James Spencer Matthews (born 21 August 1975) is a British hedge fund manager, former professional racing driver and heir to the Scottish feudal title of Laird of Glen Affric. In 2017, he married Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
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Early life and education
Matthews is the eldest son of David Matthews, whose father Wallace Matthews worked in the coal industry and then a garage near Rotherham. David Matthews was a car dealer before moving into the luxury hotel business. James' father also owns the resort Eden Rock, St Barths, and is also laird of a 10,000-acre Scottish estate, Glen Affric. James' mother is Zimbabwean-born artist Jane Matthews (née Jane Spencer Parker). Jane Matthews was educated at London's Slade School of Art; she is the daughter of Robert Spencer Parker, an architect. James is the older brother of Spencer Matthews, a former cast member of the reality TV show Made in Chelsea.
The family own the "castle-like" hunting lodge on their Scottish estate. Matthews' brother, Michael, died in 1999 in a mountaineering accident on Mount Everest, hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the peak. Matthews boarded at Uppingham School, in Rutland. He trained as a securities trader at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, now part of Goldman Sachs. In 1997 Matthews moved to a finance house called Nordic Options Ltd, which de-merged from Spear, where he became a senior equity options trader.