James · Middleton, the younger brother of Kate, Princess of Wales, wrote his memoir "Meet Ella: The Dog That Saved My Life", which will be released this week, for which the 37-year-old is once again in the spotlight of the United Kingdom media.
According to news on September 22, local time, some of the contents of James's memoirs were made public, in which he recalled what happened when he was in school attracted attention.
James and his two sisters, Catherine (Kate's real name) and Pippa, were both boarders at Marlborough College, a private school in Wiltshire.
According to James, this is a school with generally good grades for students, and his two older sisters also have excellent academic results, but he alone failed the chemistry exam in the A-Level exam (the university entrance exam for United Kingdom students, which is similar to the college entrance examination) three times, for which his father Michael · Middleton was angry that it was a "waste of money" to send him to an expensive private school.
It is reported that the annual tuition fee of Marlborough College is 32,000 pounds (about 300,000 RMB), which is also a considerable expense for ordinary families in United Kingdom, not to mention that it is still necessary to provide three children to school, but fortunately, the Middleton family still has some strength.
In addition to her mother, Carol · Middleton, who runs a party service business, her great-grandmother of three children, Oliver, has set up a £1.3 million trust fund for future generations, which is said to be the main source of funding for Kate and her younger siblings' education.
In other words, Kate is not a "Cinderella", although her family does not have a noble title, it is also a powerful middle-class family.
James also mentions in his memoirs the reason for his poor academic performance, which he learned years later, suffering from dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.
James said he had read a Bible at Kate and William's wedding, and then an United States production company approached him to make a reading show with an offer of £1 million, but he refused, "The recitation in front of hundreds of people has made me extremely worried and anxious, even if I have been practicing for a long time and there is professional guidance." ”
Fortunately, after his fourth exam, he finally entered the University of Edinburgh to study modules in Geography, Criminology and Environmental Studies, but failed his first year and had to drop out of school and go home.
Soon his parents informed him that they would not give him any further financial support and that if he wanted to work, he could move to the family apartment in Chelsea, London, to live with his sisters.
When James moved to London, his eldest sister and Prince William had been dating for three years, and "I was shocked that the public was so interested in my sister's life. ”
And when the Middletons also became "goldfish in a goldfish bowl", James's mental state was on the verge of collapse. The princess's younger brother said that he has not been in a very good mental state all along, and receiving more attention has undoubtedly added additional pressure.
In the worst case, he almost jumped off the roof, but his dog Ella "saved" him. "As I paced, I looked down through the skylight and saw my Ella looking at me with her gentle eyes. Like me, she didn't sleep all night. She could sense my strange, agitated emotional state. "What would Ella have done without me? She depends on me, and I depend on her. The feeling is entirely mutual...... At that moment, I knew I wasn't going to jump. What happens to Ella if I die? How long will she wait alone in her apartment before someone finds her? ”
After that, James took Ella to the countryside for a month, which also improved his form. James said he wrote the book to remember Ella, "who has been there for me for 15 years, from my darkest days to my happiest days." ”
In January last year, Ella went back to Wangxing.