of strength, and the commitment to kindness as seen in the above accounts.
Each month we will honour this same concept and change the accounts we solely follow based on a different theme or cause. Please go to our homepage and click “following” to see each of the select accounts and find out more about their work.”
I think James struggles to find his position in life. Unlike daughters ( I mean pretend socialites not us others who work and support ourselves), a man will have to provide for his future family. So while his sisters could swan around being socialites while looking for rich husbands to marry them, James will have to establish himself. I never believed the myth that the Middleton girls did not need to work for a living. If Kate had not gotten married, I doubt there is a trust fund she would be living off. She would still be directly relying on her parents to provide for her basic necessities although heading towards 40 years. Pippa seems more well adjusted and I believe she would have been alright even if it meant a drop i lifestyle. James should aim for princess Beatrice…. she can afford the lifestyle of the idle rich for both of them
@ baba black sheep I know the difference between the two it’s funny how you choose that part of my arguement to focus on . You made a direct assumption about me as a person said that my posts about Kate are evidence that I would gleefully tear down a another human being when in all my posts about Kate I’ve never said anything negatively mean spirited or dehumanizing towards Kate whatso ever . Its funny how you completely ignored the another parts of my comments and move directly onto one part where I called something a charity.
The final words of someone finally recognizing their own hypocrisy 🙄
I’m the hypocrite but you’re the one who accused me of being the type of person who would willfully gleeful tears down Kate and When I point out to you that in all my posts I’ve never said anything negative about Kate You said nothing . instead you focused on the fact that called something a freaking charity you focused on that instead of admitting that you made a mistake when you accuse of being a Kate hater and suggesting that my posts on Kate were all mean spirited and that I talk negative about Kate when that’s not true at all . in my comments directly towards you I wasn’t rude to you I didn’t called you any names but you think it’s ok to called me Hypocrite and to be downright rude towards me is clearly to me for your tone and attitude you just want someone to fight with today . 🙄
@blcksheep Speaking of gleefully trying to tear someone down…
@vanessa the ONLY reason I responded to your original post was because YOU brought up MY post from yesterday and tried to use it as an example of hypocrisy against Meghan. Something you seem adamant about yet you have no problem being just as hypocritical as you accused me of being. You’re making excuses and minimizing the fact that M&H not only did THE SAME EXACT THING JAMES IS DOING (using royal connections to promote a friend/family business). At least James didn’t hide it by disguising it as “charity” for mental health.
Using a baby that is not your own to promote your business is not the exact same thing no matter how many all caps are used. First James did not get permission from Archie’s parents to do so and if they wanted to they could serve him with a cease and desist letter.
Putting a link to a friend’s business is not the same thing at all, mostly because it isn’t illegal. But nice try.
I love all the excuses made to let this guy off the hook. If Middleton’s ADHD is so severe it causes him to make decisions like Nazi marshmallows and exploiting a newborn for profit, perhaps he SHOULDN’T be making business decisions at all.
The double standards are flying so fast, it’s making me dizzy. If one of Megan’s African-American relatives had dared to look at one of the Cambridge Kiddies too hard, the internet would have lit up like a Christmas tree. And I love how people claim that he’s Archie’s family. Middleton’s sister is FAMILY to Archie, this guy is simply adjacent.
I really hope that Harry gave Waity a call and told her to sort her brother out. Middleton doesn’t deserve the courtesy of a direct call since he doesn’t have the courtesy to treat a baby with respect.
Kerwood, agree with you. So may people making excuses for JM.
Can we please not make this dude a thing? So many other hotties to cover.