The royal family is notoriously private, and that often extends to their nonroyal relatives, too (with the notable exception of Meghan Markle's outspoken dad). Once in a while, though, royal fans are blessed with a gift — like Kate Middleton's brother's Instagram page, which is now public and full of shirtless photos.
James Middleton just made his Instagram public last week. It took about zero seconds for fans to click through, scroll all the way to the bottom, and realize that he's a certified hottie. Until now, most people didn't even realize that the Duchess of Cambridge had a brother. Now even actress January Jones is crushing on the 31-year-old.
"Wtf, where's HE been hiding?" January reportedly commented on a repost of one of James' photos.
It's the shirtless pics, right? Or maybe all the dogs? Or the way that he looks shirtless with the dogs? Probably all three.
Move aside, Kate and Pippa. This is James Middleton's time to shine.
In many ways, James Middleton's newly public Instagram page looks like any other regular, nonroyal-adjacent Instagram page.
There's no blue "Verified" check mark, for example.
And the first photo is one of his adorable dog, which is inevitable when you have both a pet and an Instagram page.
The second photo is also a dog, and the third, and the fourth, and… OK, there are a lot of dogs! I like him already!
Upon further scrolling, you'll find that James Middleton also rocks a big hipster beard, loves outdoor adventures, and is happy to pose shirtless.
Aaaannnd people are really into it.
I mean, this photo of James holding a lamb seems almost intentionally designed to make straight women melt.
There are several other photos of him shirtless, many of which are selfies. God bless you, James.
Unfortunately for James' new horde of screaming fans (he gained about 10,000 followers over the course of a single day after going public), this selfie king is spoken for. He's currently dating a financial analyst, Alizee Thevenet.
The two were just spotted on vacation together the other day.
But that doesn't mean folks can't ogle at the way he picks his own flowers for a Mother's Day bouquet or holds baby chicks in the palm of his hand!
The page does not feature a single photo of James' royal sister Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. There is, however, at least one shot of James' sister, Pippa.
James also posts occasionally about his company, Boomf, which prints personalized marshmallows (yes, really). He calls himself the "Wonka-in-Chief" of the company (!!!).
Following the Instagram reveal, James opened up even more about his private life in an op-ed for the Daily Mail. There, his revelations were much more serious than the cute dog photos and shirtless pics on his Instagram.
James wrote about his experience living with depression and his recent diagnosis with ADD.
"I feel compelled to talk about it openly because this is precisely what my brother-in-law Prince William, my sister Catherine, and Prince Harry are advocating through their mental health charity Heads Together," he wrote.
Indeed, it was Kate who encouraged James to open up about his depression publicly.
"Depression is only a small part of the complex jigsaw that is me," he wrote.
Now that pet therapy dog photo takes on a whole new meaning, eh?
The op-ed is a noble use of James' perhaps unexpected new platform. So don't get too sidetracked by the beard and the chest and the arms, folks — there's a lot more to Kate's dashing little brother.
Because James is here for a bigger purpose.
"I wouldn’t have found a voice or an outlet for my story if it hadn’t been for the people I’m related to," James admitted.
"And that puts me in a unique position of privilege and trust. I feel I have a duty to speak out, so I can help others who are suffering as I did."
