Royal insider Paul Burrell has revealed the secrets behind His Majesty the King’s inflexible daily regime, claiming the 76-year-old monarch has always demanded his staff adhere to exceptionally stringent protocols.
Burrell, who began his royal career as an 18-year-old footman at Buckingham Palace, transferred in 1987 to Highgrove House in Gloucestershire to join the then Prince of Wales’s domestic team.
For ten years, he served as both aide and trusted confidant to Princess Diana – famously declaring himself “the only man she ever trusted.”
However, his bond with her spouse remained considerably more formal, he reveals.
In his latest publication, The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana, he describes how, despite being merely nine years junior to the King, he consistently felt “much older and from a different generation.”
Burrell proceeds to expose the King’s contradictory fixation with avoiding waste, which he claims conflicts sharply with some of his peculiar personal practices.
“His routines have never changed,” Burrell writes. “His toothpaste is squeezed onto his toothbrush every morning and he uses a silver key, which winds down the tube to avoid any waste.”
However, while Charles professes to “abhor” waste, Burrell claims he demonstrates curious extravagance regarding his wardrobe: “His pyjamas are laundered or pressed every day, the drawstring tapes pressed flat like his shoelaces.
“He, again like his father, likes his dress shoes to be ‘spit-and-polished’ to a mirror finish.”
The royals are known for their peculiar dietary habits. For instance, the King has a strict no-garlic rule, as revealed by Queen Camilla on MasterChef Australia, where she stated that garlic “is a no-no” for the King.
Since 2008, he has boycotted foie gras over concerns about animal cruelty in its production.
The late Queen Elizabeth II, the King’s mother, also had stringent food rules. She avoided carbohydrates during her evening meals.
Former Buckingham Palace chef Darren O’Grady told The Telegraph, “When she dines on her own, she’s very disciplined: no starch is the rule, and no potatoes, rice, or pasta for dinner—just usually something like grilled sole with vegetables and salad.”
However, this no-pasta rule would not sit well with Prince George. The future king reportedly loves spaghetti carbonara, according to renowned chef Aldo Zilli.
The Italian-born cook shared that Prince William himself informed him of his son’s fondness for the dish.
He said, “I’m waiting for the call because apparently his little boy’s favourite is spaghetti carbonara, so I’m waiting for the call to go and cook it for him.”
“If George has my carbonara, he will never have another one,” Aldo added. “So I need to go and make it. Let’s get the ball rolling—send me to the palace to cook!”
