I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating: for years, I always thought James Middleton was the black sheep of his family, the only Middleton without any hustle or business sense. Turns out, he’s not the black sheep at all, he’s a chip off the old block. Carole and Michael Middleton’s Party Pieces left behind a trail of financial destruction in the wake of PP’s bankruptcy. As it turned out, James and his parents have a lot in common: they don’t pay their bills, they defraud small vendors, they use their royal connections to secure millions in “investment” and then the businesses go up in smoke and all of that investment capital has disappeared.
In 2022, James sold his failing Nazi marshmallow business Boomf. James had bilked investors of millions of dollars over the years for Boomf, only to see the business never turn a profit and then get sold off at an extreme loss to an Estonian businessman. But no worries for James, he had already mysteriously purchased a $2 million home in Bucklebury AND started a fourth business after his first three attempts left a trail of angry creditors and defrauded investors. The fourth business: Ella & Co, a raw dog food company (which was later renamed Hello Ella). Guess what? That business isn’t going well either.
Life’s roller-coaster never ceases for the Princess of Wales’s brother, James Middleton. Undaunted by the collapse last year of Boomf — his company which sold novelty marshmallows among other gifts but accumulated trading losses of almost £2 million — he turned his attention to starting a new dog food company.
Hello Ella, named after his beloved spaniel, was dedicated to the ‘happiness and well-being of dogs’. However, at the beginning of this year, the company’s namesake passed away — a blow to James which was followed by the joy of learning that his French wife, Alizee, is expecting their first child.
But now, once more, comes challenging news as Hello Ella’s assets are down to just £92,510 — compared with £334,591 the previous year.
James, 36, takes this in his stride. ‘I’m in a business that I love,’ he tells me, pointing out that it’s a young company, supported by an impressive team of investors.’
Indeed. They include buccaneering insurance and property entrepreneur Raja Balasuriya — a man, I’m assured, who ‘won’t fritter his money’.
Again, chip off the old Middleton block – this is his fourth business and he started it as his third business was crashing and burning. That’s how this raw dog food company will end up too – with vendors left high and dry, with a trail of investors left with only a tax write-off. Between James, Carole, Michael and Dodgy Gary Goldsmith, I am left wondering if all of the Middleton-Goldsmiths are scammers and frauds? Whatever is happening with this family, they still have enough power to shut down detailed reporting and investigations in the wake of their scandals. After Party Pieces went bankrupt, there was a blitz of reporting and then a whole lot of nothing. The royal reporters won’t even touch it, they won’t breathe a word of it. I’m surprised the Mail even bothered with this.
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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
Pippa and James Middleton arriving at Westminster Abbey, central London, ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.,Image: 774175134, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon 
Carole Middleton, Michael Middleton, Pippa Middleton and James Middleton at the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774203418, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Veysey/Shutterstock / Avalon 
Pippa Middleton and James Middleton at the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774203484, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Veysey/Shutterstock / Avalon
Pippa Matthews ( Pippa Middleton) and husband James Matthews depart The Coronation Service of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, England, UK on Saturday 6 May, 2023.,Image: 774231026, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon 
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