Kate Middleton‘s brother James Middleton has recreated Love Actually‘s famous ‘carol singers’ scene with his beloved dog Isla to share an important Christmas adoption appeal.
James, 37, is a proud ‘dog dad’, patron of the welfare charity, as well as the bestselling author of Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life.
He is also the founder of dog food company Ella & Co – named in honour of his late cocker spaniel and companion of 13 years.
In a new video that was published on Dogs Trust’s official Instagram account, James highlighted the not-for-profit’s famous slogan ‘A Dog is For Life, Not Just For Christmas’ with the help of his gorgeous golden retriever puppy Isla.
Putting his own twist on the iconic scene featuring Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln, James arrives at Isla’s ‘house’ carrying a bunch of cue cards, the first of which reads: ‘Say it’s carol singers.’
Isla relays James’ message to her dog partner, who tells her to ‘give them a quid and bugger off’ – just like Keira Knightley’s on-screen husband Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) after Mike (Andrew Lincoln) arrives to profess his love for Julie.
Instead of a long-awaited romantic confession, however, James’ messages highlight the reality that hundreds of dogs are gifted to friends and family over Christmas – only for them to be abandoned in the New Year.
‘With any luck, by next year, there will be fewer dogs in shelters,’ James’ cue cards read.
‘But for now let me say, with hope and an agenda, because at Christmas you spread the word,’ they continue, dogs are for life – not just for Christmas.’
He also shared ‘there are plenty looking for a home including these ones’ before holding up a cue card with the names and pictures of dogs up for adoption at the charity.
The video, titled ‘Love Unconditionally’, ends with Isla following James out onto the street before jumping up to lick his face affectionately.
The heartwarming clip was shared on Dogs Trust’s official Instagram account earlier this evening, with the official account for James & Ella highlighting the significance of the slogan that was coined by the charity’s former chief executive Clarissa Baldwin in 1978.
The comment read: ‘Did you know? Love Actually is 21 years old now, and the phrase “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas” is 45 years old! It still rings true today.’
Fans praised the initiative as well as the Princes of Wales’ younger brother for the ‘moving’ video in the comments section, with one person writing: ‘Such a special message delivered in such a beautiful and meaningful way!
Another comment read: ‘And I’m crying! Thank you for such an important message beautifully told. Dogs are so precious, they deserve the world.’
A third Instagram user noted: ‘Oh my goodness. So poignant and moving. Beautifully done James. Happy Christmas.’
One person shared the video ‘has brought me to tears’, adding: ‘Merry Christmas, James, and thank you for your work and devotion.’
James revealed Isla had joined him and wife Alizee Thevenet’s pack of puppies in an Instagram post in 2022.
Introducing the now two-year-old golden retriever, James shared a picture of Alizee cuddling up to Isla and their dog Mabel, captioning it: ‘My Golden Girls.’
He explained: ‘Many of you have been asking if we kept a puppy from Mabel’s recent litter and…of course we did…introducing Isla.
‘Her name is a little nod to her Scottish routes and [she] has already found her place in the pack.’
The Ella & Co. founder previously revealed that his Golden Retriever Mabel had welcomed a litter of eight puppies this summer.
In his social media post, he also shared a snap of all his dogs together, including James’ five cocker spaniels: Ella, Inca, Luna, Zulu and Nala.
James also posted a sweet clip to his Instagram stories showing him teaching the puppy her name.
Despite the ever-expanding size of his pack, James will always have a special place in his heart for Ella – the cocker spaniel he adopted when he was in his first year at the University of Edinburgh.
Over the next 13 years, James’ beloved cocker spaniel – who is the inspiration of his book Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life – was a constant source of support as the entrepreneur struggled with his mental health.
During an appearance on The One Show in September – ahead of the release of his memoir – James recalled ‘sharing a sleeping bag under the stars’ with his late spaniel Ella when he was a struggling student at the Scottish University.
The father-of-one explained how he would often stop off in the Lake District on the way back to his family home in Berkshire from Edinburgh during university breaks.
He said: ‘Here I spent many a time with Ella. We would share a sleeping bag out under the stars and it was just a really special time.’
When he was 20, James dropped out of Edinburgh after failing his first-year exams and moved to London with Ella.
Over the next few years, James – who founded the marshmallow business Boomf in 2013 – said his mental health began ‘steadily declining’.
He said: ‘All the colour in my life was sucked away. I got no sense of enjoyment from anything.’
In his book, James details almost taking a fatal leap off the roof of his London home in 2017 – but was distressed by the thought of what would happen to his beloved spaniel if he died.
He writes in his memoir: ‘As I pace, I look down through the skylight and see my spaniel Ella’s gentle eyes looking back up at me.
‘Like me, she has been wakeful all night. She senses my strange, agitated state of mind […]
‘What would Ella do without me? She depends on me and I on her. The feeling is entirely reciprocal […] In that instant I know I will not jump. What would happen to Ella if I died? How long would she wait alone in the flat for someone to find her?’
During his The One Show appearance, James said: ‘I spent a huge amount of time thinking that I was looking after Ella, and actually, really, Ella was the one who was looking out for me.’
In March 2021, James detailed in an interview with The Telegraph how Ella – who had disapproved of previous girlfriends – ‘made a beeline’ for his future wife Alizée at a private members club in South Kensington in 2018.
After approaching his future wife to apologise, James said: ‘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.’
The couple went on to marry in September 2021 and they welcomed their son Inigo in October 2023.
In May 2020, James set up a raw dog food company called Ella & Co named after his beloved dog.
Last January, James announced that Ella had sadly passed away at the age of 15 and said in a touching Instagram post how his beloved dog had supported him ‘from my darkest days to my happiest’.
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