The Chief Scout, who counts the Princess of Wales among his friends, led an expedition to Everest earlier this year to try to recover Michael Matthews’ body.
Matthews died aged 22 in a mountaineering accident in 1999 after following in the footsteps of his friend Mr Grylls, who had reached the summit of Everest the previous year aged 23.
He was the brother of Pippa Middleton’s husband, racing driver turned hedge fund manager James Matthews, 47.
He and his brother, Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, are friends of Mr Grylls, 48, the son of the late Tory MP Sir Michael Grylls.
Michael Matthews, 22, (left), with friend Jamie Everett in front of the summit of Everest in 1999
Mr Matthews on the mountain in 1999 when he broke Mr Grylls’ record to become the youngest Briton to climb the world’s highest peak
Mr Grylls (left), 23, with Neil Laughton on the summit of Everest in 1998
The Chief Scout, who counts the Princess of Wales among his friends, led an expedition to Everest earlier this year to try to recover Mr Matthews’ body
“We actually had an expedition to Everest to try and recover the body of a good friend’s brother, 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 and a source believes a mountain guide knows where he might be.
Speaking to the Oxford Union, the Old Etonian said: “We had a group of, like, ten Nepalese guys and some other incredible western climbers. We were able to recover a body. It wasn’t Michael’s. he was a Nepalese mountaineer.’
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 isn’t out yet, so I won’t go. talk too much about it, but it was a really special moment for it [Michael’s] family.
The Chief Scout led an expedition to Everest earlier this year to try to recover Mr Matthews’ body
Mr. Grylls on Everest in 1998, when he set a 23-year-old record. He said Mr Matthews’ death showed “the reality of high altitude mountaineering”.
The dangers of death on Everest, the world’s highest mountain
Everest holds the record for the most deaths on a mountain in the entire world. About 310 climbers have died on the slopes of the world’s highest mountain, which is 8,848.86 meters above sea level. Many of the bodies have never been found, while others have been exposed as conditions change on the mountain. In most cases, it is very difficult to move the body from the mountain due to the harsh conditions and difficult locations. Some climbers asked that their bodies be left on the mountain if they died while climbing. Causes of death on the mountain can include exhaustion, heart attack and avalanche suffocation. Altitude sickness can also play a role in weakening the human body, with climbers becoming too ill to continue and their bodies shutting down. “It’s the reality of high altitude mountaineering as people pay the ultimate price up there.” In March of this year, Spencer Matthews was reportedly in the early stages of making a documentary about his late brother’s final days. The CleanCo founder, 33, was said to be “very passionate” about starting the journey, which would follow in his brother’s footsteps. He is said to have had the support of his parents and his brother James, who is married to Miss Middleton, to create the “emotional” project, which will see Spencer visit his brother’s final resting place. The Sun reported that Spencer intended to bring his brother’s body home. A source said at the time: “Spencer’s documentary about Michael and his final days is in very early stages and Disney+ has shown interest. “Although the Matthews family have never been able to recover Michael’s body, there is one driver who believes they know his final resting place. “It’s an extremely emotional project and it’s going to be a very upsetting journey for a lot of reasons, but Spencer is very passionate about starting it if he can make it work.” Experienced mountaineer Mr Matthews, who had previously scaled Kilimanjaro, died in 1999 on an expedition in which he became the youngest Briton to scale Everest. He was the 162nd person to die on Everest. Although he reached the top of the world’s highest mountain, he became separated from his group on the way down. Mr Matthews’ body was never recovered and his family were never able to fully understand what happened to him. In March, Spencer Matthews, pictured, was reportedly in the early stages of making a documentary about his late brother’s final days before he died while descending Mount Everest Spencer, the youngest below, described his brother Michael, who stayed next to his brother James, as an “incredible force of nature”. Matthews’ brother James is married to Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of the Princess of Wales (pictured with Michael, Carole and James Middleton) in 2019 Spencer Matthews is married to model and TV star Vogue Williams
Pippa Middleton named her son Arthur Michael William Matthews in tribute to her father and her husband’s younger brother who died while climbing Everest
In 2018, Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews paid tribute to the late Michael Matthews when they named their son.
The couple, who named their son Arthur, gave their baby boy the middle names Michael and William.
Their baby boy, who weighed 8lb 9oz, was born in the private Lindo Wing, St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, in October 2018.
Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews gave their son Arthur the middle names Michael and William
The name Michael is a tribute to Pippa’s father and her husband’s younger brother who died while climbing Everest in 1999.
Michael Matthews went missing in the mountain’s infamous Death Zone while attempting to become the youngest Briton to climb the world’s highest peak.
After his tragic death, brother James Matthews, accompanied by his wife, Pippa, pledged to raise money for poverty-stricken areas in Africa and Asia through the Michael Matthews Foundation.
The birth of the couple’s baby came just hours after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were expecting a child.
He was an accomplished mountaineer who had scaled the Pyrenees, the Swiss Alps and Kilimanjaro before embarking on his fateful Everest trek, which cost around £22,000, using a climbing company.
After he led the group, the rest of the climbing group said he began to struggle near the end and on their descent, 100 mph winds hit, leading to Michael’s separation from the group.
David Matthews, the millionaire patriarch of the family, always claimed that the negligence of the mountain guides was responsible for his death.
He brought a private suit against three men who worked for the company amid allegations that safety briefings were inadequate, the oxygen supply was faulty and the guides failed to keep Michael in their sights during the climb.
The case was dismissed as the judge insisted there was no evidence of negligence.
Spencer and his family have since raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Michael Matthews Foundation, set up in his brother’s memory to support educational programs in Africa and Asia.
In Spencer’s 2013 book Confessions of a Chelsea Boy: The Autobiography, he discussed the devastating loss of his brother.
Speaking about the family, including his other brother James, she said: “His loss has been devastating for the family and over time this has become worse because the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death have never been fully explained.
“James took the news badly. Only a year and a half apart, he and Mike were the closest of friends. The loss was heartbreaking for James.’
Of the unanswered questions surrounding the death, Spencer continued: “We didn’t get to say goodbye in person. We have nowhere to go and sit with him.
“He lives with us only in our minds. On Mike’s birthday, James and I send Mom and Dad red roses for what age he would have been. I guess the way our family deals with losing Mike is to believe that he’s still with us.”
In a 2001 Guardian article about the tragedy, Spencer and Michael’s father David explained how he initially trained with his son and colleague Jamie Everett for the Everest expedition.
David was forced to abandon the climb after a practice climb on Aconcagua, during which he discovered that his carotid artery surgery prevented him from gaining altitude well.
In 2016, Pippa Middleton summited the Matterhorn, having scaled the 14,691-foot summit on July 29.
The then 32-year-old made the climb in honor of Michael.
Pippa was supported by her brother James Middleton on the climb, with the pair raising money for The Michael Matthews Foundation.
Just hours after her descent, Pippa spoke emotionally about what had inspired her – and how she longed to share her adventure with her then-fiancé.
He told The Mail on Sunday at the time: “It was humbling to be able to climb one of the most beautiful mountains in the world and raise money for a charity set up in memory of an amazing young man who lost his life in another peak.
“Although I have raised money in the past for the Michael Matthews Foundation, it has now become even more important to me and my family.
“Although neither my brother nor I ever met Michael, we both share his spirit and passion for the mountains. We made this climb knowing he would be there pushing…
