User:Nirame/James William Middleton

James William Middleton (born 15 April 1987) is an English businessman, whose bakeries, including the Cake Kit Company and Nice Cakes, make thematic cakes and cake-making kits for birthdays and brands. He is the brother of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and read the lesson at her wedding to Prince William.

Early life and education
James was born in 1987, the youngest child and only son of Michael Middleton (b. 23 June 1949) who was then a British Airways flight dispatcher, and Carole Goldsmith (b. 31 January 1955), who was a former flight attendant. His father's family came from Leeds, in Yorkshire, and one of his great-grandmothers, called Olivia Lupton, belonged to a business family active in Leeds for generations. Carole Middleton's mother's family were labourers and miners from County Durham. His elder sisters are Catherine Elizabeth (born 1982) and Phillipa Charlotte (born 1983).

Prior to James' birth, his parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984, to September 1986, where eldest sister Catherine went to an English language nursery school, before the family returned to their home in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Inspired by the birth of her son James in 1987, Carole set up 'Party Pieces', a company which began by making party bags and which now sells party supplies and decorations by mail order. By 1995 the firm, run by both parents, was so successful that it moved into a range of farm buildings at Ashampstead Common, and since then the Middletons are reported to have become millionaires.

James was educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, followed by Marlborough College. He started a degree in English at Edinburgh University in 2006 but left after one year as he was more eager to start his own business. He now lives in a Chelsea flat, reportedly purchased by his parents for £780,000 in 2002, with his sister Pippa and his black cocker spaniel puppy Ella.

Business
His cake-making business was inspired by reading that a mother’s baking is a highly evocative childhood memory. He started baking himself, using the family kitchen, then expanded into a freight container and his business now bakes in converted barns. Thematic cakes are baked for companies such as Jigsaw, 3 and Ralph Lauren, and he was commissioned to create 21 cakes for Hello! magazine's 21st birthday. "The entrepreneur was said to have caused 'shudders' at Buckingham Palace" after taking part in the Hello photoshoot and making 21 different cakes for them. "Each was iced with one of the magazine's memorable front pages, several of them depicting members of the Royal family, including, Diana, Princess of Wales. " Birthday cake baking kits are created for the domestic market with themes such as dinosaurs and football. These are distributed through his parents' company, Party Pieces.

His business has been nominated for several awards and won Smarta 100 and Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur awards.

Royal Wedding
He read the lesson at the wedding of his sister Catherine to Prince William. This was the Romans chapter 12, verses 1–2 and 9–18. At the risk of upsetting Prince Charles, the reading was taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible rather than the traditional Authorized Version of King James.

The reading was well-received; for example, the Daily Express wrote "The 23-year-old spoke faultlessly, even though he must have been well aware that some two billion eyes were upon him."

Public Image
James is said to enjoy dressing in drag and in 2008 was pictured in newspapers wearing a polka dot dress belonging to his sister Kate, as well as one belonging to his other sister Pippa. James also posted pictures of himself online dressed as a French maid as well as phtotos featuring jovial nudity, attracting newspaper commentary. "The latest snap is of four chaps — backs to camera — with their trousers around their ankles and bottoms on show standing on a country road appropriately called Back Lane." "Pippa and Carole answered the door at the Middleton family home in Berkshire and accepted an invitation to look through the photos. Asked whether they were photos of James, Pippa said ‘yes’ and smiled briefly as she flicked through them." "While Kate and Pippa are generally regarded as regal and refined, James seems to be known as the wild child of the family."

Seconds after James delivered his Bible reading at the Royal wedding, thousands of people then began searching for “James Middleton gay” on the search engine Google. While stating that there is no reason to be found online that Mr Middleton is gay, Advocate.com reported that so many people searched for the term “James Middleton gay,” Google now auto-suggests the term.

Film
In William & Kate, a television movie released on 18 April 2011 about his sister's romance, the part of James Middleton was played by Calvin Goldspink.