James Middleton shares a close bond with his brother-in-law, the Prince of Wales, but he admits that he didn't give him an easy ride when the royal first began dating his sister Kate.
The entrepreneur, 37, recalls getting to know Prince William after he and Kate began dating while at university, and frequently seeing him at the Middleton family's flat in Chelsea, London.
Writing in his debut book, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, James said: "By now, William has been dating Catherine for six years, so I know him well and there is no scramble to clear up when he comes to supper. But I remember putting him through his paces when we first met. Did he deserve my sister? He had to earn my trust.
"It helps of course that William is so genuinely fond of Ella. When he first encountered her as a tiny puppy at Bucklebury he was smitten. He'd had a black Labrador, Widgeon, he was a boy, and when Widgeon died he left an empty space. I felt William was pining for a dog when Ella was around."
While James admits he was a little tough on William when they first met, he shares that the Prince quickly became close to the Middleton family.
"I saw a lot of William when he was an officer cadet at Sandhurst, which is fairly close to Bucklebury. So by the time I'm toing and froing between Edinburgh and London, he's become part of the family."
© GettyJames had a starring role at William and Kate's royal wedding in 2011, with the couple asking him to deliver a Bible reading. He recalled his initial reaction, writing: “My mind raced back to school and my stumbling, incoherent efforts to read in front of the class. What were they thinking? Being dyslexic, reading is my least favourite occupation."
He added: "If that was what my sister and William wanted, then of course I'd do my best not to let them down."
© GettyJames sought the help of Anthony Gordon Lennox, who had helped former Prime Minister David Cameron prepare for public speaking. And of course, he had his beloved dog Ella by his side when rehearsing.
On his sister's wedding day, her brother carried a "crumpled phonetic copy" of the reading and later "received thousands of messages and invitations to read lessons at churches around the globe".
