James Middleton reveals the 'most fantastic birthday gift imaginable' he received from sister Catherine

James Middleton has revealed the ‘fantastic’ birthday gift he received from sister Duchess Catherine.

• James Middleton has revealed the 'most fantastic birthday gift imaginable' that he received from sister Duchess Catherine.
• The Duchess of Cambridge’s younger brother opened up on how the thoughtful gift was inspired by one of his childhood fascinations.
• In other royal news (opens in new tab), Sophie, Countess of Wessex is set to become the first royal to ever take part in this virtual occasion (opens in new tab).

James Middleton has revealed a ‘fantastic’ and thoughtful gift that he received from his older sister Duchess Catherine (opens in new tab).

The Duchess of Cambridge’s brother took to his Instagram page with a fascinating video of him practising beekeeping, revealing that he had written about his love for the hobby in the Daily Mail.

‘I’ve written a little love letter to the amazing little honey bee ❤️🍯 🐝 which is featured in today’s @dailymail,’ he wrote alongside the video.

‘I’ve been a passionate advocate of these ingenious, industrious little creatures since I became a beekeeper myself nearly a decade ago, having fallen for them as a child,’ he opened up, revealing that he now has ‘almost half a million bees in eight hives in a meadow’ at the Middleton’s family home, Bucklebury Manor in Berkshire.

‘I’ve whiled away many happy hours with them during lockdown,’ he revealed, adding, ‘I’m in awe of these incredible insects. They perform a little waggle dance, an insect version of sat-nav, to signal to each other where the best flowers are.’

Opening up in the Daily Mail letter, James revealed that he received a ‘fantastic’ beekeeping gift from his older sisters Pippa and Duchess Catherine, as well as the trio’s parents Carole (opens in new tab) and Michael Middleton (opens in new tab).

And it was all inspired by one of James’ childhood fascinations.

‘While I’ve been intrigued by the natural world for as long as I can remember — as a child I used to have an ant colony and worm farms — I suppose my fascination with bees dates back to reading about Winnie-The-Pooh and his honey jar,’ wrote James.

‘I’d always harboured a longing to keep bees, but it wasn’t until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality.’

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Opening up about the gift he received from his family, James continued, ‘Then, my family —mum, dad and my sisters Catherine and Pippa — clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable’.

‘A delivery van arrived with a large buzzing box with the cautionary label: 'Live Bees.' Inside was the nucleus — the start — of my colony: 1,000 Buckfast bees,’ he explained, exclaiming, ‘I was delighted!’

What a lovely and thoughtful gift from the Middletons!