Prince William used to make up excuses to get out of his wife's family's games nights

Catherine, Princess of Wales' younger brother James Middleton, 37, made the admission during an appearance on the 'Walking the Dog' podcast with author and animal lover Emily Dean.

She told him on the show: "The Middletons are quite competitive, and they love a game, don't they?

"And then you made poor William play, and he found it too competitive and actually used to make excuses."

Emily was referring to a tale in James' memoir 'Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life', which came out in September - with the title referring to his pooch who died in 2023.

He told the podcaster about William's aversion to the Middletons' games nights: "It was after family dinner, we would be sat there and the cards would come out, and (William would) perhaps see if Ella needed a walk or make an excuse to get down from the table.

"'Racing Demon' is probably the most fast-paced, competitive one that we all play together."

James had said in his autobiography: "Ella gives (William) a good excuse to escape the fiercely competitive nature of the Middleton family, which emerges every time we play our favourite fast-paced card game, 'Racing Demon'.

"William flinches at our ruthless determination to win at all costs.

"He's delighted to be the first out, and when no longer compelled to take part, he slinks off to cuddle Ella.

"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 added his paternal grandmother would "thrash" them at the game, even into her eighties.

He said: "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."

James is the youngest of Carole and Michael Middleton's three children, behind eldest sister Catherine, 42, and 41-year-old Pippa Middleton Matthews.