Kate Middleton’s mother, Carole was left devastated after her husband Michael made a brutal comment about their son James’ education – which cost them a fortune.

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Kate Middleton’s mother, Carole was reportedly “reduced to tears” over concerns about her son’s education, as revealed in a new biography.

The worry arose when Carole Middleton and her husband Michael questioned the value of their son James’ £32,000-a-year education after he repeatedly failed his school work.

James, who is the younger brother of the Princess of Wales, had to retake his A-level chemistry course four times at the esteemed Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where his sisters Kate and Pippa also studied, the Express reports.

James Middleton repeatedly failed school exams at the £32,000-a-year Marlborough College (Image: Getty)

In his new memoir Meet Ella, James shared that his mother was left distraught after his father deemed the private education 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.”

Speaking to The Times, James added: “Mum and Dad just wanted the best for me.” The publication noted that James refrains from criticising his school or his parents, stating he learnt valuable survival skills at Marlborough.

Despite his strategic approach, James admits to failing his first-year exams, leading The Times to observe: “More crying from Mum, more exasperation from Dad, more solace from a dog, this time his own.”