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James William Middleton (born 15 April 1987)[1] is a British entrepreneur who is the younger brother of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
James Middleton | |
|---|---|
| Born | James William Middleton 15 April 1987 |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater |
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| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse |
Alizée Thevenet (m. 2021) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parents |
|
| Family | Middleton |
Born in Reading, Berkshire, Middleton was educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne. He briefly attended the University of Edinburgh before dropping out and founding a cake-making business. Middleton began receiving media attention during his eldest sister's relationship with and subsequent marriage to Prince William. He is a mental health advocate and has spoken about his experiences with major depressive disorder.[2] Middleton is also an ambassador for the Pets As Therapy charity.[3]
James William Middleton was born on 15 April 1987 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading,[1] the youngest child and only son of Michael Middleton (born 1949), a former British Airways flight dispatcher,[4] and Carole Middleton (born 1955), a former flight attendant.[5][6][7] His father came from a line of solicitors who lived in Leeds, West Yorkshire. His great-grandmother Olive Middleton was a member of the Lupton family, who were landed gentry.[8][9] His mother's family were labourers and miners from County Durham.[7][10][11] Shortly before his birth, Middleton's parents founded Party Pieces, a mail-order party supply company.[12] His elder sisters are Catherine (born 1982) and Philippa (born 1983).[13] The family lived in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire, before moving to the nearby village of Bucklebury in 1995.[14][15][16] Middleton was educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, and Marlborough College.[17][18] In 2006, he attended the University of Edinburgh, studying environmental resources management before dropping out a year later.[19][20]
Middleton's cake-making business, now defunct, was inspired by reading that a mother's baking is a highly evocative childhood memory.[19] He supplied baking kits so home bakers would be able to get all the ingredients in one place for adventurous creations such as "football cakes".[19] He started baking in the family kitchen and expanded into a freight container and converted barns.[19] Themed birthday cake baking kits were distributed by his parents' company, Party Pieces.[19][21]
Themed cakes were later provided for companies such as Jigsaw, 3 and Ralph Lauren.[19] Middleton caused "shudders" at Buckingham Palace after taking part in a Hello magazine photoshoot for which he was commissioned to bake 21 cakes commemorating its 21st birthday, each iced with one of the magazine's front covers – amongst them, several members of the royal family, including Diana, Princess of Wales.[22] The business won Smarta 100 and Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur awards.[23] In April 2011, he registered three businesses: Nice Cakes, Nice Wine, and Nice Group London and planned to expand the Cake Kit Company.[19][22] The Cake Kit Company was dissolved in 2015.[24] In May 2020, Middleton launched Ella & Co, a mail order dog food company that offers freeze-dried, raw, organic dog food.[25]
boomf
 Magical Mallows | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personalised confectionery |
| Founded | November 2013 |
| Founders | James Middleton and Andy Bell |
| Headquarters | Reading and London, England |
Area served | Global |
| Website | www |
In 2013, Middleton and Andy Bell[26] founded boomf, a company that makes personalised marshmallows and greeting cards.[27][28] Middleton had previously founded Nice Cakes, which specialised in personalised cakes.[29][30] Bell had previously founded Mint Digital,[26] which created StickyGram (now Sticky9), an Instagram magnet company which sold to PhotoBox.[31]
Boomf launched in November 2013 without mentioning Middleton's involvement, to allow for a low profile launch.[32] In January 2014, Boomf announced Middleton's involvement, believing that it would be impossible to keep it secret long-term.[29]
In 2014, Boomf raised over $1m and was backed by a number of angel investors, including Nick Jenkins, founder of Moonpig, Duncan Jennings and Matt Wheeler.[26] Boomf shipped 2 tons of marshmallows in its first year and made £100,000 ($168,000) in sales in its first three months.[33]
In 2015, the company raised funds at a valuation of £10m.[34] Boomf made a loss of £3 million between 2015 and 2018.[35] In July 2015, Boomf launched a nationwide search for a new marshmallow designer. The winner was Bournemouth University student Izzy Burton.[36]
Middleton's brother-in-law, hedge fund manager James Matthews paid Middleton €110,000 for 12,800 Boomf shares.[37] In 2019, Middleton announced that the company had reached profitability with an income of £176,000 in the previous year - and an increase in sales of up to £4.4 million from £2.8 million in the previous year.[38] The company moved into new offices in Reading with circa 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) to warehouse space. [39]
Boomf raised $1m of funding in 2021,[40] but by December 2021 the company had fallen into administration owing £800,000 to creditors, including £146,306 to HM Revenue and Customs.[41][42] Creditors voluntary liquidation commenced on 4 November 2022.[43]
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Middleton is dyslexic.[46] He read from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible at the 2011 wedding of his sister Catherine to Prince William.[47] In 2019, he disclosed his struggles with depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which he attributed to public scrutiny from age 23 as a result of his eldest sister's relationship.[48][49] He sought treatment in 2017, undertaking cognitive behavioral therapy.[49][50] Middleton also spent "restorative time" at the Glen Affric Estate, where he has hosted deer-stalking parties. The estate is owned by his sister Philippa's father-in-law.[49][44][45] In the same year, he penned a column in the Daily Mail about mental health.[51][52]
Middleton is an ambassador for the Pets As Therapy charity and has credited his dog, Ella, for helping him through his depression.[53][50] He breeds dogs, owning six, as well as one rescue lamb.[54][55][56] Middleton also keeps bees on the grounds of Bucklebury Manor.[57][58] In April 2020, he founded the Paw Print Fund in aid of animal welfare charities.[55]
Middleton was in a relationship with actress Donna Air from 2013 to 2018.[59] Middleton met French financial analyst Alizée Thevenet (b. 30 November 1989) in 2018 and announced their engagement in September 2019.[60][61] They planned to wed in summer 2020 but postponed the event twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[62] The couple married on 11 September 2021, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France; his wife wore the 1980s wedding dress belonging to Carole Middleton, her mother-in-law.[63][64] The couple welcomed their first child in September 2023.[65][66]
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Books
- Middleton, James (2024). Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life. Radar. ISBN 978-1804192504.
Articles
- Middleton, James (28 January 2023). "Farewell Ella, the dog who saved my life". The Times.
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