‘Distinct memories’

Kate Middleton’s brother, James Middleton, has detailed the family vacations they used to go on as a family during his childhood years.
James, 37, who boasts a close friendship with both of his sisters — the Princess of Wales and Pippa Middleton — said he has “distinct memories” of the family trips the trio took with their parents, Michael and Carole Middleton.
“Holidays tended to be packing up the car and driving somewhere,” Middleton told The Sunday Times. “My parents, sisters and I would visit different places in the Swiss Alps each summer, such as Les Masses, or we’d go to Avoriaz in France.”
4 Kate Middleton’s brother, James Middleton, has detailed the family vacations they used to go on as a family during his childhood years. @jmidy/Instagram
“Dad would find a mountain refuge where we’d have a rather sloppy soup-like meal for tea, but we were so hungry from a day of hiking that it tasted amazing.”
“Then we would fall fast asleep in our bunk — we’d sleep on one long bunk, all five of us — surrounded by other walkers,” he went on. “The next day we’d wake up early, put our walking boots back on and continue our trek, ending up in another village.”
Middleton, who shares one-year-old son Inigo with wife Alizée Thevenet, then detailed the “distinct memories of the beautiful butterflies, wildflower meadows and the sounds of cowbells.”
4 James, 37, who boasts a close friendship with both of his sisters. Getty Images
Middleton, tied the knot with Thevenet in 2021, said the duo experienced a similar vacation in the summer of 2024 “when we took Inigo to Valmoral in the French Alps to visit Alizée’s family.”
“There were the same smells, the same marmot calls; it was a pinch-me moment that brought me back to childhood summers when I’d hike up mountains with a rucksack that was bigger than me,” he said. “I can’t wait for Inigo to form those sorts of memories.”
While the entrepreneur rarely shares details about his famous sister, he did post a heartfelt message on social media after Princess Catherine publicly revealed her cancer diagnosis to the world last March.
4 Middleton, 37, often joins the royal family on special occasions. Samir Hussein
“Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together,” he wrote along with a picture of the pair as children and a heart emoji. “As a family, we will climb this one with you too.”
The image depicts a youthful Kate standing behind her sibling with both wearing backpacks.
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Touching on his decision to share that particular image, the father of one said that “mountains play a huge role in my life.”
“They remind us that we’re vulnerable; you’ve got to respect them,” he said. “Growing up, we’d also head to the Lake District, staying in rented cottages around Coniston Water and Windermere.”
4 Middleton tied the knot with wife Alizée Thevenet in 2021. jmidy/Instagram
“It’s a very special place for us as a family, and the adventures we’d get up to as kids, from rock climbing on the crags to exploring the caves, were like something from The Famous Five,” he went on, adding that as adults, he and his siblings make sure to spend time together with their families, “especially at Christmas.”
“They are milestones, because [my sisters] remember when their child was wearing something, and how old they were — it takes them back. It’s a lovely thing for them,” he added.