Princess Kate Gave Nephew Sweet Royal ‘Hand-Me-Downs’

Princess Kate’s brother, James Middleton, has revealed that his son Inigo was the beneficiary of suitcases full of hand-me-down clothes from his royal cousins in his new book titled: Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life.

Published on Thursday in the U.S., the book provides an unprecedented insight into the family life of the Middletons, as well as closely documenting James Middleton’s journey to understanding his own mental health.

The memoir details Middleton’s highs and lows, including a distressing point in 2017 where he considered ending his own life before seeking professional mental-health support.

His late dog, a spaniel named Ella, is credited with giving him the support to seek help and it is she who he also credits with introducing him to his wife, the French financier, Alizee Thevenet.

Middleton had been at a London bar in 2018 when Ella went to sit by an unknown woman who promptly made a fuss of her. After apologizing for his “persistently friendly dog” the woman mistook the brother of the probable future queen of England for a server, asking for a glass of wine.

He didn’t correct her and asked for a note to be delivered with her bill asking her for a drink at a later date. This eventually took place and the couple married in France in 2021.

The couple welcomed their first child in 2023, a son named Inigo Gabriel.

Middleton writes in his book that his whole family were welcoming to Thevenet when the couple became a serious item, and that they were equally excited when Inigo was born, this included his nieces and nephews, the children of his sisters, Kate and Pippa Matthews.

“On the first weekend after his birth—it is hard to believe he is only two days old—my sisters and their children come to visit and we all have lunch together at mum and dad’s,” he wrote.

“There are cries from the cousins of ‘Was I ever that small?’ and they take it in turns to cuddle Inigo in their laps. They’ve worked out that there is a 10-year age gap between [Kate’s son Prince] George and Inigo and they can’t wait for him to be big enough to join in their adventures.”

Middleton wrote that his son shared another link with his cousins, in that he had been the recipient of a legacy of their outgrown baby clothes.

“We are an affectionate and close-knit family and there are lots of hugs and laughter,” he wrote. “Catherine and Pippa bring two big suitcases of hand-me-down clothes, so Inigo’s cupboards are full of sweet little outfits that his cousins—even the girls—have worn.

“We look at them and think, ‘Aren’t they enormous? It’ll be months before he’s wearing these.’ We don’t realize that he will grow so fast he’ll fit them in a blink.”

Middleton praised both of his sisters in his book, recounting that during the period where he was diagnosed with clinical depression and attention deficit disorder in 2018 they accompanied him to a family therapy session to offer support.

Kensington Palace has not commented on the release of the book or its content.

Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life by James Middleton is published in the United States by Pegasus Books and released on September 26.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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