James Middleton was left baffled after Princess Kate and Prince William revealed his role at their wedding, according to claims made in his new book.
The Princess of Wales’s brother, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at 11 years old, revealed how he managed his Bible reading at Kate and Prince William’s royal wedding.
The 37-year-old shared in his memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, that he was taken aback when his sister and future brother-in-law asked him to do a reading during their 2011 wedding at Westminster Abbey.
“A reading? I thought they were joking,” he wrote.
James Middleton left baffled after Kate and Prince William revealed his role at their weddingPA“My mind raced back to school and my stumbling, incoherent efforts to read in front of the class.
“What were they thinking? Being dyslexic, reading is my least favourite occupation.”
He recalled asking them: “Seriously?” Kate and William responded: “Seriously.”
Kate’s brother admitted: “If that was what my sister and William wanted, then of course I’d do my best not to let them down.”
James Middleton and Carole Middleton attending Kate’s weddingPAJames’s reading was the only Bible reading in the service, and he wrote he did not know “whether to be honoured or appalled” at the time.
He then practised for months in order to recite it properly.
“I carried it with me everywhere, taking it out of my pocket to practice the lines, over which I tripped and stumbled, transposing syllables, getting my ps and bs — my nemeses — in a twist,” he explained.
James noted that his dog was with him throughout the training process to help him “relax.” Although Ella was not allowed inside Westminster Abbey on Kate’s wedding day, she was present at the rehearsal.
James Middleton stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the Royal Family
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“I stood there, looked round, spotted Ella, smiled,” he recalled.
“I wanted to laugh, but I counted to four and the giggle subsided. … But tomorrow, I reminded myself, Ella wouldn’t be with me. It would just be me, a packed Abbey and a worldwide TV audience of about two billion people.”
On Kate’s wedding day, James carried a “crumpled phonetic copy” of the reading.
“I wanted to do [Kate and William] both proud,” he said. “I glanced up and saw happy faces I recognised in the congregation and the nervousness fell away. I took a deep breath … and began.”
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Kate and Prince William tied the knot in 2011
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After the nuptials, he revealed he “received thousands of messages and invitations to read lessons at churches around the globe”.
However, James celebrated in a more low-key way with his dog after the ceremony.
“After all the wonder of the day, the service, then the celebrations, all I wanted to do was throw on a pair of old jeans and take Ella out for a walk,” James remembered.
“It wasn’t until then that I allowed myself to think about how momentous the day had been.”