'I didn't feel like I had the right to have depression'

When James Middleton, brother of the Princess of Wales, fell into a mental health crisis, he shut out the world. He explains to Helen Coffey how Ella, his canine companion, saved him

- Helen Coffey

“I’ve got four dogs in my office today, and they’re drinking water exceptionally loudly – sorry if you happen to hear that…”

It’s a particularly fitting opening gambit from James Middleton, the considerably lower-profile younger brother of Catherine, the Princess of Wales. Fitting, because he’s chatting to me over Zoom from his Berkshire farmhouse to promote his new book, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life. It charts the 37-yearold’s life from childhood, taking in the extraordinary shift as his sister became one of the most famous women on the planet, his successful forays into entrepreneurialism after swapping university for the world of business, and his sudden, cliff-edge plummet into clinical depression and subsequent recovery. But, as the title would suggest, it is just as much a story about his beloved hound, Ella, and how she helped bring him back from the brink.

I actually can’t hear his menagerie slaking their thirst but I do get to see one of them. I can’t help letting out a squeal of delight as she jumps onto his lap and her sleek, honey-hued head pops into view. “This is Mabel,” he says, smoothing her silky ears, and I feel myself getting misty-eyed. I was already “dog broody”; reading James’s book has tipped me over the edge into a fullblown obsession.