James Middleton has been checking on his bees before he sits down to talk to HELLO! about his parenthood, his close family and most of all his beloved dogs.
Although he is best known as a canine champion, the Princess of Wales’s brother is a devotee of any activity that immerses him in nature, and beekeeping is a pursuit he shares with both Kate and their sister, Pippa.
“Within the family, we’re often exchanging a jar for a jar,” he says in this exclusive interview. “It’s incredible how different places produce different types of honey and different-tasting honey.”
Is there rivalry over whether Kate’s Sandringham honey is better than his Bucklebury honey or Pippa’s Kintbury honey?
“Not at all. The beekeeping community is about sharing advice and experiences, because no two years are ever the same. So it’s about sharing knowledge. I wouldn’t say there’s any rivalry at all.”
Prince William remarked on a recent trip to Borough Market in south-east London that Kate “knows everything about bees”. It was she, along with Pippa and their parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who introduced James to the insects by giving him his first 1,000 for his 24th birthday.
Looking forward to 40
James, who will be making a public appearance this month at Goodwoof, the Duke of Richmond’s pet festival known as “Glastonbury for dogs”, turned 39 last month and is looking forward with some trepidation to his 40th.
“It’s a scary one, for sure, because I think I look at it as being quite old. But then, I don’t feel any older than I did when I was 20.” He has been open about having had suicidal thoughts in the past, and about his late cocker spaniel Ella’s role in giving him unconditional love and helping to put his life in perspective. Ella died in 2023, at the age of 15, but not before she played a pivotal role in introducing James to his wife, Alizee, a French financial analyst.
© InstagramThe couple met at a private members’ club in London when James went to retrieve Ella, who had taken an interest in Alizee. She mistook her future husband for a waiter. When James left the club, he paid for Alizee’s wine and left a note with his number. Three years later, they were married.
“Could I have imagined having Ella introduce me to my future wife, and then, 12 months later, being engaged? No; there’s no way I could have thought that.”
“But I think how I am today – I’m very fortunate. It’s not that I didn’t want to continue living; I just couldn’t continue living with the mindset that I had,” he recalls of his depression.
“Although I don’t wish anybody to [go through what I did], I don’t regret going through that situation to become the person I am today. I’m not chasing things that are unattainable. I’ve levelled myself, and most importantly, I’ve found out who I am, not who I thought I was or who other people think I am.”
Dog emergency
James, who occasionally breeds dogs and gave William and Kate their cocker spaniels Lupo and Orla, is attending Goodwoof to promote his first-aid kit for canine emergencies. “I used to make my own from various components and then it dawned on me that maybe I should actually produce one,” he says. The kit, which he produced with advice from his family’s vet, includes a tick-removal tool, a blood-clotting agent, antiseptic wipes, bandages, a thermometer and a nail trimmer.
© Instagram/@jmidyIt proved its worth when he was out walking and found an owner struggling to carry their dog, which had ripped its nail out.
“I was able to use my first-aid kit to bandage up the pad and the nail bed, slow down the bleeding and put on a decent bandage, which meant that the dog was happy to put a bit of weight on the ball, and that they could get home and get to a vet to have it cleaned up properly.”
James has been attending Goodwoof since it began in 2022, when he took part in the opening parade alongside the Duke of Richmond and a pack of spaniels. This year, he will be taking his spaniels, Zulu, Inka, Luna and Nala, and his labradors, Mabel and Isla.
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