James Middleton‘s forthcoming memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, explores some of the most important moments of his life.
As the brother of Princess Kate Middleton, James has attended a plethora of important royal family events, including his sister’s wedding to Prince William.
James had the honor of giving a Bible reading at Princess Kate and Prince William’s royal wedding, which took place on April 29, 2011. In his memoir, James reflected on his part in the regal event and the ‘nervousness’ it induced.
“The wedding was barely eight weeks away when Catherine and William, on the phone together and bubbling with excitement, asked me brightly if I might be up to doing a reading on their big day at Westminster Abbey,” James revealed in an excerpt from Meet Ella published by the Daily Mail.
“A reading? I thought they were joking,” he explained. “My mind raced back to school and my stumbling, incoherent efforts to read in front of the class. What were they thinking?”
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James’ nervousness was entirely understandable as the Princess of Wales’ brother has dyslexia.
“Being dyslexic, reading is my least favorite occupation,” he wrote.
When James asked if Princess Kate and Prince William were serious in their request to have him read at their wedding, the couple apparently replied enthusiastically.
“‘Seriously,’ they chorused,” he recalled. “Oh no! I thought.”
Despite his trepidation about the request, James recalled pretending he would happily take on the important role in his sister’s royal wedding.
“If that was what my sister and William wanted, then of course I’d do my best not to let them down,” he explained in his memoir.
After attempting to prepare for the big day on his own, James met voice coach Anthony Gordon Lennox, who was able to instill confidence in the James & Ella founder.
With the help of a phonetic version of the reading, which included notes on how to intonate certain words, James made his way to Westminster Abbey on the morning of Kate’s wedding.
“I remember walking into the Abbey – awestruck all over again by the grandeur and magnificence of it,” he noted.
James also decided not to focus on Princess Kate and Prince William while he gave the reading, for fear that they’d distract him somehow.
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“I didn’t cast a glance at Catherine and William, not wanting to exchange smiles with them in case I erupted into nervous giggles,” he explained. “I wanted to do them both proud.”
Once James started speaking and he noticed “happy faces” in front of him, his “nervousness fell away.” The royal wedding’s Bible reading was reportedly broadcast to an audience of a billion people around the globe and was a huge success.
“It was the largest audience for a Bible reading ever,” James wrote in Meet Ella. “I received thousands of messages and invitations to read lessons at churches around the globe that would have given me scope for a Bible-reading world tour.”
Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life is set to be released on Thursday, September 26.
