It’s not every day you learn your sister is marrying the future king of England, but Catherine, Princess of Wales, made it seem that way when she dropped the bombshell news in a local pub.
James Middleton opens up about the low-key way he and Pippa Middleton learned their older sister was engaged to Prince William in his new memoir, “Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life.”
It all happened after the close-knit trio walked to a pub in a village near their childhood home in Bucklebury, England.
The former Kate Middleton, her brother writes, shared her big news as they sat “chatting quietly, catching up on our lives.”
“Pippa and I want to be visibly excited, but we have to tamp down our emotions so no one suspects a thing,” he writes.
“We make a quiet acknowledgment that we’ll always be there for each other, look out for one another, support each other. No matter how crazy things get,” he adds.
Kate’s firsthand confirmation about her and William’s future came as “terrific buzz” about the couple’s possible engagement spread across England, her brother writes.
As for he and sister Pippa, they couldn’t have been happier about the couple’s plans to marry, which came a decade after Kate and William met and fell in love as students at St. Andrews University.
“William has been in our lives for so long and we’ve grown very fond of him,” James Middleton recalled thinking. “He feels like our older brother and he and Catherine are so clearly a good fit, just right for each other.”
Kate and William tied the knot in a televised wedding April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey as millions of viewers tuned in from around the world.
James Middleton honored the couple by reading a Bible verse during their wedding.
Kate and William have gone on to welcome three children together: George, 11, Charlotte, 9, and Louis, 6.
Earlier this year, the royal couple honored their 13th wedding anniversary by sharing a never-before-seen portrait from their wedding day on social media.
The portrait shows Kate smiling in her wedding gown and veil. William stands behind his bride wearing his military uniform.
“13 years ago today!” the photo’s caption reads.
In March, Kate announced that she had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer after undergoing a planned abdominal surgery in January.
James Middleton honored her at the time by posting a throwback photo of the siblings as children, writing, “Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too.”
In September, she shared that she had completed chemotherapy treatment.
“The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,” she wrote in a statement on social media.
She added, “This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.”
James Middleton recently gave a brief update about his sister’s condition during an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Kelly Cobiella.
“She’s doing OK,” James Middleton said during the interview, which aired on TODAY Sept. 26.