Backstairs Billy (21 page)
Authors: Tom Quinn
‘We were a family,’ he would say, ‘and all families squabble occasionally. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t mean anything.’
Certainly when he looked back on his long years of service he would have recalled the extraordinary gulf between that small boy in Coventry and the rather grand figure he was to become; a figure who could occasionally step out boldly into the Mall and expect all the traffic to come to a stop. Billy also had the consolation that from his earliest days he had always known what he wanted to do; whatever the difficulties and set-backs of later years he had never questioned his decision to work for an institution he loved unquestioningly. And at some deep level he probably knew that his overwhelming admiration for the Queen Mother and the royal family in general had sometimes blinded him to the sensitivities of others; he once said he knew he had over-stepped the mark on many occasions. He felt he always knew best but on looking back must have realised that his absolute self-belief and the arrogance it inspired could lead only to disappointment and regret.
But perhaps Billy, more than anyone, should have heeded the advice given to him by the Queen Mother herself. She understood the complexities of life at court perhaps better than anyone and almost at the beginning of their relationship she had said:
‘Whatever you do, William, never trust anyone.
Ever
.’
T
HANKS TO EVERYONE
who helped with the research for this book, but especially to Basia Briggs; and to Katy Quinn-Guest who took time off from a punishing schedule to read through an early draft and suggested numerous improvements. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Victoria Godden, my editor at the Robson Press, for patiently unravelling countless obscurities, and to Charlotte Wadham for high days and holidays.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
The Robson Press (an imprint of Biteback Publishing Ltd)
Westminster Tower
3 Albert Embankment
London SE1 7SP
Copyright © Tom Quinn 2015
Tom Quinn has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the publisher’s prior permission in writing.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.
ISBN 978–1–84954–893–9
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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The Windsors are England’s most famous family, but what are they really like when they’re out of the public gaze?
Behind closed doors in every royal residence, from Buckingham Palace to Clarence House, there are two families – one upstairs and one down – and nobody knows a royal quite like a royal servant, intimately acquainted as they are with every quirk, foible and eccentricity.
This is the inside story of the royal family through the eyes of those who know them best, a sneak peek behind the ermine-trimmed curtains to reveal what they really get up to in their spare time. Are they just like us? Or are they are a world apart? Here are the answers to everything we’ve ever wondered about the royals: which programmes does the Queen watch on TV? What is it like to attend a dinner party thrown by Charles and Camilla? Who are the most popular (and most unpopular!) royals to work for and why?
Not in Front of the Corgis
is the real
Upstairs Downstairs
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