The Duchess of Cambridge's brother James Middleton, who has been open about his battle with depression, has revealed the gift from his sister which helped him cope.
Almost ten years ago for James’ birthday, Kate and her family gave James his very own colony of 1000 Buckfast bees.
Middleton, a known animal lover who regularly poses with his crew of dogs, opened up about how his beekeeping hobby has kept him going through low patches in a personal essay for the Daily Mail.
He wrote: “I’d always harbored a longing to keep bees, but it wasn’t until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality. Then, my family—mum, dad and my sisters Catherine and Pippa—clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable.”
Middleton says his bee colony has grown exponentially since then: “I now have almost half a million bees in eight hives in a meadow at our family home, Bucklebury Manor in Berkshire. And I’ve whiled away many happy hours with them during lockdown. I’m in awe of these incredible insects.”
He added: "When I’m with my bees it’s as if someone’s pressed the mute button on everything that’s worrying me.”
Middleton previously spoke to Insider about the role animals, especially dogs, can play in helping people cope with mental health issues.
He told Insider: "I find it easier talking to the dogs than I sometimes do to humans."
“With just putting dogs in the right places in hospitals and mental health centres, you really break through because people just chat about the dog, and you have conversations," he said.
