Nice and Easy Does It

James Middleton: I Am Not Gay, And My Company is Doing Nicely

James Middleton is not gay.

The confirmation of master Middleton's sexuality is provided by a close friend 'authorised' to speak to the Daily Mail over the weekend on the subject of his pal's persuasion.

James has been the subject of much unfounded specualtion that he is gay, largely because of a few youthful photos of him horsing around naked with some pals which were posted on facebook and subsequently found their way into the press.

The pictures of James posing nearly naked by a fire and indulging in a bit of mooning should be taken in the context of the upper-class British tradition of homoerotic, public-schoolboy clowning. The truth is that dressing up in drag and pretending to be gay have been part of posh male British horseplay for centuries. A clear line can be drawn from James Middleton’s latest japes to D.H. Lawrence’s depiction of male toffs wrestling naked by the fire in Women in Love.

And pictures of one blow-drying one's pubic hair, however unfortunate, are unlikely to have a bearing on one's sexuality.

Most Britons were more unimpressed by pictures—published only in Australia because British editors did not want to run the risk of falling foul of the Press Complaints Commission—taken in April 2009 of James urinating on the street following a big night out in London. Gay streaks are fine in British society; loutish tendencies are definitely not.

Like his sisters, James went to school at Marlborough, one of Britain’s most expensive boarding schools, but dropped out of Edinburgh University in 2007 after one year to set up his unusual business, called the Cake Kit Company. “Within a few weeks I knew it wasn’t where I wanted to be,” he told The Daily Telegraph of his university days. “I was always looking for business ideas.”

James, who is dyslexic, appears to have spoken to the Mail with the goal of defending the financial reputation of his cake-kit company, after papers filed at Companies House revealed that Nice Group London was £16,858 in debt, with an overdraft guarranteed by a family member. He points out that a guarrantee is just that - he hasn't been 'bailed-out.'

"Most start-up companies do incur losses to get the ball rolling," he tells the Mail, before adding, "Everybody has a birthday every year, so there is always going to be a market for cakes."

James who is 26, read the lesson at the royal wedding of his sister Kate, and shares a London flat with Pippa. He has been careful to keep a low profile and has not faced the same accusations of cashing in on his royal connections as Pippa.

James is not seen out much in London on the party circuit, and is apparently a serious-minded young man keen to make a success in business.

In an interview last year, James said that "thousands" of offers similar to his sister's $500,000 book deal have been 'put on the table' for him, but he had declined to accept any because, "I know what I am capable of and I don’t feel I need to do that. I'm not interested in publicity for myself."

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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