James Middleton gave an interview to the Times. They went so gently on him, you would think that the British media hasn’t spent the past four years screaming, crying and throwing up about anyone connected to royalty doing interviews or spilling their guts. It helps that James never blames his family for his troubles, even though there’s definitely an undercurrent of “wow, Carole and Michael Middleton really should have been more proactive in getting James help at an earlier age.” Like, clearly, he struggled academically and psychologically from a young age, and sending him to fancy, expensive private schools was not the answer. He failed up until he crashed out. But according to James, his parents did the best they could and his sisters were wonderful, as was Prince William. Anyway, some highlights from the Times:

His education: In the early chapters of the book he charts his struggles with expectation — his mother is frequently in tears, his father just as frequently exasperated. Even without VAT, it must have taken a large chunk of the trust fund established by Michael’s grandmother, the heiress Olive Middleton, to put his son through Marlborough. When that son had to spend a gap year retaking his A-level chemistry four times, a “humiliating record” for the school, he tells him his education was “a waste of money”. Although today Middleton studiously avoids criticising his school or his beloved parents — he learnt valuable survival skills at Marlborough, he tells me, and “Mum and Dad just wanted the best for me” — the pressure was clearly intense.

His university years. And so, after that long summer of resits, he squeaked into Edinburgh University, choosing criminology, environmental studies and geography modules because he was “pretty certain they would all be multiple choice”. They weren’t, of course, and he failed his first-year exams. More crying from Mum, more exasperation from Dad, more solace from a dog, this time his own. “For all my reservations, I shall be eternally grateful for the time I spent in Edinburgh because it is thanks to Ben, a university friend, that I find my adored dog Ella,” he writes, introducing us to the dog that saved his life. Despite his best efforts, puppies and student life are not compatible, and when he was banned from bringing Ella to lectures he finally abandoned his studies. “I knew that if I left university I’d be responsible for that decision,” he says. “It was a big step, but I had Ella with me, as my companion and my responsibility.”

On his royal brother-in-law: “William was a fantastic support for us as a family,” he says. “He did everything he could to protect us from the intense interest, not just in Catherine, but also her immediate family. But at that time I was already in a vulnerable state of mind and it was an added pressure.”

Why he gave a reading at Will & Kate’s wedding: “I’d never seen a royal wedding,” he says, rather sweetly. “There hadn’t been one in my lifetime. Not a big one anyway. I wasn’t aware of the scale or the global interest. I just felt privileged that my sister was asking me to do it, and it meant something to her. I wanted to make sure I did it.”

More on the 2011 wedding: “Really, the build-up to Catherine’s wedding was no different to Pippa’s or other friends’ weddings,” he says, unbelievably. Just the family, 1,900 guests, Her Majesty, an archbishop and a few world leaders. Watching the recording back today, there’s no hint of nerves — Middleton, 24 at the time, gives a bravura performance. Afterwards an American production company wrote to ask if he’d like to star in his own film — their opening offer was $1 million. “They even ventured,” he writes wryly, “that members of my wider family might like to take part.” Middleton is not unaware of how everything is distorted by his proximity to royalty.

His professional life: His idea of what constitutes success has changed — he is no longer motivated by money but by the things in life about which he is passionate. He doesn’t even like the word entrepreneur any more. Having stepped away from Boomf, a marshmallow delivery company (Boomf is the sound a marshmallow makes falling from a letterbox), he started James & Ella, a “premium freeze-dried raw dog food” company in 2020. He clearly finds it easier to be passionate about dogs than marshmallows.

Ella’s death & Inigo’s birth: Eight days after Ella was buried in her favourite sheepskin, Alizée interrupted Middleton’s mourning to announce that she was pregnant. He is convinced Ella knew and that her death was a kind of passing of the torch. His son, Inigo, was born last autumn. “I hope there’s an Ella who will find Inigo, if there’s a time in his life when he needs it,” he says, as one of the golden retrievers has a long stretch.

[From The Times]

“Even without VAT, it must have taken a large chunk of the trust fund established by Michael’s grandmother, the heiress Olive Middleton, to put his son through Marlborough.” *stares directly into the camera* Yes, how did the Middletons finance their three kids’ private education and extended adolescence, including the London apartment and all of those years of waitying? Especially given that Party Pieces was a house of cards which crashed and burned, leaving millions in debt and unpaid bills? James comes by it honestly – the mention of Boomf is fascinating, because it was yet another Middleton business which crashed and burned, leaving a trail of financial destruction in its wake. Now it’s dog food. Sigh. As for James being offered $1 million to star in a movie… good lord.

Photos courtesy of James’s IG.