While members of the public may know a lot about the Royal Family, there are very few people that know them on a personal level. Besides friends and family, it is the Royal Household staff that really see and know what the royals are like behind closed doors, with ex-royal butler Grant Harrold being a great example of this.
Although he hasn’t worked for the royals in over a decade, Harrold did work as a butler for King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales. After taking the job in 2004, Harrold worked with Charles, 76, until 2011 when he was made redundant.
During his time employed for the Royal Household, Harrold not only worked with Charles, but also his sons Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as Queen Camilla (who was the Duchess of Cornwall at the time).
In an interview with The Telegraph, Harrold has revealed what each prince was truly like behind closed doors, calling Charles a “very gentle character”.
He then described Prince William, Charles’ oldest son, as “warm”, while painting the picture of Prince Harry – who was a teenager at the time – as silly.
The formal royal butler also said that behind closed doors, the family – including Camilla – seemed close – a complete contrast to what Harry described in his bombshell memoir Spare in 2023.
Harrold said: “The four of them, I promise you, got on so well. And that’s why I don’t understand what Harry’s said, I really don’t understand.”
He continued: “Because I saw them. I saw them having dinners together, I saw them having drinks together, I saw them going to parties together.
“The King used to do things to make them laugh and giggle.”
Harrold also said that William, now 43, and Harry, now 40, always appeared to have a good relationship, which he witnessed first hand working with the family.
He told The Telegraph: “The banter was great. They used to go around being silly with each other and winding each other up, jumping out at their dad from corners and making him laugh. It was just like a family.”