Carole Middleton left ‘in tears’ as Michael branded James’s £32k-a-year education a ‘waste of money’…See More 👇

Carole Middleton was left “in tears” as her husband Michael branded their son James’s £32,000-a-year education a “waste of money”, according to a new autobiography.

The younger brother of Princess Kate has admitted he was forced to retake his chemistry A-Level four times.

The father-of-one, who lives in Berkshire, was a boarder at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where his older sisters Kate and Pippa excelled in their studies.

When he was 18, James had to take a gap year to retake his Chemistry A-Level four times, which he says was a “humiliating record” for Marlborough College.

James recalled in his new memoir, Meet Ella, how his father Michael told him that his private education had been a “waste of money”.

He wrote: “Meanwhile, I do so badly in my final school exams that my poor mum is reduced to tears.

“Dad says my expensive education has been ‘a waste of money’.

“After a year of resitting my A-levels, I scrape into Edinburgh University with the minimum permitted grades.”

However, James has now told The Times: “Mum and Dad just wanted the best for me.”

The outlet wrote: “Today Middleton studiously avoids criticising his school or his beloved parents — he learnt valuable survival skills at Marlborough, he tells me.”

James wrote in his memoir about seeking an escape in nature and in dogs.

He said: “I was an outcast … alienated from my classmates. But dogs never judged me.

“Mum asked repeatedly if I wanted to bring friends home to stay at weekends. But truthfully all I wanted to do was to see Tilly.”

Tilly was the family’s golden retriever, but from an early age, James was desperate for his own dog.

The father-of-one went on to Edinburgh University, choosing criminology, environmental studies and geography modules because he was @pretty certain they would all be multiple choice”.

Unfortunately, he failed his first-year exams.

The Times continued to report: “More crying from Mum, more exasperation from Dad, more solace from a dog, this time his own.”