James Middleton’s decision to come clean about his depression was met with Carole and Michael’s worries. “They were very nervous. They worried I would be exposing myself over what was a very private thing,” he told Tatler in 2019. Behind the scenes, they were working with James to learn ways to help him. Carole and Michael attended sessions during the year he was in cognitive behavioral therapy. “That was so important because that helped them understand me and how my mind was working,” he told The Telegraph.
With the help of his family and dogs, James learned to cope. And his relationship with his parents proved to be stronger than ever. So much so that James and his then-fiancee Alizée Thevenet moved in with them during the COVID-19 lockdown. In May 2020, he posted a video to Instagram that gave a glimpse into pandemic life at the Middletons’ Berkshire home. The clip suggested the four spent quite a bit of time sitting outside, sipping on red wine and chatting.
Even when he’s not staying there, James still goes frequently, using his parents’ manor to keep bees, he noted in the Daily Mail. But he has also had his parents to thank for some of his other living arrangements. Carole and Michael are the ones who purchased his old London home. However, in 2021, James moved to a $2 million mansion in Berkshire, just a stone’s throw away from his parents.
