kate middleton's brotherJames made quite an impact at her royal wedding to Prince William in 2011.
in a new interview The Sunday TimesMiddleton revealed that she had received a $1 million offer from an American production company to read a Bible verse during the ceremony.
“They even said that members of my extended family would want to attend,” he told the outlet.
Middleton flatly declined the offer, and found reading extremely anxiety-provoking due to his dyslexia.
Despite the anxiety of reading live in front of hundreds of people and being broadcast to millions around the world, he prepared thoroughly for the event with a vocal coach, and wanted to be involved in supporting his sister.
“I had never seen a royal wedding,” he said. “There hadn't been one in my lifetime. There wasn't a big one anyway. I wasn't aware of how big it was or how much interest there was globally. I just felt my sister was asking me to do it and it meant something to her. I wanted to make sure I did it.”
Middleton also recalled Prince William's efforts to protect the Middleton family from intense press scrutiny during the early days of his relationship with Kate.
“William was a fantastic support to us as a family,” the 37-year-old said. “He did everything he could to protect us from the intense interest in not just Catherine, but her immediate family as well.”
“But I was already in a weak mental state at that point, and this was an added pressure,” he added.
In Her memoir, “Meet Ella,” Middleton has opened up about her mental health struggles, including contemplating suicide in 2017.
It was his dog, a cocker spaniel named Ella, who helped pull him away from his darkest thoughts.
“Even when I felt incredibly lonely, I was never alone,” Middleton said.
He revealed he struggled with anxiety and depression, recalling to The Sunday Times, “Something was taking over my mind, but I didn't know what it was, so it was very difficult to talk about it. And I didn't feel like I had the right to be depressed because I had everything, because I'm privileged.”
“I was so happy that my sister was asking me to do this and that it meant so much to her. I wanted to make sure I did it,” Middleton said.
Middleton eventually sought treatment with the support of Kate and her sister Pippa, but her parents initially did not understand what she was going through.
“They were uncomfortable with the fact that I had been labelled 'clinically depressed',” he writes in his memoir, according to The Sunday Times. “For people of their generation, I can understand why this was worrying. Society was just starting to get over the stigma.”
The Middletons eventually began attending family therapy together.
“I felt guilty because I knew they were worried,” he told the outlet. “They felt guilty because it's really hard if you can't help the people you love the most. I finally understood how I was feeling, but I was nervous trying to explain it to my family without the help of an interpreter. When they came to the session, they had the opportunity to ask questions that I couldn't answer.”
And Middleton's condition improved rapidly, through therapy and with his dog Ella by his side. A year after his worst moment, he met His wife, Alizée Thevenet, And they got married in 2021. They welcomed their first child in 2023, a son named Inigo.
