Kate Middleton’s Brother James Shares What He Really Thought About Prince William Marrying His Sister

Kate Middleton’s birth family of five—her father Michael, mother Carole, sister Pippa, and brother James—are extremely close, and always have been. As Kate and Prince William’s 14th wedding anniversary approaches, her brother James shared the story of William’s proposal from his perspective—specifically how Kate broke the news to him and Pippa that, after nearly a decade together, she and William would finally be tying the knot.

James detailed the moment in his book Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life: “Catherine, Pippa, and I go out for a walk with [dogs] Ella and Tilly to our local pub in a village near Bucklebury,” he wrote. “We sit in a corner, chatting quietly.”

While there, Kate revealed that William proposed, which he did in October 2010 while the longtime couple were visiting Kenya. “Pippa and I want to be visibly excited,” he wrote. But since the world didn’t yet know the big news—they’d find out on November 16 when William and Kate did a photocall at St. James’s Palace, Princess Diana’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring on Kate’s ring finger—“we have to tamp down our emotions so no one suspects a thing,” James continued.

“We make a quiet acknowledgement that we’ll always be there for each other, look out for one another, support each other. No matter how crazy things get,” he added.

The day after William and Kate’s engagement was announced, James wrote he “thought how lucky William was to be marrying my capable, down-to-earth big sister, and I felt absolutely reassured that they were in love.”

William and Kate met as undergraduate students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2001, and, while it’s a little murky when their relationship actually began, it was sometime before 2003. “It was beautiful to see how he brought out her confidence,” James wrote. “She’d blossomed. I knew he’d look after her, and he does to this day.”

Especially so as Kate battled cancer last year, which she announced she was in remission from this past January. James is a father to 1-year-old Inigo—whom he shares with wife Alizee—and, even though their family has grown (both Kate and Pippa are parents to three kids apiece), the original Middleton five are as close as ever.

Of Inigo, James said, per Tatler, “He’s fortunate to have older cousins who can now pick him up and show him things, and as he grows up, they’ll be able to look out for him. There’s definitely an element of curiosity [about] a baby that they have.”

Read the original article on InStyle