Former royal butler Paul Burrell has opened up about his time working for the Royal Family and the drinking culture within Buckingham Palace’s walls
Former Royal butler Paul Burrell has revealed the amusing two-word moniker that staff used for Buckingham Palace.
Paul, 67, who served Princess Diana from 1987 to 1997, also discussed the drinking culture that flourished within Buckingham Palace’s walls, particularly amongst employees.
In his latest book, The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana, he revealed: “It wasn’t just bed-hopping that went on in the palaces; there was a degree of inebriation which often helped loosen people’s inhibitions.
“Forget Buckingham Palace, it was nicknamed ‘Gin Palace’ after the spirit that flowed freely through the everyday workings of the building. Gin, always, Gordon’s, was the drink of choice.”
Moreover, Paul noted that the drinking culture he witnessed whilst employed at the renowned UK landmark differed dramatically from his own background and mentioned certain tactics allegedly used for sneaking alcohol into the premises, reports the Mirror.
Paul continued: “Coming from a world where a pint of Mansfield Bitter pulled by my auntie Pearl in the local was the norm, with a cherry brandy or a snowball at Christmas.
“I wasn’t used to such extravagance, but I quickly became quite familiar with the ingenious ways in which the household smuggled booze for their soirées.
“I would be ordered by senior members of staff to empty a screw-topped tonic water bottle each night and fill it with gin for them to use for parties in their rooms. These parties were for a select group of staff.
“There was a hierarchy downstairs as well as upstairs. Certain cliques of servants, depending on your rank and length of service, were invited to the soirees.”
Paul has since confessed he felt “nervous” during his initial encounter with the late Queen Elizabeth and remembered that his first meeting occurred whilst he was carrying a silver tray laden with 20 Royal Worcester coffee cups, saucers, and gilt spoons needed for a gathering of approximately 30 family members.
He revealed: “Then my nerves got the better of me and the cups and saucers all started to rattle. I will never forget the noise. All I had to do was stand behind the Queen and the pages would come to me and collect the cups.”
Paul also exposed King Charles’s “excessive demands” during his time serving the Royal Family.
He penned: “His routines have never changed. 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, whilst Charles claims to “abhor” waste, Burrell alleges he is simultaneously extraordinarily lavish when it comes to his clothing: “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.”
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