James Spencer Matthews (born 21 August 1975) is a British former professional racing driver,

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...

manager, and

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offic ...

to the Scottish feudal title of Laird of Glen Affric. In 2017, he married

Pippa Middleton Philippa Charlotte Matthews (née Middleton; born 6 September 1983) is an English socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Born in Reading and raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire, Middleton attend ...

, the younger sister of

Catherine, Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely nex ...

and sister in law of

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was edu ...

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 Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. David Matthews made a fortune as a car dealer before going into the luxury hotel business. James' father also owns the resort Eden Rock, St Barths and is also

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of a 10,000 acre Scottish estate,

Glen Affric Glen Affric ( gd, Gleann Afraig) is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin. A mi ...

. James' mother is Zimbabwean born artist Jane Matthews (' Jane Spencer Parker), whose father was architect Robert Spencer 'Spenny' Parker. Jane Matthews was educated at London's

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. 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 A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

on his family's 30-acre estate in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, and Eden Rock, St Barths, the family's luxury hotel on the French Caribbean island of

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in Englis ...

. Another privately owned home enjoyed by his family is the "castle-like" hunting lodge on their 10,000-acre Glen Affric Estate in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Matthews' brother, Michael, died in 1999 in a mountaineering accident on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow hei ...

, hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the peak. Matthews and his brother Michael both boarded at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

, 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 Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...

. 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.

Career

Racing

As a racing driver he has competed in such series as the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

. He won a record number of 11 rounds on his way to the

British Formula Renault Championship British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was ge ...

title in 1994 for

Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...

. Dominating both home and abroad, he added to that by winning the

Eurocup Formula Renault Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault S ...

in the same year.

City career

Matthews became a City of London trader in 1995 and in 2001 was co-founder of Eden Rock Capital Management (named after his father's Eden Rock hotel), of which he is now Chief Executive. By 2007 the firm was reported to be managing over £1 billion in assets, and in 2017 David Friedman estimated that Matthews was "a demi-billionaire or close to a billionaire on his own merits". It was reported in July 2016 that Matthews's Eden Rock Capital Management fund was a major investor in a collapsed Scottish company at the heart of a £90 million fraud investigation.

Glen Affric

According to documents lodged with Companies House, James Matthews has been, since 2007, the "solitary managing director of Beaufort Glen Affric Ltd". The Glen Affric Estate is in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. As eldest son, upon his father's death, James Matthews will inherit the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some con ...

of Laird of Glen Affric. Until that time he is able to use, should he choose to do so, the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

, James Matthews of Glen Affric the younger. Matthews' brother-in-law, James Middleton was reported in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' in 2018 as hosting

deer stalking Deer stalking, or simply stalking, is a British term for the stealthy pursuit of deer on foot with the intention of hunting for meat, for leisure/trophy, or to control their numbers. As part of wildlife management, just as with rabbiting an ...

parties at Glen Affric Estate. Although Matthews is the

to the title

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

, he describes James Middleton as being "a much better host than I am".

Personal life

In July 2016, it was reported that Matthews had become engaged to

, sister to

. Matthews and Middleton were married on 20 May 2017. As the husband to Middleton and brother-in-law to the Princess of Wales, he is the uncle of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, second, third, and fourth in line to the

British throne The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Baili ...

respectively. Their son was born in October 2018 at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Tru ...

. Their elder daughter was born in March 2021. Their second daughter was born in June 2022.

References

External links

Career statistics from Driver Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, James 1975 births Living people British racing drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Karting World Championship drivers People educated at Uppingham School People from Newark and Sherwood (district) People from Saint Barthélemy James Manor Motorsport drivers OAK Racing drivers Super Nova Racing drivers