Prince William Hates Playing Card Games With the "Fiercely Competitive" Middleton Family
"William would flinch at our ruthless determination to win at all costs."
Prince William and Princess Kate recently shared a personal Instagram video, which featured footage of their children—Princess Charlotte, Prince George, and Prince Louis—and Kate's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton. Several video clips showed the Prince and Princess of Wales' children playing card games with their grandparents around a kitchen table. And according to Kate's brother, James Middleton, Prince William loathes playing games with the Middleton clan.
An excerpt from James' new memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, was published by the Daily Mail, and revealed how William really feels about competitive card games. In the book, James explained that the Prince of Wales enjoyed taking spaniel Ella for long walks if it meant he could skip taking part in "competitive" family activities.
"I know, too, that Ella gave him a good excuse to escape the fiercely competitive nature of the Middleton family, which emerged every time we played our favourite fast-paced card game, Racing Demon," James wrote.
He continued, "William would flinch at our ruthless determination to win at all costs. He’d be delighted to be the first out, and when no longer compelled to take part, he’d slink off to cuddle Ella. Better still, he’d absent himself from the game entirely."
Princess Kate's brother recalled, "'James, does Ella need a walk?' he’d ask before we’d even started dealing the cards. My sisters and I would exchange a knowing glance: William, for all the competitive rigour of his military training, was happy to be a loser at cards."
While William obviously wasn't a fan of any games involving fierce competition, the Prince of Wales was extremely happy to spend time with James' dog Ella.
"It helped of course that William was so genuinely fond of Ella," James wrote in his memoir. "When he first encountered her as a tiny puppy at Bucklebury, he was smitten. He’d had a black Labrador, Widgeon, as a boy, and when Widgeon died, he left an empty space. I felt William was pining for a dog when Ella was around."
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Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.