Tatler UK - 08.2019

O BROTHER ,

WHERE ART

T HOU?

Rumours flew, tabloids

churned: just what was

Kate’s little brother up

to, lurking in Scotland?

James Middleton tells

Clare Conway the hard

truth about his time in

the spiritual wilderness

Photographed by MATT HIND

Styled by DAVID NOLAN

J

ames Middleton’s bicycle is

parked outside his pretty stucco

townhouse in Battersea. It’s the

one on which he is often papped

cycling, bearded and aglow with

vitality, with his von Trapp

family of spaniels seated in the

wooden box up front, a flurry of ears flapping

in the wind. (He has four, Ella, Zulu, Inka,

Luna, plus one rust-coloured retriever, Mabel.)

And though James has only recently bought

the house in Battersea – moving from Chelsea

• admiring strangers have already begun to
  leave notes on the bicycle, with messages like:
  ‘If you ever consider having puppies, they’d
  have a loving home at...’ (And he does occa-
  sionally breed them; one of his puppies, Lupo,
  was a Christmas present to his sister and
  brother-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of
  Cambridge.) Today, though, there are no
  notes as I walk up the front steps of his house.
  Instead, there’s a parcel addressed to his girl-
  friend, Alizee Thevenet, propped against the
  door, which James whips neatly away as he
  greets me with a smile.
  The 32-year-old entrepreneur is warm and
  welcoming, but he also seems a little flustered;
  his phone is ringing, and he’s just been out
  running in Battersea Park with all the dogs.
  Apologising with consummate British charm,
  he says he needs a minute to shower, and
  dashes off. The living room where I wait has
  the sparse feel of a new home, yet is inherently
  beautiful, flooded with light from huge, broad
  windows. There are white walls, wooden
  floorboards, pretty glassware in cabinets, an
  artfully worn rug beneath the dining table.
  A few family photographs are dotted around,
  including one of the Duchess smiling sweetly.
  When James returns, he’s dressed in jeans
  and a casual turquoise shirt, a few buttons
  undone, offering a cup of tea and excuses ]

tatler.com Tatler August 2019

08-19WELL-JamesMiddleton.indd 77 30/05/2019 14:41

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