Prince William Used to ‘Make an Excuse’ to Get Out of Playing Competitive Card Games with Kate Middleton's Family

Prince William used to make up excuses to get out of Middleton family game night because he found them too competitive, according to Kate Middleton’s younger brother James Middleton.

James, while speaking on the Walking the Dog podcast with author and animal aficionado Emily Dean, said that the current Prince of Wales — who started dating Kate when James was a teenager — would come over for dinners at the Middleton house, and that no family get-together was complete without a card game.

James, 37, is the youngest of Carole and Michael Middleton’s three children, behind eldest sister Kate, 42, and Pippa Middleton Matthews, 41. But when the cards came out (typically Racing Demon), William, now 42, suddenly had other errands to run or chores to do.

“The Middletons are quite competitive, and they love a game, don’t they?” Dean asked James on the show. “And then you made poor William play, and he found it too competitive and actually used to make excuses.”

It’s a revelation James made in his memoir Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, which came out Sept. 24 in the U.S. and Sept. 26 in the U.K., which focuses on not just James’ life but that of his beloved dog Ella, who died in 2023. 

“It was after family dinner, we would be sat there and the cards would come out, and [he would] perhaps see if Ella needed a walk or make an excuse to get down from the table,” James said on the recently released Walking the Dog episode. “Racing Demon is probably the most fast-paced, competitive one that we all play together.”

PEOPLE exclusively excerpted a passage from Meet Ella that explains William’s exit from family card games. In the book, James wrote, “Ella gives [William] a good excuse to escape the fiercely competitive nature of the Middleton family, which emerges every time we play our favorite fast-paced card game, Racing Demon.”

“William flinches at our ruthless determination to win at all costs,” James continued in the book. “He’s delighted to be the first out, and when no longer compelled to take part, he slinks off to cuddle Ella.”

He added, “I think he’d prefer to absent himself from the game entirely. ‘James, does Ella need a walk?’ he asks before we’ve even started dealing the cards. My sisters and I exchange a knowing glance: William, for all the competitive rigor of his military training, is happy to be a loser at cards.”

James said that his paternal grandmother would “thrash” them at the game — even into her eighties.

“She was able to sort of reach across the table and put her cards down and, while we were still sort of trying to sort our cards out, she would almost have finished her deck,” he said.

The Middleton family card games even made it into the Princess of Wales’ moving Sept. 9 video message announcing that she had completed chemotherapy. Her parents Carole and Michael join Kate, William and their kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, for a game around the table.

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” Kate said in the video, filmed in August in Norfolk by Will Warr. “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.”

“The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything,” 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,” Kate continued. “Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”

Since the video’s release, Kate has returned to private meetings at Windsor Castle and, as of Oct. 10, to public royal engagements, accompanying William on a visit to Southport, England to speak to the families of three girls killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class over the summer.

Of watching his sisters Kate and Pippa become mothers — in addition to Kate’s three children, Pippa, too, is a mother of three with husband James Matthews — James told Hello! that “It’s been wonderful, seeing them become mothers and being so dedicated and strong. I’m in awe of that.”

Of he and wife Alizee expanding their own brood someday after welcoming son Inigo, 1, last year, he said, per the Daily Mail, “We’d love to expand the family, but it’s never straightforward.”

Of writing Meet Ella, James told PEOPLE, “It took me on a journey. I hope that my son is able to learn about his own mental health way before I did so that he doesn't have to go through some of the very painful moments that I went through.”

“We speak more openly now about our own mental health as a family. That is a great thing,” he said of his family and, reflecting on their reaction to his book’s revelations, James shared, “The embrace of a hug from a family member means more than words. We're a close family, but it's brought us together. I know they're proud of me for telling my story.”

Although his brother-in-law is the future king, William is fully integrated into the Middleton family, James added. “William has been fantastic in offering advice and support and giving his two cents on the best approach to things,” he said.

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Of his sister Kate, he added, “My love and respect for my sister is huge. I support her and everything that she's doing. I recognize that there's interest in my life because of who she is, and it took time to adjust. But I'm proud of who I am. It just so happens that my sister is who she is.”