00:00So my name is Grant Harold, known as the Royal Butler, and I am or was a former butler to King Charles, Queen Camilla, Wyman Harry and Catherine, Princess Wales, between 2004 and 2011.
00:13And as butler, my duties basically were on a day-to-day basis looking after them and their guests as a butler should.
00:20They were really good bosses.
00:22The King, I think what amazed me about The King was how kind of down to earth he was, because when I first met him, you know, one of the most famous, probably the most famous person I'd ever met.
00:31And I was completely kind of blown away by the fact that he was, when I say he was nice, you know, like even at dinner parties, I'd be doing a dinner and suddenly he would turn around and start asking me how I am and how my family are.
00:44And I wasn't used to that kind of thing as a butler.
00:48So it was quite unusual.
00:50And they were all like that.
00:51You know, that's what was so nice.
00:52And again, getting to know Wyman Catherine was amazing.
00:56I mean, now when I look back on it, amazing, you know, because it was very much their kind of, the kind of years of them very much beginning the relationship right up until the point of the wedding.
01:06So, you know, you feel quite lucky to kind of be around at that point.
01:10The King's, even though he's only done a few estate visits as King, he's been involved in many, many, many estate visits over the decades.
01:19So he's quite comfortable with this kind of thing.
01:22He knows exactly what he's doing.
01:23He'd be quite relaxed with the whole thing.
01:25I think the only thing, of course, that I would imagine would go through his head is we all know that President Trump is obviously a very friendly guy.
01:35He's known for his very friendly handshakes.
01:37He's known for his very friendly approach.
01:38The royals used to be not like that at all, but they have become more like that.
01:43So I think it fits in okay these days where maybe, say, 20, 30 years ago, it might have been a little bit like, ah, that's quite a powerful handshake.
01:52Or did he just put his hand in the back of that person?
01:55Or did he just do that?
01:56So there was one interesting thing yesterday that I noticed that was picked up and everybody jumped on social media because I'm sure you remember when President Trump was with Queen Elizabeth and they were inspecting the troops.
02:08And the Queen was behind the President and there was suddenly this big, major breach of protocol at the time.
02:15But what we hadn't realised, and I've double checked in this, is that it's quite normal.
02:21In fact, Prince Philip used to always walk behind the visiting head of state on behalf of the Queen.
02:26And then the Queen then took that role on when her husband retired.
02:29They are supposed to be a few steps behind, but everybody was immediately saying, Trump has broken the protocol, royal etiquette has broken the king's, you know, poor king.
02:37And I had to quickly jump in and say, no, no, no, it's fine.
02:40It's all okay.
02:42It's royal etiquette.
02:44The only thing I did notice with the handshake, he did put his hand out to the king's arm and touched his arm at the same time as a handshake.
02:51It's just a warm handshake.
02:52He didn't pull him in.
02:53I was looking to see if there was a pull-in and there wasn't, which is obviously good, because that's obviously quite a powerful kind of thing.
03:00And the king would have gone along with it.
03:02The king wouldn't have made any, he wouldn't even blink an eyelid at it.
03:06But again, Trump was definitely very respectful.
03:09And I don't think they ever tried to go out and get things wrong.
03:13Like when, I think it was that Trump put his hand in the back of the Queen and then was like, he touched the Queen.
03:17These things are so easily done.
03:20And, you know, when you're guiding somebody and you're walking behind them, it's not difficult, Sonny, you know, just put your hand just to give them a bit of support.
03:27And remember, she was, you know, the Queen was an elderly lady.
03:29So he's maybe just been a gentleman.
03:31So there's a very fine line between being a gentleman and Royal Etiquette being breached, basically.
03:37I've no doubt that guidance will be sought by the White House because, you know, with a state visit, there's different elements to it.
03:45And obviously, you only need to make sure that they've got the right dress codes.
03:48What you don't want is them, one, you don't want them clashing colours, which can happen.
03:52And also, you don't want them having the wrong outfits.
03:56For example, last night's state dinner, the dress code's quite strict.
04:00In fact, it was interesting.
04:01I noticed that they were wearing the Windsor uniform, the King.
04:05I don't know if you know about that.
04:06And I have a little Google.
04:07It's quite interesting.
04:07It's a blue tailcourt and it's got a red lapel on it.
04:12So that's how you know it's the Windsor uniform.
04:13And I noticed the King and Prince of Wales was wearing it.
04:16But Trump obviously had his normal white tie on, which is completely correct.
04:22So, sorry, but going back to Melania, it's the same.
04:26I mean, again, she'd been given guidance as to what she could wear.
04:30And as a married lady, she could have worn a tiara because, again, that's the old etiquette.
04:36The old rule is that if you were married, a lady could wear a tiara.
04:39So she could have worn a tiara if she chose to.
04:42But these are things, again, that they would be guided on or that they would probably ask just to get it right.
04:49I think what was interesting, the seating plan.
04:50So just to quickly mention, it was interesting.
04:52It was sitting opposite.
04:52I wondered if that's why they were sitting.
04:54Because they split them up, which is quite unusual.
04:55You know, you had the Queen on one side and you had Kate and the King on the other.
05:01And I noticed that.
05:03And I did kind of wonder if that was definitely purposely done to kind of sit across from each other,
05:07which was interesting.
05:08Because state bangles of the palace, the layup's very different.
05:10So, and it was also good for eye contact because they could also maintain eye contact.
05:16But I did see that.
05:17And I thought it was really nice, really touching.
05:20Interestingly, he didn't mention Harry.
05:22He avoided, obviously, talking about Harry.
05:24But I don't think that, I think that was, without question, purposely done.
05:27Because he probably felt that right now is probably not the best time to mention Harry.
05:32I think they all did an amazing job of it.
05:34And Kate and William looked absolutely amazing in that photograph.
05:37And it was also interesting to see such an intimate photograph of him getting shared with her.
05:42I think they're cuddling, which is so unprecedented.
05:45That is extraordinary.
05:46And it shows you how state dinners in the future, I think, are going to get more and more modern.
05:54I think I'd say modern.
05:55Because you would never normally have a photograph of the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
05:58Not at a state banquet.
05:59With the state banquet, is there an order of, like, who eats first or who drinks first?
06:04Oh, yeah. No, well, basically, the old rule is the King starts, and then you start.
06:10And when the King finishes, everyone should be finished.
06:13It's an unwritten rule.
06:14Well, it's not unwritten.
06:14It was a rule.
06:15But it's not really, put it this way, the butlers and everyone follows that rule.
06:21Because that is how it works.
06:22But the guests may or may not be aware of that.
06:25But the reality is the King is looking around to try to see how everyone's going on.
06:28He can't possibly see who's still eating down at that far end of the table.
06:30So, he will, basically, he will take his time, he will give people enough time to enjoy each course.
06:38But at the same time, when he finishes, that will be a rough indicator that it's time to start clearing the plates.
06:43I mean, if you spoke to any of the Royal Chefs, they're very much involved in the menu.
06:47They get suggestions and they then plan it.
06:50But remember, you'll be aware that President Trump probably likes chicken, for example.
06:54So, perfect.
06:55But again, it's sourced, well, I say locally, it's sourced, you know, close to the Royal States.
07:00I think the chicken was from Norfolk, which is obviously Sandronham.
07:04So, you know, I remember Castlemais used to supply beef and that kind of thing.
07:09Highgrove, it would probably be highgrove vegetables, I could guarantee you, probably.
07:13So, it shows you that the King likes to, you know, source things locally.
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