Not in Front of the Corgis (3 page)

When I first visited Buckingham Palace to discuss a biography I was proposing to write on Princess Anne (before she became the Princess Royal) I was allowed to walk around unaccompanied as long as I knew where I was going. These days, with health, safety and security precautions predominant, no outsider is permitted to move around without an escort. Not that anyone has ever been known to sue The Queen because they have fallen over or a painting has injured them, but the Palace is taking no chances.

If you are going up to see someone on the first floor, you will be taken in an antiquated lift complete with wood panelling and mirrors on the three walls. It creaks a little and moves at a snail’s pace due to an order of The Queen who once instructed that it should be slowed down when Prince Charles and Princess Anne were very young – because, it is claimed, Anne liked to frighten her older brother as they rode up to the schoolroom, where the Princess Royal now has her private office. She also has the use of a comfortable apartment in York House, part of St James’s Palace, when she stays overnight in London.

As The Queen never uses this particular lift, no one has thought to countermand her original instruction, made over fifty years ago.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has his office on the second floor of the Palace, where he receives official
visitors, but his home is Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, which he inherited from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and which is distinguished by an aircraft ejector seat prominently displayed in the front hall. Visitors are invited to try it out but not to touch the ejector button! What The Queen Mother would make of her grandson’s ideas on decoration is anybody’s guess.

The top floor of Buckingham Palace is reserved for staff accommodation, with males at the right-hand corner, females on the left and newcomers at the rear. They move nearer the front the longer they work in the Palace. The rooms are spacious, furnished with heavy, dark wardrobes and dressing tables, and single beds only. Married couples do not occupy any of the rooms within the Palace; they have ‘Grace and Favour’ apartments elsewhere.

However, many of the staff have now been moved away from the Palace proper to accommodation in the Royal Mews because it is believed to be easier to secure.

One disadvantage to ‘living in’ is that there are no private
en suite
bathrooms for staff, so there is sometimes a queue in the early morning. It was during the heat wave of the summer of 1976 that the then Master of the Household was doing his rounds when he heard sounds of jollity coming from one of the staff bathrooms (there are no locks on the doors either.) On looking in he found two young footmen enjoying themselves together. When he demanded to know what they thought they were doing, one replied coolly that they were merely obeying his orders to save
water. The Master was so impressed by this that both men kept their jobs – and he dined out on the story for weeks.

The domestic staff like to tell of some of the
initiation
rites newcomers were forced to endure when they first joined the Household. One involved running naked through the State Apartments late at night, hoping no one would see you. If you weren’t caught, you were in. When The Queen’s children were single and still living at home, they liked to witness this particular ceremony (unseen) and they never gave the culprits away.

The Queen’s private apartments – bedroom, sitting room, dressing room, bathroom and dining room – are located on the first floor above the Garden Entrance overlooking Constitution Hill. They are easy to
recognise
, as they are the only ones on that side of the
building
with bow windows, and are usually the only ones late at night with lights still burning. Opposite is the Pages’ Room, where her senior servants wait until called and next door to them is the Corgis’ Room containing not only the beds for the dogs, raised slightly off the floor to avoid draughts, but also the spotlessly clean and polished bowls used to feed them.

Immediately above The Queen’s suite, adjacent to Angela Kelly’s (her senior dresser) apartment is Her Majesty’s wardrobe, a large, cedar-lined room, containing not only the everyday outfits but also the magnificent formal robes worn at the State Opening of Parliament.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s suite is adjacent to The Queen’s, but separated by Her Majesty’s bathroom.
When Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace on 9 July 1982, and was discovered, dripping blood from a cut thumb, sitting on The Queen’s bed when she woke up in the early morning, many of the tabloid press concentrated on the fact that she slept apart from Prince Philip. What they failed to realise is that with many couples of their generation and class it is perfectly normal for couples not to share a bed at all times.

One other reason in their case is that they have different preferences for bedclothes: The Queen likes a longer turn-back on her sheets and blankets, and lace trimming on her pillowcases; Prince Philip does not. And, as he was brought up in the rigid Puritanism of life at Gordonstoun, where cold showers and stoicism were the order of the day, he sleeps with his windows wide open whatever the weather and temperature. He has never used a hot-water bottle in his life. Added to which, even at ninety, His Royal Highness has his own agenda, so he frequently rises extra early and would not wish to disturb his wife. Above Prince Philip’s bedroom is a fully equipped barber shop, where his hairdresser trims the royal locks once a week, and even provides a pedicure when needed.

Even when the royal couple had the use of the Royal Yacht
Britannia
, they had separate cabins and nowhere on the Yacht were there any double beds. When
Britannia
was used for royal honeymoons, the crew (known as Yachties) would rope two single beds together.

Two of the nicest apartments in the Palace are those that traditionally belonged to the Chief Housekeeper
and the Superintendent of the Palace. These flank the principal entrance on the ground floor and are guarded by the soldiers on Palace sentry duty. However, neither of these apartments is now used as living
accommodation
. The Superintendent’s position has been abolished, while the Chief Housekeeper now lives in a small apartment on the top floor overlooking The Mall. Their former quarters are now used as offices.

One of the many rules governing Buckingham Palace is that the lace curtains at the front are never drawn back, on the explicit instructions of The Queen who likes to preserve the ‘Chocolate Box’ effect of its appearance from the outside.

One young housemaid hung her underclothes out to dry from her window on one occasion. When the Master of the Household saw it he blew a fuse and ordered the offending garments to be removed from the windowsill immediately, even though the girl’s room was at the rear of the Palace overlooking the inner quadrangle, so no one would have seen it from the front.

The nineteen State Apartments, used for formal occasions, including the wedding breakfast and
reception
following the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, are all situated on the first floor, reached via the Grand Staircase.

The first room is the Guard Chamber, a small
anteroom
where, in previous reigns, an officer would be stationed to check the credentials of anyone visiting the sovereign before allowing them to proceed.

From here, one is shown into the Green Drawing Room, where, as the name implies, the walls, ceiling
and even the chairs are all in that colour. It is the central apartment on the west side of the Palace and in Queen Victoria’s day, this was where the royal party would emerge to wave at the crowds in front of the Palace and along The Mall. Of course, Buckingham Palace was U-shaped then, without the north front wall that was erected after Marble Arch was removed, stone by stone, to enable Victoria to see – and more importantly – to be clearly seen by her people without any obstruction.

The Throne Room next door contains the throne chairs of The Queen, Prince Philip and those of
previous
reigns dotted around the room. On the evening of Prince William’s wedding, his brother Harry took over the room and transformed it into a disco for the younger guests who had not been invited to the
official
wedding breakfast. Surely the only time such an event had been held in this august setting? One could almost feel the disapproving glare of Queen Victoria.

The Blue Drawing Room, which used to be called the South Drawing Room, is said by many visitors to be the most elegant of the State Apartments, but others claim it is too cold and impersonal. The blue flock wallpaper was installed by Queen Mary at the
beginning
of the twentieth century and the floor-to-ceiling Corinthian columns were painted to resemble onyx in order to cover up defects in the scagliola during the reign of Queen Victoria. The aim of King George IV and his designer Nash was to create an aura of extreme opulence and no one could deny that they succeeded. The Music Room contains the grand piano that has been played by Nöel Coward and Andrew Lloyd
Webber, among others, but since Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales are no longer with us, no other member of the Royal Family plays it. The Music Room has also been used for a number of royal
christenings
since enemy bombers in the Second World War destroyed the Chapel Royal. The White Drawing Room is the most welcoming and warm in the Palace, where the predominant colour is in fact not white but yellow. In one corner is a large fixture
containing
a full-size mirror and when a function is being held, a footman is stationed alongside. At a signal he presses a button and the entire fitment swings open to reveal the Royal Family who have been waiting in the Royal Closet, a small drawing room hidden behind the mirror, to have their own pre-function drinks: gin and Dubonnet for The Queen, whisky and soda or a sweet German wine for Prince Philip, Coke or orange juice for Princess Anne. The tableaux can surprise new guests who have not been let into the secret of the swinging mirror and more than one lady has found to her confusion that, instead of her own reflection, she sees the entire Royal Family looking back at her.

The Picture Gallery and Cross Picture Gallery are two more of the State Apartments brought into use when a reception is being held, and the State Ball Supper Room was the one used for the Wedding Breakfast of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It is an elegant room and only the immediate families and the other royal guests were asked to sit here. The rest of the 600 invited back to the Palace used the other apartments, with the main State Apartment being the State Ballroom, built at a cost of £250,000 in 1848 by
Queen Victoria. Well, she didn’t actually lay any bricks of course, but she did order its construction. It is the largest single private room in London and at today’s prices would cost around £25 million.

Several State Apartments are never open to the public, including the Chinese Dining Room, the Buhl Guest Suite and the Balcony Room, from where the royal party emerge to wave to the crowds following a celebration such as a wedding or the State Opening of Parliament.

On the ground floor, the Belgian Suite is where foreign Heads of State are housed during visits to London and this leads onto the swimming pool.

Diagonally opposite on the ground floor is the Court Post Office across the corridor from the Palace’s Pay Office. There is still a Billiards Room that is no longer used for its original purpose, so it is used mainly for small drinks parties when a senior member of the Household is leaving. The Bow Room, leading out onto the terrace, contains some magnificent examples of china and porcelain and it is also where an
endearing
custom used to be maintained. Whenever The Queen was departing for an overseas tour, members of the Royal Household would gather in the Bow Room to bid her farewell and assemble again on her return to welcome her home.

As The Queen now always leaves from the Garden Entrance near her private quarters, this little ceremony no longer takes place.

Up on the second floor, in the front, in what used to be the Palace schoolroom, is the Princess Royal’s sitting room and office suite – her bedroom suite is
now in York House at St James’s Palace – and the Duke of York’s offices are next door with the Lady-in-Waiting’s suite occupying the entire corner.

There is also a mezzanine floor overlooking The Queen’s Gallery and Buckingham Palace Road. This is where the staff Dining Room is located. The kitchens, which take up more than half of the east side of the ground floor, are immediately beneath the Dining Room.

This then is the London residence of The Queen and, far from being a museum piece, there is seldom a day in the year when Buckingham Palace is not humming with activity.

f ever there was a relationship between an august royal figure and her servant that was truly unique it was that between Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and her Page of the Backstairs, William Tallon.

William, who was known to the outside world, and to other members of the Royal Household, as ‘Backstairs Billy’ – though never that to Her Majesty, openly admitted that he was in love with his boss and claimed that she had a great affection for him, which was true.

He once said The Queen Mother treated him as a favourite adopted son, while his colleagues suggested it was more like a naughty puppy. She allowed him certain privileges, but he was never permitted to overstep the mark, and in fairness to him, he knew his place.

With his mass of flamboyant hair and immaculate bearing, William was easily the most recognisable member of the Royal Household, before or since.

He thoroughly enjoyed basking in the reflected glory that came with his association with The Queen Mother and he dined out at some of London’s finest restaurants, on the strength of that association.

Journalists and authors plied him with invitations, which he accepted with alacrity. One of his favourite bars was in Duke’s Hotel in St James’s, just across the road from Clarence House. William was a regular and he claimed they made the best martini in the world. A barman would wheel a trolley to William’s table and mix the drink in front of him, making sure it was almost neat gin, which was the way he liked. His intake was prodigious. Like his royal mistress, he was said to have ‘hollow legs’ and many of his hosts found it impossible to keep up with him. And, when he walked back to Clarence House, he was as steady as when he had left.

William Tallon joined the Royal Household as a trainee footman in the early 1950s. He was a great success and promotion was fairly swift. When King George VI died in February 1952 and preparations began for the (by now) Queen Mother to move across the road from Buckingham Palace to Clarence House, William was part of the advance party. Her Majesty didn’t actually move until nearly a year later, and it is believed in the Royal Household that she had to be practically carried, as she was reluctant to give up the Palace. For the first six months of Elizabeth II’s reign, she and Prince Philip lived in the visitor’s quarters in the Belgian Suite.

By the time The Queen Mother had been ‘persuaded’ to move, Clarence House had been transformed into the elegant home it was to remain for half a century. William liked to claim that it was a combination of Her Majesty’s and his efforts that produced the sense of taste without ostentation that was exemplified in Clarence House. Perhaps, here again, there was a little exaggeration on his part.

Her Majesty’s Household included a Private Secretary, Sir Martin Gilliat, a Comptroller of the Household, Capt. Sir Alastair Aird and a Treasurer, Sir Ralph Anstruther, whose job was to try and keep control of The Queen Mother’s spending – and also to pay the people who worked for her.

There were a number of secretaries who went by the old-fashioned title of Lady Clerks and a press secretary, the delightful, if slightly unworldly, Major Sir John Griffin.

These were the mainstay of the Household, with, of course, legions of domestic servants from housekeeper to footmen, scullery maids to Pages. As mentioned, William Tallon rose to become Page of the Backstairs, while his life-long friend, Reg Willcox, was Page of the Presence, an equally prestigious position.

Both William and Reg were quite open about their sexuality, and The Queen Mother, like most of the Royal Family, was relaxed about their relationship or that of any other members of the Household.

There is one often-repeated story that on one
occasion
, Her Majesty was waiting for her usual gin and Dubonnet, when she heard sounds of a loud
argument
coming from the Pages Pantry. Finally losing her
patience she shouted, ‘When you two old queens have quite finished, this old Queen would like her cocktail.’ True or false; it makes a good story and having known both men, it could well have been the former.

When Reg Willcox died, he left his entire estate, which consisted mainly of property he owned, to William, who was bereft at the loss of his old friend and sparring partner.

The Queen Mother did not replace Reg as Page of the Presence. She was content just to have William at her beck and call and he was happy to devote the rest of his career to her.

Like all the other members of the Royal Family, The Queen Mother hated the thought of having strange faces around her. Her staff remained long after the mandatory retirement age, and only death brought an end to service.

William became closer and closer to Her Majesty, without the relationship ever becoming in any way the slightest bit improper, in spite of snide comments from some quarters – and not all from tabloid
newspapers
– that theirs was more than a platonic friendship. But, he did tend to exaggerate her feelings more than a little. And he did have a fertile imagination. While there was no doubt that they were the best of friends from the time he entered her service, to the day she died in 2002, no one would believe that she returned what amounted to his near worship. She liked him, obviously. But they both kept the relationship on a mistress and servant basis, Her Majesty made sure of that. However, if the media, and anyone else for that matter, wanted to believe theirs was a love affair, even
in a platonic state, William was the last person to try and disillusion them. On his part, he was never heard to address her as anything other than Your Majesty or Ma’am. His demeanour was exemplary at all times and there was one occasion when he was blamed for something that was not his fault and which hurt him badly.

On 4 August 2002, members of the Royal Family gathered at Clarence House to celebrate The Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. As was usual, the family assembled at the gate to acknowledge the greetings of the crowd and to watch the band of the Irish Guards march past playing ‘Happy Birthday’.

William, as usual, was in the party, and he was seen wheeling Princess Margaret who was confined to a wheelchair. Her appearance shocked the onlookers. Her face was badly puffed and her arm was in a sling. No one had ever seen her in such a state, particularly as two weeks earlier she had attended Prince Philip’s eightieth birthday party at Windsor when she had looked all right.

William was heavily criticised by the media for pushing her to the fore and allowing the public to see her in such an appalling condition, the result of a fall in the shower when she badly scalded her legs and severely bruised her face. The only comment he made was, ‘Do you think for one moment that I would have dared to push her in that way unless I had first been ordered to do so?’

Obviously both The Queen and The Queen Mother knew beforehand about Princess Margaret’s condition and they took the decision to allow her
to be seen, and she herself insisted on sharing her mother’s big day. But had she realised just how ill she looked it is likely that she might have had second thoughts as she was a woman who had been proud of her looks and she would not wish to be remembered in that condition. Her own children, David Linley and Sarah Chatto, were also at Clarence House on that day and they raised no objections, so William was absolutely blameless.

He was fastidious about his personal appearance. When he was out of uniform he looked like a man who had been dressed by Savile Row, and perhaps he was. Suppliers fell over themselves to give him
whatever
he wanted. His shirts came from Turnball & Asser in Jermyn Street and he would not wear shirts with button-down collars or button sleeves. He had a large collection of cufflinks that he liked to display,
including
several pairs given to him by the Prince of Wales. And as a finishing touch, he also liked to wear a silk handkerchief flowing from his breast pocket. He used to point out to the valets of the Duke of Edinburgh that their master was committing a sartorial mortal sin by wearing a white handkerchief with the top folded straight across.

Someone once said that William exemplified that great British tradition of non-gentlemen who tried to pass themselves off as the real thing – and nearly, but not quite – succeeded.

Always immaculately turned out, whenever we met for a drink, he would arrive with a little bag of ‘goodies’ for my wife – who he had never met. It was typically generous of the man.

He also liked to boast that he never once sat down in The Queen Mother’s presence and that she never once invited him to. He did share drinks with her on many occasions, especially at weekends when they were at Royal Lodge. She used to ask him to have the same drink as her, gin and Dubonnet with the proportions being, two thirds gin, one third Dubonnet and plenty of ice. But he didn’t care too much for Dubonnet saying it was too sweet for his taste. So when he poured the drinks, his was usually nine-tenths gin and just a drop of Dubonnet, just to please her.

In the latter days of The Queen Mother’s life, when she was still fairly active, they would be driven down to Royal Lodge on Friday afternoons after luncheon (they refused to call it lunch) and when the senior members of the Household had left for the evening, it would often be just the two of them in Her Majesty’s sitting room. Of course, there were other staff in the house: security guards, footmen, a chef, in case The Queen Mother wanted a snack, and a dresser waiting to assist Her Majesty when she retired for the night. But the Ladies-in-Waiting, including her niece Mrs Margaret Rhodes, daughter of The Queen Mother’s sister-in-law, would leave for their homes.

After a few stiff drinks, William would put on some records of The Queen Mother’s favourite music and occasionally they would dance. Nothing too
strenuous
, just the odd foxtrot or waltz. And when the staff heard the strains of the music they knew they should not enter the room. It was simply two old friends enjoying the memories of times past. But, even in these surroundings, neither forgot for a moment who
the other was – it was mistress and servant, and that was the way both preferred it. And he still wouldn’t sit down in her presence.

When the Court adjourned to Balmoral, William often tried to hide away at night because he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about Scottish highland dancing, which is de rigueur at Balmoral. The Queen Mother’s niece told the story in a book she wrote, that on one occasion when Prince Charles was still single, he had to search the castle to find William, because ‘Granny wants you for the Gay Gordons’. This was in the days when the word ‘gay’ was used only to describe joy rather than its current sexual definition, so there was no hidden double entendre intended.

During his service at Clarence House, William was given the use of Gate Lodge, a small but elegant
single-storey
property just outside the gates leading onto The Mall, surely one of the best addresses in London?

The house was a treasure trove as William was given hundreds of gifts by members of the Royal Family and also by suppliers to Queen Elizabeth. There were paintings, photographs, and prints, including sketches of the actor Keith Michel in his role as Henry VIII for a BBC TV drama along with his six wives. The Queen Mother had been given the prints, but she couldn’t find the right place for them so she passed them on to William. She also presented him with items to make up a large dinner service, giving him a plate or soup bowl every Christmas. She died before he was able to complete the set.

In the latter stages of William’s service with The Queen Mother, the Gate Lodge deteriorated into
appalling condition. The walls were dripping with damp, the roof leaked, the plumbing needed
attention
and the doors didn’t close properly. But the Comptroller of the Household refused to allocate the funds required for the repairs and The Queen Mother had no idea what the problem was. William never told her; he just put up with it.

However, within six weeks of her death, he was evicted from the property as the Prince of Wales was taking over Clarence House and William was informed that Gate Lodge was needed as a ticket office for the opening of the five State Apartments. He was moved out with indecent haste and indeed, the Lodge remained empty and in the same state of repair for some years after The Queen Mother’s death.

William was devastated to lose his beloved home, but Prince Charles came to his rescue offering him a Grace and Favour apartment in Kennington, part of the Duchy of Cornwall’s estate, near the Oval cricket ground.

The death of Queen Elizabeth truly was the end of an era. Her Page of the Backstairs had lost not only his home, but also the woman he had regarded as a
surrogate
mother for over half a century. For most of his adult life, William had never known any other
existence
. Clarence House during the week; Royal Lodge at weekends and Birkhall, Her Majesty’s home in the Scottish Highlands, during the summer months. His routine coincided with hers; the only time he took off was when he knew she was with her daughters or grandchildren. Princess Margaret thought the world of him, though she would occasionally have a joke at
his expense. He didn’t take offence and both Margaret and The Queen included William in their family celebrations. He once showed me his collection of Royal Family Christmas cards, which numbered over 200. He also told of the day, when Princess Margaret was still living as a single woman at Clarence House and The Queen Mother entered the drawing room to find her daughter and William sitting side-by-side on a sofa. She was obviously surprised as Margaret was known for her imperious ways and the idea of sitting with a servant would normally have been anathema to her. But the Princess then made William stand and explained to her mother that there was a hole in the sofa that offended her. So she ordered him to sit and cover the hole until she was ready to leave the room. He found nothing unusual in such a command – or if he did, he was wise enough to keep his own counsel.