James Matthews Pippa Middleton Fiancé
Pippa Middleton's wedding is HAPPENING, you guys, and the internet has been abuzz at her every move and detail. The dress! The "boot camp"! That ring! Of course, Middleton isn't the only one getting married - but compared to Kate's younger sister, Pippa's fiancé James Matthews is a less familiar face to the general public, if not necessarily in British royalty-adjacent monied social circles.
But Matthews is more than just Pippa's soon-to-be groom. So, here are eleven things to know about the latest addition to the Middleton family:
1. His current job is in finance.
After receiving training at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (now a part of Goldman Sachs), Matthews moved to Nordic Optics Ltd as a senior equity options trader, and is now in charge of his own hedge fund, Eden Rock Capital Management Group.
2. But he used to be a professional race car driver.
While at Uppingham School, an 18-years-old Matthews won the British and European Forumula Renault Championship for Manor Motorsport. He got the racing gene from his father David, who also used to be a racer.
3. He got his education at elite prep school Eton.
You may know Eton from its other distinguished alumni, including Kate's beau Prince William. (And just about every other famous British man on the planet.)
4. His brother Spencer is a reality TV star.
Spencer was one of the cast members of British reality show Made in Chelsea, and did a stint on the British version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! However, he left that show after admitting to being addicted to steroids. He also wrote a memoir, Confessions of a Chelsea Boy, where he claimed to have slept with 1,000 women (he was 25 at the time).
Matthews's other brother, Michael, was a pioneering mountaineer. At 23, he became the youngest British man to climb Mount Everest, but tragically died on the descent. The Matthews family started the Michael Matthews Foundation in his name, which builds schools in remote communities.
Matthews also has an older half-sister, Nina Mackie.
5. His parents are hoteliers.
Father David, formerly a mechanic and then racer, and mother Jane, an artist and former Dior employee who was born in Zimbabwe, nowadays own Eden Rock St. Barth's (which gave Matthews his hedge fund's namesake), located in the French West Indies. They bought the property in 1995; it is thriving, and gorgeous, still:
6. His net worth is pretty astonishing.
The younger Middleton has a sizable net worth on her own - $294,000, according to AOL. But according to the Evening Standard, Matthews is worth over $2 billion.
7. He proposed to Pippa in England's Lake District.
The couple was on a weekend romantic getaway when Matthews popped the question. It's quite easy to see why he picked that area:
Bonus: the Lake District is where Bill Clinton proposed to Hillary Clinton, and also where Sir Paul McCartney proposed to his now ex-wife Heather Mills.
8. He and Pippa started dating again in 2015.
They'd previously dated a bit in 2012.
9. He's super into adventurous sports.
Perhaps Matthews and Middleton knew they were meant to be after they did a 6-hour Norwegian ski race, the Birkebeiner, together. The couple also completed a 47-mile swim/run course, Sweden's Otilo.
10. The couple lives together in his formidable mansion.
Matthews has a £17 million (a little over $22 million) mansion in west London, where he lives with Pippa and her dog, Rafa. It has a gym, an underground movie theater, six bedrooms, and an elevator. He also owns another property in Chelsea, as well as a £3 million (a little less than $4 million) private jet.
11. He's the heir to a Scottish title.
Matthews's father currently holds the title of Laird of Glen Affric, and owns a 10,000-acre Scottish estate. (Near, interestingly enough, near the fabled Loch Ness). When the title passes down to him, Middleton would then be Lady Glen Affric.
Follow Lilian on Twitter.
You Might Also Like
