Nationality British Name James Matthews | Role Racing driver | |
Born 21 August 1975 (age 48) ( 1975-08-21 ) | ||
James Spencer Matthews (born 21 August 1975) is a British former professional racing driver, hedge fund manager, and heir to the Scottish courtesy title of Laird of Glen Affric. In 2017, he married Philippa Middleton, younger sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
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Early life and education
James's father is landowner David Matthews, who also owns the resort, Eden Rock, St Barths. James's mother is artist Jane Matthews (née Spencer Parker), whose father was architect Robert Spencer 'Spenny' Parker. Jane Matthews is a graduate of London's Slade School of Art. James is the older brother of Spencer Matthews, an actor on the scripted reality TV show Made in Chelsea.
The childhood of Matthews and his two brothers, Spencer and Michael, was split between Caunton Manor, the 18th-century manor house on his family's 30-acre estate in Nottinghamshire, and Eden Rock, St Barths, the family's luxury hotel on the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. Another privately-owned home enjoyed by his family is the "castle-like" hunting lodge on their 10,000-acre Glen Affric Estate in Scotland. Matthews's brother, Michael, died in 1999 in a mountaineering accident on Everest, hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the peak. Matthews and his brother Michael both boarded at Uppingham School, in Rutland, whereas Spencer boarded at Eton. James, however, skipped higher education to train as a securities trader at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, now part of Goldman Sachs. In 1997 James Matthews moved to a finance house called Nordic Options Ltd, which de-merged from Spear, where he became a senior equity options trader.
Racing
As a racing driver he has competed in such series as the British Formula 3 Championship. He won the British Formula Renault Championship in 1994 for Manor Motorsport. He followed that up by winning the Eurocup Formula Renault in the same year.
Glen Affric Estate
According to documents lodged with Companies House, James Matthews has been, since 2007, the "solitary managing director of Beaufort Glen Affric Ltd". The 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) Glen Affric Estate is in the Scottish Highlands. As eldest son, upon his father's death, James Matthews will inherit the courtesy title of Laird of Glen Affric. Until that time he is able to use, should he choose to do so, the title, James Matthews of Glen Affric the younger.
It was reported in July 2016 that Matthews's Eden Rock Capital Management fund was a major investor in a collapsed Scots company at the heart of a £90 million fraud investigation.
Personal life
In July 2016, it was reported that Matthews had become engaged to socialite and columnist Pippa Middleton. Matthews and Middleton were married on 20 May 2017.
