James Middleton in London on Oct. 5, 2024; Kate Middleton at Wimbledon on July 14, 2024; Pippa Midldeton in London on Dec. 6, 2023. PHOTO: HODA DAVAINE/DAVE BENETT/GETTY; VISIONHAUS/GETTY; JO HALE/WIREIMAGE
James said that his nieces and nephews “all play their role” in looking after Inigo, his 1-year-old son.
On Oct. 5, the Princess of Wales’ younger brother outlined what a typical day of his weekend looks like for the “My Saturday” column of the Telegraph. The James & Ella founder and mental health advocate said that his downtime is all about being with family, and revealed the typical way he and his wife Alizée Thevenet meet up with his sisters and all of their kids at the home of their parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.
“We’ll often stop at my parents’ house for tea or supper. My sisters and I are all within 30 minutes’ drive, so there is often an aunt or a cousin passing through, too,” James, 37, wrote for the Telegraph. “The cousins all play their role in looking after Inigo — there’s seven of them altogether at the moment. I think they’re all impressed at how much of a mess Inigo can make. But there’s lots of laughter and giggles about.”
“Even when I had my depression I recognized the importance of family, and rather than one person being burdened with it all, it’s shared,” he wrote. “I think any challenge that a family goes through is one that brings them together.”
The Middleton family expanded when James and Alizée welcomed their first child, son Inigo, in 2023, and he became the youngest of the extended Middleton family cousins. Princess Kate, 42, and Prince William are parents to Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, while Pippa, 40, and her husband James Matthews share children Arthur, 5, Grace, 3, and Rose, 2.
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Elsewhere in the column, the author of Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life said that his weekends feature plenty of dog walks (he and Alizée own six!) and that he spent “all possible time outdoors” as a child.
“At weekends, I would often be dragged to watch my sisters Catherine and Pippa in sports matches, so I would take the headmaster’s wife’s sheepdog for a walk,” James wrote in part, reflecting on growing up with two sporty sisters. “Now I know I have ADD, which explains a lot.”
James also wrote about how his 20s were a challenging time, writing, “I’ve only figured out who I am after going through depression. I wish I hadn’t had to go through it to find it. But if you don’t have hard times you can’t appreciate the good ones.” He mentioned feeling an “added pressure” when his sister Kate began dating Prince William, thrusting him into the limelight.
The author and advocate acknowledged that the peace of his home with Alizée in the countryside benefits their mental well-being, where the weekends include plenty of familiar rhythms.
“It sounds like a joke, but we try to live like our dogs. They’re not worrying about tomorrow or yesterday,” he wrote.
Speaking to PEOPLE about his memoir Meet Ella, which was published in the U.S. on Sept. 24, James opened up about navigating depression, life within the royal orbit as his sister married the heir to the throne and how his beloved dog Ella saved his life.
“It took me on a journey,” James told PEOPLE about the writing process. “I hope that my son is able to learn about his own mental health way before I did so that he doesn’t have to go through some of the very painful moments that I went through.”
