Princess Kate once had an instantaneous reaction when a former royal butler made a daring quip about Prince William’s appearance – with William taking the comment in his stride. Former butler, Grant Harrold, spoke about his time serving the Royal Family, in light of a new book out on September 23, titled ‘The Royal Butler’.
Ex-butler, Grant Harrold, recalled: “You hear these stories about their mother and how she would go in the kitchens and sit on the worktops and have chats. What was nice about her boys is they were the same.”
He recalled one conversation where the topic turned to ageing, where Princess Kate had a cheeky response. Mr Harrold described: “I said, ‘From a man’s point of view, the worst is when you start receding, you start going bald…”
He said: “Kate started sniggering, and I looked over at William and he said, ‘Thanks, Grant!’ and leaned forward to show his hair.”
Mr Harrold describes how William managed to get his own back at the butler after his attempt at getting a fake tan. He recalled: “Camilla was looking at me, just staring. [The King] said, ‘What have you done? What color did you pick, ‘Oompa Loompa?’”
Prince William and his then-girlfriend Kate saw him soon afterwards and he explained to William his tan had gone “everywhere”, with William asking to see.
Mr Harrold said: “I had to take my shoes and socks off to show him my toes, which were orange! He thought it was brilliant. He got his own back!”
Chatting to press over tea and cakes at the Rubens Hotel in central London, Harrold added: “I’m just lucky I didn’t dye my hair green as well, I’d have been in the next Wonka movie.”
Mr Harrold’s new book titled ‘The Royal Butler: My remarkable life of royal service’, features stories about the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles.
The description reads: “From an early age, Grant Harrold was always obsessed with the royal family. Glued to the television screen watching countless documentaries on Her Majesty the Queen, it seemed the most unlikely outcome that this working-class boy from Scotland would end up walking the corridors of royal palaces and households.
“Starting out as a young and naive under-butler in stately homes and working his way up to the highest honour of serving the King and Queen, this memoir charts Grant’s extraordinary journey to the highest levels of royal society.”