TV adventurer Bear Grylls led secret expedition to Mount Everest aiming to recover the body of Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law who died in a mountaineering accident hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer world’s highest peak

• TV adventurer Bear Grylls has led a secret expedition to Mount Everest this year 
• Chief Scout was trying to recover the body of Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law
• Michael Matthews died aged 22 in a mountaineering accident on Everest in 1999

TV adventurer Bear Grylls has led a secret expedition to Mount Everest aiming to recover the body of Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law, who died in a mountaineering accident hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer world’s highest peak.

The Chief Scout, who counts the Princess of Wales among his friends, led an expedition to Mount Everest earlier this year to try to recover the body of Michael Matthews.

Mr Matthews died aged 22 in a mountaineering accident in 1999 after following the example of his friend Mr Grylls, who had reached the summit of Everest the previous year at the age of 23.  

Michael Matthews, 22, (left), with friend Jamie Everest in front of the summit of Everest in 1999

Mr Matthews on the famous mountain in 1999, when he broke Mr Grylls’ record

Mr Grylls (left) with Neil Laughton on the summit of Mount Everest in 1998

He was the brother of Pippa Middleton’s husband, racing driver turned hedge fund manager James Matthews, 47. 

He and his brother, the Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, are friends of Mr Grylls, 48, the son of late Tory MP Sir Michael Grylls.

‘We actually had an expedition on Everest to try to recover the body of the brother of a good friend, who climbed it the year after I was there but was never found,’ Mr Grylls said.

‘We really tried. We had the best team in the world.’ 

The Matthews family are desperate to find his body. 

The Chief Scout led an expedition to Mount Everest earlier this year to try to recover the body of Mr Matthews

Mr Grylls on Mount Everest in 1998, when he was 23-years-old and set a record

Speaking at the Oxford Union, the Old Etonian said: ‘We had a team of, like, ten Nepalese guys and some other incredible Western climbers. We did manage to recover one body. It was not of Michael; it was a Nepalese climber.’

Mr Grylls, who has attracted big names including former US President Barack Obama and Hollywood stars Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller to appear on his show, Running Wild With Bear Grylls, added: ‘The story has not come out yet, so I am not going to talk too much about it, but it was a really special moment for [Michael’s] family.

‘It is the reality of high-altitude mountaineering, as people pay the ultimate price up there.’

Source: Read Full Article