In this exclusive interview and photoshoot, James Middleton talks to us about how his beloved dog, Ella, helped him through a dark phase of his life and how he has found happiness with his wife, Alizee, and their baby son Inigo as he releases his new book, Meet Ella: The Dog who Saved my Life.
It is a heartfelt story of survival as James, 37, suffering from clinical depression and feeling suicidal, was held back from the brink of despair by his loyal companion.
"Only Ella gave me cause to keep living," he writes with typical candour of the torment he felt only a few years ago.
© Richard Murgatroyd PhotographyHe is now, happily, in a better place.
"Although I'd never wish my own mental health challenges on anybody, it was the beginning of a new chapter for me," he tells HELLO! at a rehoming centre for the Dog's Trust, at which he has become an ambassador.
"I rediscovered James Middleton, who I was, and recalibrated myself into trying to define what made me happy.
James is open and endearingly honest, keen to lay bare his experience of depression, which came with a diagnosis of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), to help others and know himself better.
© Richard Murgatroyd PhotographyBecoming a father
Life on a farmhouse in Berkshire which he shares with his wife of three years, their one-year-old son Inigo and six dogs sounds idyllic. His face lights up when he talks about being a father.
"No matter how much people say to you about how wonderful it is, or how it will change your life, nothing can ever prepare you for that experience of seeing a little baby that's yours arrive. It unlocks something in your heart that you didn't know was there."
Close bond with the Middletons
As a brother to the future Queen, James is aware of the enormous public interest in his family. He writes about both his siblings and parents with love and openness, while protecting their privacy.
However, before he sought help with therapy, James didn't at first confide in his family about the mental illness from which he began to suffer in 2017.
"I needed to understand it myself, and I knew that my family wouldn't necessarily understand it."
© Richard Murgatroyd PhotographySupporting Kate through cancer treatment
James has bred six litters of puppies and given two of Ella's relatives to Kate – Lupo, from Ella's first litter, in 2011 who sadly died at the age of nine, and more recently Orla.
As a strong advocate for the healing power of dogs (he is ambassador for Pets as Therapy charity), does he believe that Orla might have played her part in supporting Kate through her illness?
"I know how much the dogs, for me, have helped in taking your mind off something. So I'm certain that for them, Orla is doing her job in supporting her family."
Just as the Middleton clan have pulled together.
"We are certainly a close family that goes through things together," he says. "That was the experience I had through my challenges, and I certainly feel like it's something that her [Catherine's] family and our family are doing too."
He is careful to protect his mental health now and has developed coping mechanisms. And while he and Alizee try not to plan too far ahead, they would love to expand their family, "if we're fortunate enough to be able to."
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
Meet Ella by James Middleton is published by Radar on 26th September. In celebration of his dog Ella, James Middleton is supporting Dogs Trust and its very first 'Walk for Our Old Friends' (WOOF) event in October which encourages people to walk in memory of their beloved canine companion. Find out more at https://events.dogstrust.org.uk/woofevent
Photos by Richard Murgatroyd Photography
