EXCLUSIVE: From dealing with an unexpected phone call to being teased by royals about his appearance, King Charles’ former butler has opened up about his seven years at Highgrove House
King Charles once found himself on the receiving end of a rather peculiar phone call, according to his former butler. Grant Harrold, who served the monarch from 2004 to 2011 during his time as the Prince of Wales, has been reminiscing about his stint at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
At this Royal abode, he served Charles and other members of the family including Queen Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Reflecting on his seven years in the role, Grant expressed surprise at how “normal” the royals were behind closed doors, despite their public persona.
He was particularly struck by how “approachable” Charles was, and recalled him going out of his way to make staff feel appreciated.
At the launch of his book The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, Grant also delved into some of the more amusing encounters he experienced with the royals.
One of the most unforgettable involved Charles’ personal phone ringing with an odd request, reports the Manchester Evening News.
“I remember once somebody got hold of the King’s private phone and they phoned him up thinking he was a Chinese takeaway,” the 47-year-old revealed.
“They put in an order, trying to get a Chinese. He just said, ‘I’m not a Chinese takeaway, you’ve got the wrong number.’ But they kept phoning him back,” Grant shared. “Eventually, he had to get us to speak to them and say, ‘This is the wrong number’.”
The butler revealed that the callers didn’t seem to recognise who they were speaking to and, after several unsuccessful attempts, eventually stopped calling.
Grant also shared a memory of a young Prince Harry inviting him to join the family for a takeaway meal.
“I declined, but I sat down with them while they had it, just informally,” he shared with Slingo. “It was really fun, and I thought, this is obviously how they’ve been brought up.”
However, not all of Grant’s recollections are free from awkward moments. He recounted an occasion when he unintentionally offended Prince William during a conversation about ageing.
“I said, ‘From a man’s point of view, the worst is when you start receding, you start going bald’. Kate started sniggering, and William said, ‘Thanks, Grant!’ before leaning forward to show his hairline.”
Charles and Camilla, now Queen, also once teased him after a spray tan mishap.
He remembered: “Camilla was staring at me, and the King said, ‘What have you done? What colour did you pick, Oompa Loompa?'”.
After bumping into Prince William and Kate on the same day, Grant said the former also teased him about his appearance.
“William said, ‘What have you done? Has it gone everywhere?'”. After confirming that it had, the butler recalled: “He said, ‘Can I see it?’ 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!”.
