JAMES MIDDLETON From Despair to Hope

IN AN EMOTIONAL NEW MEMOIR, PRINCESS KATE'S YOUNGER BROTHER OPENS UP ABOUT HIS STRUGGLE WITH DEPRESSION, LIFE WITHIN THE ROYAL ORBIT AND HOW HIS BELOVED DOG ELLA SAVED HIS LIFE

-  SIMON PERRY

James Middleton, the younger brother of Princess Kate, may be linked to one of the world's most famous families, but on a rainy late-summer afternoon in a park in Bucklebury, Berkshire, his attention is focused on a different brood: his six lively dogs. These pups hold a special place in his heart, all descendants of his first two beloved pets-the Middleton family dog Tilly and his cherished cocker spaniel Ella, who died in 2023. Ella's legacy lives on in Middleton's emotional new memoir Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life (out Sept. 24). In it Middleton, 37, shares how Ella helped him through his darkest struggles with depression, including a 2017 night when he almost succumbed to his suicidal thoughts. Ella was by his side through many pivotal life moments, from his sister's royal wedding to Prince William and Christmases with the late Queen Elizabeth to even playing matchmaker, leading him to his wife, Alizee Thevenet, 35, a French financial technology profess