No one outside the Royal Family really knows the luxury of the Royal Family lifestyle.
Outwardly, they give the impression of being frugal and parsimonious (which they are, although Princess Anne prefers to call it “good old-fashioned Hanoverian housekeeping”), but that doesn’t apply to what they eat, drink, wear, drive and they ride .
Each of them enjoys the best that money can buy, even as they instruct their staff to negotiate the best deals by placing orders on their behalf.
The Royal Family is known for asking for discounts and waiting until the last minute before paying bills.
Camilla still loves to smoke, so the lackeys are ordered to place silver cigarette boxes containing her favorite brand in each room. The matches are half out, ready to be lit.
The Royals will only read hardcover books and expect the bookseller to provide them for free, before the official publication date.
A routine helicopter flight by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, takes weeks to organize and means that no other aircraft, whether fixed wing or helicopter, is allowed within three miles on either side of him, above or below your plane.
As a family, they take luxury for granted and consider loyalty (in others) above all other virtues.
Servants are expected to obey without question and to stand their ground and be verbally abused without responding, even when they are clearly not at fault.
As a former member of staff once commented: “The Royal Family may not always be right, but they are never wrong.”
The idea of having to take second best in anything just doesn’t occur to any family member.
The attention to detail that the Royals insist on is remarkable these days.
For example, Camilla still loves to smoke, so the footmen are ordered to place silver cigarette boxes containing her favorite brand in each room, and also to ensure that matchbox holders in silver containers solid wood are placed upright and within reach with half a match removed. so that she doesn’t have to look for a light.
When performers are summoned to entertain the Royal Family, they are given a seven-page document telling them how to behave.
For example, they are told that under no circumstances should they slouch or lean on bars or tables, bow ties must be the type that they tie themselves, and performers cannot speak to any member of the Royal Family unless they speak to them. first. .
Hatchards are “invited” to provide copies of the latest books, before the publication date, always in hardcover, as they do not accept paperbacks, and unopened, as they love the feel of a new book, and there must be more than one copy. of each book, as they like to leave the one they are reading in a room and pick up the identical copy, marked by a footman or maid, on the correct page.
The same applies to movies and videotapes. Television and film companies supply the Palace with the latest releases before the general public sees them so that the King and Queen can have a preview.
It takes weeks to arrange a routine helicopter flight for Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and means that no other aircraft, whether fixed wing or helicopter, is allowed within three miles on either side of him, above or below your plane.
Air traffic controllers are informed of the flight and what they describe as an invisible “purple carpet” is rolled out before him.
Royal valets are shown how to tie their masters’ shoelaces. Some have to be cross-stitched and others simply tied straight. And all the laces have to be ironed every time you take off your shoes.
Valets keep a checklist of clothing worn on a particular day and where, so they can tell their managers if they have worn something in the same place on more than one occasion.
The King also has a fully equipped barbershop immediately above his rooms at Buckingham Palace, where his hairdresser comes once a week to touch up the royal locks.
The only time Queen Camilla leaves the Palace for a medical appointment is to go to the dentist on Wimpole Street, because that is where her surgery is fully equipped.
Otherwise, doctors and nurses are summoned to wherever you are at the time.
Whenever Queen Camilla is expected at a private home, her police officer calls the hostess on her mobile five minutes before HM arrives so that the door is open.
The late Queen Elizabeth II never rang a doorbell in her life.
The Princess Royal drives a £160,000 Bentley which she rents for £3,000 a month, having taken a £1,000 discount, and hates being driven, even by her husband, who has never been allowed to sit behind the wheel.
The King’s suits, of which he has sixty, cost more than £5,000 each, while his shirts, all handmade, cost £1,000 and he has more than 200, while his collar gussets are solid gold. His collection of ties, regimental, club and personal, amounts to more than 500.
The late Queen Elizabeth II never rang a doorbell in her life, says royal author Brian Hoey
Valets keep a checklist of clothing worn on a particular day so that there are no repeats.
Prince Charles’ valet Ken Stronach photographed in the uniform room at Kensington Palace cleaning a ceremonial sword
The King also has a fully equipped barbershop immediately above his rooms at Buckingham Palace, where his hairdresser comes once a week to care for the royal locks.
Princess Anne hates being driven, even by her husband, who has never been allowed to sit behind the wheel.
A serving soldier based at Birdcage Walk polishes Her Majesty’s boots and shoes every day (he has 50 pairs each costing more than £2,000 at the Lobb of St James’s) and a maid hand-washes his underwear. silk as soon as you discard it. Nothing Charles or Camilla is allowed to wear near a washing machine.
It was once said (but never proven) that Prince Edward had fired a butler because the man was not out of the house when he returned and Edward had to open the car door himself.
Your driver is instructed to look forward at all times, even when the car is stopped.
Nothing is too much trouble for the world’s most famous family.