Curiouser and curiouser, how Tatler is being helmed by one of the Duchess of Cambridge’s friends now and Tatler has started making some interesting editorial decisions. Remember that awful, nasty story about Meghan that came out in March? It was from Tatler. Remember how Tatler wouldn’t breathe a word about the affair rumors when they wrote about Rose Hanbury’s appearance at the Trump state dinner? So curious. And now, magically, Tatler got an exclusive with James Middleton. The editorial is James and his dogs outside, being cute (the dogs moreso than James). The interview is all about how James is his own (Nazi marshmallow?) man, and it’s a follow-up on the exclusive he gave the Daily Mail this past January, where he openly discussed his ADD and depression diagnosis and credited Kate and William’s Heads Together campaign for his ability to talk about his mental health. Some highlights:
When Kate married William: His sudden ascent to fame aged 23, when his sister married the future King of England…. led to him questioning his sense of self and his abilities – and the business he was in the midst of establishing, Boomf, came under public scrutiny and scorn. ‘Suddenly, and very publicly, I was being judged about whether I was a success of a failure. That does put pressure on you. Because in my mind I’m doing this irrespective of my family and events that have happened.’
He’s a big idea guy: “For the rest of my life I’ll be coming up with ideas. Some of them will work, some of them won’t, but that’s me, that’s what I do.”
He lives a separate life from the royals: “I lead a separate life to them. If there’s interest in me, great. If there’s interest in me because of them, that’s different.”
His crippling depression: “It’s what keeps you in bed, while anxiety makes you feel guilty for being there. I thought ‘What do I have to be depressed about?’ I’ve been so lucky with my upbringing, I had all the things I wanted. It’s not that I wanted more, but there was something that wasn’t always there… And the more I ignored it, the more it was taking over.’ His parents ‘knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t want them anywhere near me. I shut myself off, I didn’t communicate with my family at all. But there’s only so long you can hold your breath.’
He’s not a tour guide: After he was diagnosed with depression, he underwent a period of intense therapy, stepped back from the operational running of his business Boomf and spent restorative time at Glen Affric, the Matthews’ (his brother-in-law’s) Scottish estate. Promotional photos emerged of James as a host and he was lambasted for working there. He groans: ‘I don’t work as a hotel tour guide. I was a host and I still do host the odd weekend, because I like being there. But I don’t stand around with a little flag pointing out where William Wallace was last seen.’
His parents questioned his decision to talk to the Daily Mail. ‘They were very nervous. They worried I would be exposing myself over what was a very private thing. I did it for ownership.’
He’s happy now: ‘I am happy – I feel like James Middleton again. I feel like I was when I was 13, excited about life. I feel like myself again and I couldn’t ask for more.’
“I don’t work as a hotel tour guide. I was a host and I still do host the odd weekend, because I like being there. But I don’t stand around with a little flag pointing out where William Wallace was last seen.” Kind of snide about tour guides, eh? Mr. Fancypants is too good to be a tour guide, he’s a HOST. If you pay enough money, you too can have your private party hosted by the brother-in-law of the future king of England. As for the rest of it… I mean, I would nitpick him about his choices, but honestly, what’s the point? The best day of the Middletons’ lives was when Kate married William. Carole got everything she ever wanted, and she threw Pippa in the path of every rich and/or titled man and they got a fancy new family home and on and on. I didn’t notice James complaining about his separate life when he was using all of his royal-adjacent connections to get people to invest in Boomf.
Photos courtesy of WENN & Tatler.
Now he’s always talking with the press LOL
I hate how when People magazine has articles on James Middleton they include him in the Royals category. And, does he really think that there would be any interest in him, if not for his brother-in-law?
Depression is no joke and it does not give a damn how priviliged you are and who your sister is married to. I don’t quite see the point in going after him for talking about it.
To be quite honest it would be stupid to NOT use your connections if you have them…
I agree. Royal-adjacent, very privileged, white guy spends his days posing with pretty dogs and trying to destigmatize crippling depression. There are a lot worse ways he could use his fame and spend his time.
Okay so first off, I am glad to hear him talk openly about depression. I’m not glad he suffers from it obviously, but I’m glad to hear him talk about it. I feel like depression and anxiety can be really hard for people to understand. There’s a sense of “just get out of bed.” but….that’s not always what it is. I’ve battled depression since college (not all the time, it comes and goes) and when I’m having an “episode” (for lack of a better term) its really hard. Its hard to even explain what its like. I still get up and shower and stuff, which is something people associate with depression (not showering etc), but its obviously more than that. I don’t want to talk to people. I want to just hide in my house. I don’t read, I don’t watch tv, I just kind of play games on my phone and get into my head.
So, like I said, I think its important to be open about it and I am glad he is talking about it.
THAT said…..the tour guide comment. OMG. how is being a host better than being a tour guide? Neither one is bad, you do you James, but come ON.
Lol I spent 3 years working as a tour guide around Europe – most fun job of my life, nothing will ever compete!
Though I should add, my actual role was Tour Manager – because when you say Tour guide people think that you’re just pointing out historical places etc, when my job involved the actual organisation of all trip logistics, managing people (things got CRAZY – with 40 often drunk 20-30 year olds on holiday…) etc etc on top of historical and cultural knowledge of a casual 20 countries and several cities within each…
I’m going to bet there was some mocking from their ‘scene’ that spurred the comment about tour guides. I’m going to bet he was being patronized over his job, and he got defensive. I suspect some of it was “oh James is so depressed and ADD that all he can do is go point people where to go at the hotel”.
As someone who’s an adult with ADD and who’s had periods of depression in my life – I like that he’s talking about it.
I know it’s ‘fun’ to rag on James. It’s easy to blame him for the marshmallow thing even though he had stepped away from the company and there are other people who are much more deserving of the blame (those running day to day operations and the ones who produced the marshmallows without questioning it) than he is. And he has plenty of faults. But I think there’s a disproportionate target on his back because people despise the Middleton’s SO much.
I agree with all of this. I’m not sure why he keeps getting sh*t for the Nazi marshmallow thing when it has been established that he stepped away from day-to-day operations due to his depression. It feels gross to blame things like this on him when he’s clearly suffering from a crippling illness.
Ironically, it goes to show why it’s necessary for people like James to speak out about their mental illness, because so many people are still unenlightened about it.
“If there’s interest in me because of them, that’s different.”
That’s literally the only reason there’s interest in him. I wonder if this adds to his depression, because it’s quite a thankless thing when you think about it, being the periphery and not the attraction.
Right? people are only interested in you because of your sister. And your dogs.
I do wonder if that plays a part in his depression. feeling like people are only interested in you because of your connections, or like every career move you make is being judged and mocked could def make it worse.
To be content, I think you need to have a goal or a feeling of purpose.
In some ways, I think both Kate and Pippa had clearly defined goals — marry well , nurture your husband, and have a family.
It may not be a goal all of us agree with (although I think they achieved what they set out to do), but it’s still something that gave them something to shoot for. (And, like I said, they didn’t fail to achieve what they wanted.)
In his case, his goals may not have been as clear-cut in his mind. If he had depression in school, that could have also altered his goals somewhat. Depression skews how you think, and what he wanted might have been foggy in his mind.
I was thinking the same when I saw that – why does he think this magazine is talking to him?
He said this at some point:
“Would I have become so depressed if I hadn’t been subject to the pressure of public scrutiny that comes with my association with the royal family?” he wrote. “The answer is, I believe I would. But I wouldn’t have found a voice or an outlet for my story if it hadn’t been for the people I’m related to.”
So I think he does know he benefits from his royal connections. It also sounds like he’s admitting he would have had the depression regardless of fame and public scrutiny. In his case, it does sound like a matter of brain chemistry (and then the environment probably worsens it).
Newsflash James–if your sister wasn’t Kate there would be NO interest in you! How delusional do you have to be not to grasp that fact?
On the other hand, I do respect him for speaking out on his mental health challenges. And I can totally see that Carole would not have been in favor of it, so more props to him on that.
Does this guy really think that ANYONE would be interested in him if his sister hadn’t waged a successful ten year campaign to snag an heir to the British throne? Does he think he’s THAT interesting? I guess because of all he’s accomplished. After all, he has really cute dogs. And makes a mean marshmallow.
I have a feeling that this guy might turn out to be Kate’s ‘Markle family’.
Its good that he is being open about his struggles as it shows it affects everyone regardless of what you have in life.
He, like the rest of his family, has traded on the royal connections and its about time they owned it. He only gets these articles because of who his sister married. And Carole is hard at work redefining the public image of her son, instead of the failed businessman he’s now a Lord of the Country Manor (which as a look/vibe suits him) living off his other sister’s in laws. They are a family of first class moochers.
He admitted In his op-ed that people care about his story because of who he’s related to.
Imo, he sounds less annoying than Princess Diana’s brother.
I don’t really care for James Middleton’s existence, but he also seems benign compared to other people who have traded on their connections. We hear about him, but not to the extent that he could actively annoy me. The only time I see or hear about him is when I come to this blog, but I think it would take active searching on my end to see stuff about him. I don’t think he’s as ubiquitous as Pippa once was.
He’s the Rob Kardashian of the Middleton family.
Aw, poor Socks Middleton 🙁
He’s still in shape though.
BAHAHAHA!!! The British Kardashians. OMG.
He sounds harmless here.
While I like James and am proud of him for speaking out about his despression, I really don’t want to ever hear again about how the Middleton’s never put a foot wrong, never give interviews, never use their royal connections. I just don’t.
Depression is a crippling illness, and I¿m glad he’s doing better. When the veil of depression is lifted it’s like you can see in colour again. And you finally feel like yourself. It’s something hard to understand unless you’ve been through it.
I find it amazing how Meghans family members who she has no contact with bring out the pearl clutches who blame her for their attention hungry ways but when Kate’s entire family built their careers around her royal connection there is nothing but crickets from the peanut gallery. Can you imagine if James was Meghans brother? The reaction to this would be much different.
Meghan’s family was practically blackmailing her! Her father was causing her constant heartache. Obviously there’s a difference! From what I can tell, James is on good terms with his sister and isn’t selling personal letters written to him to the media. Meghan clearly dislikes her family (and who can blame her). People who actually like Meghan couldn’t stand how her family was treating her.
Oh i agree, I’m simply pointing out that people only complain when Meghans friends and family talk to the press (regardless of what they are saying about her) but Kate’s family has been running to the press for years and no one says a peep about how they are destroying the monarchy. If James was Meghans brother and if they were close, he would be called out as attention seeking.
It depends on what they’re talking about with the press though. Even Princess Diana’s brother talks to the press and so have her sisters and her sisters are generally low-key (they had mentioned that Diana always wears her seat belt).
James Middleton simply talks about either his marshmallow company or destigmatizing depression. Neither he nor Pippa are trying to destroy Kate. Meghan’s brother has literally told Princess Harry through the press not to marry Meghan, trying to basically break up the marriage before it has even started. Obviously the latter will make people go wtf kind of evil sibling is that. When you’re that evil as a sibling people will scratch their heads and go whaaaaat. Attention-seeking doesn’t really bother people as much, but being that evil does. They’re not trying to destroy the monarchy– they’re trying to destroy Meghan herself! If they were trying to destroy the monarchy, that would actually be less evil! It’s the ugliness of their humanity towards their sister and the stress they’re putting her under that’s gaining commentary, not their speaking to the press in and of itself.
Thank you. The Markles are just too tacky to see it’s more lucrative to play it the way the Middleton’s have.
Cosplaying Mr Darcy on the cover of Tatler….
Looks like He and Ma Mids are trying to snag a nice aristo/loaded lady for him.
it definitely seems like this isn’t so much an article about him as it is a personal ad for him
Poor James, hope he stays balanced. I understand the effects of depression & have had it on/off myself since age 4. Yes, 4 yrs old. Half a century of experience.
James, imo, is utterly useless. His parents took care if him & let him live with Pips in their London apartment. Uncle Gary funded CakeKit & maybe Boomf. His brother-in-law gave him his current job. Can Lil Jimmy do anything by or for himself? He attends all remotely related royal weddings – does he even know Gabriella Windsor?
He thirsts for any attention he can via rich or royal in-laws. I think in return for the money & fake-jobs he gets from his family that he has to have ostensible girlfriends around. Aire probably had a contract.
The old pictures at all-male parties with the guys wearing nothing but their bow ties leaves an indelible image. Most men can drink, play games & get crassly rowdy with their clothes on.
Good for him for using his connections to speak openly about depression.
James Middleton has never bothered me. Yes he’s a bit like Robert Kardashian with his failed marshmallow business. But let’s be honest, most of us in James’s position would probably be using our royal adjacent connections to get ahead in life. I really don’t think I can honestly say I would be trying to make it on my own without turning to someone more influential for help if I had connections like the Middletons. I’ve been unemployed for several months now and if I was close with any aristos, I would probably reach out to a few to see if I could network through them to get a job. We can all sneer at the Middletons but we aren’t any better than they are!
And James was way more smart about his depression than Rob’s, getting away from London and living in Scotland on his brother-in-law’s estate with his dogs. He also didn’t enter into a messy relationship with a former stripper and have a kid with her. All we know about James’s new girlfriend is that she’s French and that’s about it. He’s speaking openly about his depression which is admirable. He knows we are interested in him because of his connections which is why he’s telling his story. And since Kate champions mental health, she probably encouraged him to talk about it.
Depression is a bitch, royal adjacent or not. It nearly destroyed my life 8 years ago. I had to be hospitalized, lost my job, went through my savings, and gained 80 pounds from medications. Now, I’m “on the other side” of it. We finally found the right medication, I have a great job, lost 20 of the 80 pounds, and genuinely enjoy life again. I applaud James Middleton for speaking out. Even if he does nothing else to help people in his life and profits from his connections, this article might persuade one person to get help.