Carole Middleton rallied behind her brother Gary Goldsmith after he was rushed to a Spanish hospital with a life-threatening bleed in his oesophagus, linked to his use of the weight-loss medication Mounjaro.
Mr Goldsmith, a businessman and former Celebrity Big Brother contestant, revealed the health scare in a recent interview.
He had been taking the drug for several months before the emergency unfolded during a holiday in Spain.
The episode marks the second major health crisis Mrs Middleton has navigated within her close family in recent years.
Carole Middleton rallied behind her brother Gary Goldsmith after he was rushed to a Spanish hospital with a life-threatening bleed in his oesophagus, linked to his use of the weight-loss medication Mounjaro
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PA
In 2024, she was a central figure in supporting her daughter, the Princess of Wales, through a cancer diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy treatment.
Mr Goldsmith’s daughter Tallulah alerted Mrs Middleton to her brother’s condition, prompting her to step in.
Catherine’s uncle told the Daily Mail that he had indulged in seafood and cake while on holiday, only to become severely unwell shortly afterwards. He described “projectile vomiting blood” as his condition rapidly deteriorated.
Once at hospital, doctors discovered that veins in his oesophagus had become dangerously enlarged. Surgeons performed an emergency banding procedure, tying bands around the swollen veins to halt the bleeding.
Gary Goldsmith, a businessman and former Celebrity Big Brother contestant, revealed the health scare in a recent interview
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PA
Mr Goldsmith was unequivocal about how close he came to dying. “If they hadn’t banded me I would have bled to death,” he told the newspaper.
The oesophageal bleeding episode came after he had been using Mounjaro, a tirzepatide-based injection widely prescribed for weight loss, for several months before the incident.
Despite the severity of his own ordeal, Mr Goldsmith was keen to put it in perspective alongside what his niece had endured.
“I’m very conscious that your brother being poorly is one thing. Your daughter suffering with cancer is massive,” he told the publication.
He described how Mrs Middleton urged him to take better care of himself, pressing him to pay closer attention to his age, prioritise sleep and improve his diet.
Their 10-year age gap, he explained, meant Mrs Middleton had always occupied a quasi-parental role in his life.
“When we were kids, it was like growing up with two mothers,” he said. “She still has that maternal concern for me.”
Mr Goldsmith’s account painted a picture of a sister who simply took charge once she learned of his hospitalisation.
That same instinct to take control was evident throughout the Princess of Wales’s illness. After Catherine underwent surgery for an abdominal issue in 2024 and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer, she recuperated at her parents’ home rather than at a royal residence.
Royal author Ingrid Seward, speaking to Hello! around Mrs Middleton’s 70th birthday, described her as a woman of formidable resilience.
“Carole has always been a rock for Kate, especially this past year – she’s been amazing,” Ms Seward said, adding that the word “strength” was the one that kept coming back to her.