We're all familiar with the beautiful Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (also known as Kate Middleton), but you may not be so familiar with her brother James, or for that matter, his gorgeous bride Alizée Thevenet. The duchess's brother, 34, is a successful entrepreneur and businessman who has founded a cake-making business, and more recently a personalised greeting card venture - Boomf - which has proved very popular in the UK. On the 11th September this year, he married French financial analyst Alizee Thenevet in an intimate ceremony in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France - which was attended by sister Kate and her husband Prince William with their three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis.
The two became engaged in 2019 during a holiday in England's stunning Lake District, and had to postpone their wedding twice because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the couple battled through, and managed to eventually have their special day. James took to Instaram to share a loving message just after the pair tied the knot. "Mr & Mrs Middleton ð¬ð§ ð«ð·," he wrote. "Yesterday I married the love of my life surrounded by family, friends and of course a few dogs in the beautiful village [of] Bormes-les-Mimosas. Words cannot describe how happy I am." Aw! Let's learn more about Alizée, including how she and James met, her background, and the hobbies she and her new hubby share.James met his sweetheart back in 2018 while he was working for his charity Pets As Therapy. His beloved dog, Ella, who he credits for helping him through his spell of depression, ran up to Alizee, and James followed.
James wrote in The Telegraph, “I have Ella to thank for introducing me to Alizée in 2018. Ella was lying at my feet under the table; realising she might want some water, I trusted her to take herself over to the water bowl across the terrace. However, she made a beeline for Alizée.” Ella proved to be the perfect excuse to have a chat with Alizée, and from there the pair really hit it off.
“Little did I know, but I had just met my future wife, all thanks to Ella,” added James. “If I hadn’t trusted Ella, I wouldn’t have brought her to the South Kensington Club and she wouldn’t have been able to say hi to the woman who became my fiancée.” Good dog!
French-born Alizée, 34, works as a Director for TreasurySpring, a financial technology company which is based in London. She got her undergraduate degree in accounting and finance when studying in Brussels, Belgium, and after spending time travelling went to London for further study, graduating from Queen Mary, University of London in 2013 with a Master’s degree in Investment and Finance. Since then, her career has gone from strength to strength, and she has progressed fast in the finance industry.
While she of course speaks French, Thevenet can also speak Spanish and English. She's also extremely well-travelled, and grew up between six different countries—Germany, Indonesia, Chile, France, Belgium, and England. Alizée is extremely cultured, and regularly posts stunning images to her Instagram in remote and exotic destinations.
Alizée's unique first name is a tribute to her father Jean-Gabriel Thevenet’s deep love of sailing.
Dad Jean-Gabriel explained the story: “My daughter is named after my first love, which is wind-surfing, and the Alize wind that fills the sails.”
As a former French diplomat, Alizée travelled with her father all over the world when she was young, and the two share a close relationship.
Alizée is definitely an outdoorsy type. She's reportedly a keen skier, and also enjoys watersports, and sailing, like her dad, having sailed a boat with James on a recent holiday to Sicily.
She's also taken up another rather surprising hobby - bee-keeping! “I’m glad, too, that my fiancée, Alizee, is a convert,” James has said. “Early in our relationship I bought her a beekeeping suit and when she’s helping me with the hives, as she has been during the weeks of lockdown we’ve spent at Bucklebury, she couldn’t be happier.”
Hmm. Definitely dog. It's how she and James met! The couple share a deep love for their canine friends. The two are proud parents to no less than six dogs: Ella, Zulu, Mabel, Inka, Luna and Nala.
The pooched are stars of their mother's Instagram, and she refers to them as her “BFF”s in one post.
She and James helped to raise dog Luna’s litter of six puppies during in lockdown, and gave one of the puppies to Prince William and Kate. Aw!
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