Sure, James Middleton may not have any biological children, but he wasn't going to let a technicality like that keep him from celebrating Father's Day.
James sees his sisters' kids—three royal tikes for Kate Middleton, and one baby for Pippa Middleton—and up the ante. He is the proud dog dad to five furry kiddos: Ella, Zulu, Inka, Luna, and Mabel. And while his fatherly duties are more geared toward walking and training than, say, diaper-changing and bottle-feeding, he loves his kids all the same.
On Sunday, the proud dad shared a family portrait of his pups on Instagram. (Admittedly, something he does fairly often. And who can blame him? James has some cute doggy kids.) "Happy Fathers Day to all the Dog Dads out there! (And of course the regular dads!)" he wrote, adding hashtags like #dogdad and #furrychildren for good measure.
This modern family has a matriarch, too—and no, it's not James's serious girlfriend, Alizee Thevenet. The mother of the Middleton clan is actually Ella, the very beautiful spaniel that Inka, Luna, and Zulu all call "mom." (Or "mum," actually. They're British.)
Middleton clarified this recently, when he honored Ella with a Mother's Day Instagram post. It seems that in addition to some family time, Ella got a bouquet of tulips for her big day.
It would have been easy for James Middleton to follow in his sisters' footsteps: settle down, start a traditional nuclear family, attend royal events with said nuclear family. But that isn't his way.
He's carving out his own, dog-centric path—and in doing so, he's providing a model for other aspiring dog dads everywhere.
Chloe is a News Writer for Townandcountrymag.com, where she covers royal news, from the latest additions to Meghan Markle’s staff to Queen Elizabeth’s monochrome fashions; she also writes about culture, often dissecting TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Killing Eve.
