The Truth About James Middleton's Relationship With His Parents
Kate Middleton's family has always shared a tight bond. Carole and Michael Middleton did everything they could to give Kate, Pippa, and James Middleton a healthy upbringing. And their efforts paid off. "I had a very happy childhood. It was great fun — I'm very lucky, I've come from a very strong family," Kate said on the "Happy Mum, Happy Baby" podcast in 2020 (via People). Carole and Michael prioritized their children while running a successful party supplies business. "My parents were hugely dedicated to us — my siblings," she said.
The Middletons focused on family activities, ensuring their kids spent as much time outdoors as possible. Growing up in Berkshire, in South East England, Kate, Pippa, and James had plenty of that. Their relationship continued to flourish after the kids grew up. Amid Kate's cancer diagnosis, James showed that she can always lean on the Middletons. "Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too," he captioned an Instagram photo of their childhood on March 22.
Like Kate, James has also counted on the support of his parents during a health crisis. In 2017, he was diagnosed with clinical depression after suffering in silence for a couple of years, he revealed in a 2019 essay for the Daily Mail. James' mental health journey could have been different if it hadn't been for the loved ones who rallied around him. Through all his ups and downs, James knows his parents are there.
Carole and Michael Middleton are protective of James
James Middleton's decision to come clean about his depression was met with Carole and Michael's worries. "They were very nervous. They worried I would be exposing myself over what was a very private thing," he told Tatler in 2019. Behind the scenes, they were working with James to learn ways to help him. Carole and Michael attended sessions during the year he was in cognitive behavioral therapy. "That was so important because that helped them understand me and how my mind was working," he told The Telegraph.
With the help of his family and dogs, James learned to cope. And his relationship with his parents proved to be stronger than ever. So much so that James and his then-fiancee Alizée Thevenet moved in with them during the COVID-19 lockdown. In May 2020, he posted a video to Instagram that gave a glimpse into pandemic life at the Middletons' Berkshire home. The clip suggested the four spent quite a bit of time sitting outside, sipping on red wine and chatting.
Even when he's not staying there, James still goes frequently, using his parents' manor to keep bees, he noted in the Daily Mail. But he has also had his parents to thank for some of his other living arrangements. Carole and Michael are the ones who purchased his old London home. However, in 2021, James moved to a $2 million mansion in Berkshire, just a stone's throw away from his parents.
James is also close with Pippa and Kate Middleton
Even if his parents disagreed with his decision to come forward with his depression, James Middleton was inspired to do it by Kate Middleton. "I feel compelled to talk about it openly because this is precisely what my brother-in-law Prince William, my sister Catherine, and Prince Harry are advocating," he said in his Daily Mail essay, referring to the royals' work to destigmatize mental health.
That's just part of what Kate does that makes James proud. "I'm always taken aback by how much she does do," he said on "Good Morning Britain" in July 2023. Throughout the years, Kate and Pippa Middleton have shown how much love they have for their brother. In 2011, the sisters, along with Carole and Michael Middleton, helped pay for one of his most cherished gifts — the bee hive he keeps at the Middletons' home.
"I'd always harbored a longing to keep bees, but it wasn't until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality," he wrote in a 2020 essay for the Daily Mail. James has also given Kate and her children some pretty special gifts. In 2011, he gave Kate her beloved dog Lupo, whom she lost in 2020. "He has been at the heart of our family for the past nine years and we will miss him so much," she posted on the Prince and Princess of Wales' Instagram page. Shortly before Lupo died, Kate got another dog, Orla, from James.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.