Princess Kate and her brother, James Middleton, experienced a brush with danger, which nearly left them stranded on Britain’s coastline, just months after the birth of Prince George, according to a new book.
Middleton, the youngest of Kate’s two siblings, has published an unprecedented insight into the family life of the future queen in his new memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life.
In the book, Middleton gives a raw and honest account of his experience with depression and how dogs have helped him—particularly his beloved late black spaniel Ella—while describing the unique position he found himself in when his older sister married into the monarchy.
One previously unknown inclusion in the book details how, after the birth of Prince George in 2013, Middleton and Kate found themselves in a dangerous position when walking along the Welsh coastline in the U.K.
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After the birth of their first child, Prince William and Kate moved back to a house on the island of Anglesey in Wales, which they had occupied from 2010. It was during this time that the prince was serving as a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot stationed at the RAF Valley base on the island. The young family were also accompanied by their own dog, Lupo, who had been given to William and Kate as a wedding present by Middleton.
“I have cherished memories of visiting them there with Ella when George was still a baby and going for bracing walks along clifftops and across vast golden beaches with Catherine while William was at work,” James Middleton wrote in his book, going on to describe a memorable walk that nearly ended in disaster.
“We consulted the tide timetables and watched the ebb and flow of the sea, but one day, engrossed in our walk, we nearly got stranded, only saving ourselves by taking a long detour and getting back to their cottage after nightfall.”
The near-miss of loss or injury to the future queen was not relayed to the public. However, pressure on William and Kate to leave Wales and take on more royal duties meant that they moved back to England only months later when the prince ended his active service with the RAF in September 2013.
The couple’s time in Anglesey is one Middleton reflects on with affection; he wrote that he desired to share in the kind of relationship he saw between William and Kate while there.
“Their life together in their seaside cottage with George seemed idyllic, and I remember thinking: ‘I can’t wait to meet someone and have my own family,'” he wrote.
“I chatted to Ella about it as I always did, sharing my thoughts and wishes. ‘When that happens,’ I told her, ‘I’ll feel complete.'”
Middleton married French-born finance industrialist, Alizee Thevenet, in 2021. Together they have a son, Inigo, who was born in 2023.
“Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life” by James Middleton is published in the United States by Pegasus Books from 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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