For his part, James Middleton is keen to emphasise that he has been working hard since dropping out of university four years ago. He told The Daily Telegraph: "Last year we were nominated for four business awards: we won the Smarta 100 and the Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur Awards; we were a finalist in the Enterprising Young Brits; and nominated for the HSBC Start-Up Stars. This shows the success of [Cake Kit] so far – especially as we launched during a recession.
"The business has grown significantly in the last three years. The awards will give you some indication of our progress and potential as a business viewed through the eyes of the select judging panel. There is no doubt that I want to grow in all areas of business." He also told Hello! magazine: "I often work 14-hour days but the job is very fulfilling. I love being my own boss."
As well as cakes, James's company sells shortbread and apple pie-scented candles, gingerbread cookie sets and baking aprons. He also makes a range of cupcakes, and has supplied corporations such as 3 Mobile, Jigsaw, Ralph Lauren and ITV with branded mini-cakes.
Having paid back an initial bank loan and gone into profit, Middleton is now expanding into other areas. Perhaps anxious not to be accused of profiteering from the royal wedding, he would not say when the companies would launch. Clearly, he wants to be judged on merit rather than resting on his laurels as brother-in-law to a future king.
James enjoyed an idyllic childhood alongside his older sisters, Kate and Pippa, in Bucklebury, Berkshire, attending Marlborough College before starting a four-year environmental resources management course at Edinburgh University. He left in 2007, just one year into the degree. "Within a few weeks I knew it wasn't where I wanted to be," he says. "I was always looking for business ideas."
James has described how he was flying back to his family home when he hit upon the idea of a business making themed birthday cakes, with the slogan: "Home made, made even easier!" He says inspiration came from an article he had read which said a mother's baking is one of the most powerful childhood memories.
He developed his birthday-cake packs on themes such as football, dinosaurs, lions, rockets, fairies and handbags. Each includes the cake mixture, icing, candles and a disposable baking tray.
"The concept behind the business was to simplify home baking: to get more people back in the kitchen without having the hassle of getting all the ingredients together," he says. "For example, if a child wants a football cake, they get the right amount of green icing to make a football pitch, as well as the figurines, plus the baking tray. I believe with baking there is a certain nostalgic fix. I have great childhood memories of my mother baking and I was always a willing participant, especially if it meant I could revarnish the kitchen floor with treacle."
His cake kits sell for £16 each through the Middletons' Party Pieces company. One of the judges of the awards of which James is so proud has noted the help the Middletons have given their son. The judge points out the benefits of starting a new business on the family's existing business premises, saying: "Overheads [have been] slashed by incubation in another business."
To be fair to him, James acknowledges this: "My mother and father have been fantastic help and a huge support for me. Like any other family, though, we have our moments, living and working together."
Initially, he cooked in his parents' kitchen – but was banished for making too much mess. He then turned a freight container parked on land at his parents' home into a bakery, where he baked cakes wearing a white catering coat and traditional bakers' hat.
He says that the business is now growing fast and he has taken on a more managerial role. "We are no longer a cottage industry, and have upgraded from the catering trailer that used to store and prep our ingredients to our own office," he says. The company operates from converted barns at the Middletons' Berkshire base and employs several staff, including an office manager.
James lives in London, sharing a flat in Chelsea with his sister Pippa, a party planner, and Ella, his black cocker spaniel puppy. The property was bought by Carole and Michael Middleton for £780,000 in 2002.
James has not always pleased the Palace: two years ago, he accepted an offer from Hello! to make 21 cakes to celebrate the magazine's birthday. One featured a picture of the late Princess of Wales, and it is understood he received a rap over the knuckles for insensitivity.
There have been other alarming incidents, not least pictures on the internet of James partying in one of his sister's dresses. Another shows James – described by friends as "flamboyant" – apparently naked, but for a strategically placed bottle of beer. A third shows him dressed in a French maid's uniform and stockings, grasping his crotch.
Last month, he put a risqué photograph on his Facebook page showing four men, backs to camera, with their trousers around their ankles and bottoms on show standing on a country road called Back Lane.
More seriously, James was recently linked to a controversial investment company. Forestry for Life was selling investments in a rainforest that did not yet exist. He was pictured representing the company at a trade exhibition last year. Keen to protect his image, James took a case to the Press Complaints Commission, forcing several publications to remove stories about his links with the company.
He is keen to make it clear that he was not implicated in any wrongdoing and tells me: "I undertook a small amount of work experience with the company last year and I have no ongoing connection with the company."
Recently, James has posted a picture on Facebook showing his new look. It portrays a sober-suited, earnest young man who would not be out of place in a company report. Another friend who went to Edinburgh University with James says: "For ages, James was rather embarrassed that he didn't make it at university. It seems to have given him an extraordinary sense of drive – I think he really feels he has to show that he can make it in the world on his own merit."
It seems, then, that James Middleton is indeed a most ambitious young man, determined to be known for being more than a princess's little brother.
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