Kate Middleton's Brother James Changes Name of Business for Emotional Reason

The Princess of Wales' younger brother spoke about the shift on social media

James Middleton is rebranding his business to honor the bond with his beloved dog who died earlier this year.

On Tuesday, Kate Middleton’s younger brother opened up about changing the name of his natural pet food company from Ella & Co to James & Ella. James, 36, launched the business in 2020 and named it after his beloved cocker spaniel, who he credited as his strength while struggling with depression.

“James & Ella: a new chapter 📖,” he wrote on Instagram. “Well, since Ella passed away at the beginning of the year, I’ve spent a long time reflecting on how much she transformed my life. It was a start of a new chapter without her, but I wanted to recognise the incredible bond we had, and to signify the symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs. Through James & Ella, I’ll be carrying on the legacy of the most incredible dog I ever had the pleasure of caring for, as she cared for me, with lots of exciting news to share later this year…”

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The update came with a smiling shot of James in a field with his dog Nala, who is Ellla’s granddaughter.

“I am surrounded by her legacy 💙,” he added.

On June 8, James said it officially was “six months without Ella” and shared a doodle of them together on social media. In January, Princess Kate’s brother announced that his dear dog died at age 15 following a brief illness.

"It is with great sadness that I announce my dear Ella has passed away," he wrote on his personal Instagram page. "For 15 years Ella has been at my side, from my darkest days to my happiest. I'm going to miss her terribly."

"I'm just about holding it together to write this, and despite the fact I knew this day was coming, it doesn't make it any easier," he said. "Goodnight my darling Ella, [my wife] Alizee and the dogs will take good care of me."

Ella was the first dog James owned in adulthood, and he has been vocal about how she was the light during his darkest days of depression.

"I got this diagnosis, and Ella came to all of my therapy sessions, which I was reluctant to go from the start. With her by my side, I really became confident in understanding that I had a mental illness,” he said on the BBC's Sunday Morning Live in 2020. "I would go so far as to say that I owe Ella my life, and she doesn't know that.”

The entrepreneur wrote on the James & Ella website that he created the company “as a way of giving back to my dogs that have done so much for me.” James and his wife, Alizee (who he met through Ella!), have six other dogs — Zulu, Inka, Luna, Mabel, Nala and Isla.

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In another family tie, Ella was the mother of Lupo, the black cocker spaniel that Princess Kate and Prince William had for nine years until the dog's death in November 2020.

PEOPLE previously confirmed that the Prince and Princess of Wales also got their next dog from James. Another black cocker spaniel — named Orla, meaning “golden princess” in Celtic — later joined Princess Charlotte in birthday portraits when the royal turned 7 last year and 8 in May.

This year is one of change for James and Alizee, who tied the knot in September 2021. Last month, they shared the happy news that Alizee is pregnant with their first child.

On July 5, James posted two photos of his financial analyst wife resting her hand under her baby bump. "We couldn’t be more excited," he captioned the snaps.

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The James & Ella founder also showed another view of the bump with two of their dogs on his professional social media page.

"We have a new member of the pack coming soon, we couldn’t be more excited,” the caption read.

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