'IT'S OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY, AND IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP'

James Middleton on his sisters' compassion that helped him open up about his feelings and how the unconditional love of his dog saved him from his darkest moment

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James Middleton grew up in a house full of love and laughter, and to the outside world he has it all a successful career, a solid marriage and a lovely 20-month-old son, Inigo.

But in our exclusive chat, the younger brother of the Princess of Wales admits that it's taken a long time for him to feel at ease with who he is.

James' best-selling book, Meet Ella, shows a side of the 38-year-old that is not only raw and revealing as it goes into details about his mental health, but also incredibly heartwarming and brave.

It's a sort of love letter to his beloved cocker spaniel Ella, who James credits with saving his life during the darkest times of his depression, and it has been "overwhelming in the best possible way" he tells us.

"There were moments when I had to step away from the writing because it brought so much back, especially the harder parts of my journey with Ella and everything happening at the time.

"Reliving it all wasn't easy, I'm not sure I could do it again. But at the same time, it was incredibly rewarding. Writing gave me a chance to process things in a new way."

James, who married French financial analyst Alizée Thevenet in September 2021, doesn't pretend that sharing his feelings was easy, nor does he lay the blame for his issues at anyone's door. In fact, he credits his family, especially his mother Carole and sisters Catherine and Pippa, for helping him build the emotional intelligence to tell his story.

"They've always been emotionally open," he says. "I think being surrounded by that kind of emotional intelligence rubbed off on me.

"I think it gave me permission to feel things more deeply and to name those feelings when they came up. That doesn't mean I found it easy. In fact, like a lot of men, I struggled with expressing how I was really doing, especially when at my lowest.