As we wait patiently for a photo drop from James Middleton’s wedding to financial analyst Alizée Thevenet over the weekend in the South of France, my Royally Obsessed co-host Roberta Fiorito and I couldn’t help but dig into the details of their courtship on our most recent episode of the podcast to find out more about how their relationship came to be.
Lucky for us, James—aka Kate Middleton’s brother—himself spoke to the Telegraph back in March and shared the fairy tale-esque origin story of how he first met his future bride in 2018. And as it turns out, he has his dog Ella to thank.
“The two of us (Ella and me) were at the South Kensington Club in Chelsea,” he shared. “Ella was lying at my feet under the table; realizing she might want some water, I trusted her to take herself over to the water bowl across the terrace.”
That’s when things went awry, according to James. “She made a beeline for Alizée. Rather embarrassed, I went over to apologize and bring Ella back. But Alizée thought I was the waiter and ordered her drink while continuing to stroke Ella, who at this point was on her back lapping up the attention.”
Whoa, Ella—way to open the door to conversation for the future bride and groom. James added: “If I hadn’t trusted Ella, I wouldn’t have brought her to the South Kensington Club and she wouldn’t have been able to say hi to the woman who became my fiancée.” (Of course, as of last weekend, Alizée is now his wife.)
Talk about a royal meet cute. Now, back to refreshing Instagram for photos. (Did you see the pic that James already shared? Swoon.)
For more about the royals, listen to the Royally Obsessed podcast with co-hosts Rachel Bowie and Roberta Fiorito. Subscribe now or follow us on Instagram @royallyobsessedpodcast.
