ROYAL BUTLER SPILLS THE TEA
As a butler for Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall from 2004 until 2011 – as well as Prince William and Prince Harry while they were living in the same household – Grant Harrold was privy to the inner workings of the royal family on a daily basis. Grant was by their side through all the scandals and sorrows, over time becoming the family’s confidant as well as a caretaker.
“As a butler, you know them as well as your family,” he says. “It’s funny, you think of it as a sort of 9-5 job, but you get to know them so well, you build up close relationships. God, I probably knew the Prince of Wales and Harry better than some of my closest friends, because you’re around them all the time. You know their habits, their schedules; to an extent, what makes them tick,” he tells New Idea Royals.
Grant performed a number of duties, depending on what was required on any given day. ”As a modern-day butler, your duties are everything,” he says. “Throughout my career I’ve had to do everything from shop errands to looking after children, answering the telephone, doing emails, and of course serving meals and that kind of thing. It’s very varied – not just standing in a corner until you’re summoned to pour the port!”
Unsurprisingly, the job was full of pinch-me moments – including dancing with Queen Elizabeth II at a ball at Balmoral Castle, and being
PRINCE CHARLES’ FORMER BUTLER REVEALS WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WORK FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY
invited as a guest to the weddings of Charles and Camilla, as well as Harry and Meghan Markle.
“At Prince Charles’ wedding, I remember thinking, ‘I’m actually here, living a dream.’ One minute I’d be standing there with the Queen or Beatrice and Eugenie and then a few minutes later I’d be next to Rowan Atkinson or another VIP.”
FROM BOYS TO MEN
When Grant first entered the household, Harry was 20 and William was 22. As a result, Grant had a front row seat as the young princes found their feet as senior royals and adjusted to life without their mother.
“The William and Harry I knew were in their 20s so they weren’t really given that many duties,” he says. “They were good-looking young princes doing their very first jobs, if you like. So now I see them on national TV and what they’re doing is amazing. To me, they’re still the same two boys, as we used to call them. Now they’ve got their own kids, which is so strange. I’m not that much older than them but I still feel really proud. I look at William and Kate, and it’s amazing to think ‘There’s our future king and queen’, and they’re just doing such a good job of it.”
Joining the family in the aftermath of Diana, Princess of Wales’ death, Grant says that even though seven years had passed, her memory lived on through her sons. “It was a very personal thing for them,” he