A month after sharing their happy news, James Middleton has posted his first family picture with his fiancée Alizee Thevenet and four of their dogs. In the caption, the younger brother of the Duchess of Cambridge touched upon his happiness as he thanked his followers for their support after opening up about his battle with depression. "Today I wanted to say thank you," he wrote. "Thank you for the incredible support shown towards my speaking publicly about my illness. Depression."
"It would be a full time job to reply to each person, but know I'm truly touched by the messages & those that have shared their stories and journeys with me," he added. The lovely photo sees the happy couple sat in the great outdoors with their pooches, whilst grinning widely. "In light of this, I wanted to share our first family photo," he said referring to the photo. "Not that long ago I had forgotten what it was like to laugh with genuine happiness - today I don't have to pretend to smile."
READ: James Middleton breaks silence after engagement news with emotional post
Despite finding joy with Alizee, James went on to confess that his struggle with depression is an ongoing issue and has urged people not to suffer in silence. "I am not cured from depression - I don't think there is one," he wrote. "However I have learnt tools to keep control, every day I look after my mental health as much as I do my physical health. And remember as one wise person once said, 'Life is about the journey, not the destination'."
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James' followers rushed to praise him for his honest post, with one writing: "Keep going. Keep fighting. Keep reaching. Keep loving." Another said: "Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your ups and downs with us. We’ve got your back and love seeing you find happiness." A third post read: "Such an important message @jmidy. Keep being kind to yourself." A fourth fan remarked: "You're not alone family and real friends are always there."
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In October, James revealed that his sister Kate had accompanied him to therapy sessions. Speaking to the Telegraph, the 32-year-old said that over a year ago, when he was in the grips of depression, he attended a therapy session with his family. When asked which family members accompanied him to his Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions, James explained: "All of them. Not necessarily at the same time, but either individually and [sometimes] together. And 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," he continued. In recent years, James has spoken openly about the fact that he struggled to communicate with his friends and family over a particularly difficult period of depression and has also addressed his struggle with dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) diagnoses in the media.
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