James has now founded his own pet wellbeing company Ella & Co and said he wanted nothing more as a child than a pet dog.
Speaking to OK! Magazine he said: “[I’d] write letters to my parents to try to convince them to let me have one.”
He admitted he was “devastated” not to have one until the family adopted golden retriever Tilly, who lived to the age of 17 and gave James great comfort during his teenage years.
He said: “I found a lot of solace in my dog, Tilly, particularly when I was a young teenager.
“She knew all of my secrets at the time – who I fancied and all of those little tricky parts that come with growing up that I never told anybody.”
Tilly passed away in 2018, however, one of James’s current dogs Mabel is her great-granddaughter.
James also bred the Waleses’ pet spaniel Orla and said how thrilled he was that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have a dog at home.
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He added: “I see them being lucky that they have a dog in their life.”
Earlier this year James sadly lost his beloved 15-year-old dog Ella, who he credited with helping him out of depression and introducing him to his wife Alizée Thevenet.
In January 2019 he wrote in a personal essay for the Daily Mail: “During the day I’d drag myself up and go to work, then just stare with glazed eyes at my computer screen, willing the hours to tick by so I could drive home again.
“Debilitating inertia gripped me. I couldn’t respond to the simplest message so I didn’t open my emails.
“I couldn’t communicate, even with those I loved best: my family and close friends.”
However he explained how his dogs at the time Ella, Mabel, Luna, Zulu and Inca gave some structure to his day when his mental health battles were at their most difficult.
He said: “It’s still challenging to talk about it, but actually the role that my dogs played was fundamental in my recovery and my rehabilitation,
“My dog Ella, in particular, was my reason to get up in the morning, my reason to get dressed and go outside and go for a walk – even if it was pouring with rain.”
