He polished silver for kings, poured tea for queens, and stood quietly in the shadows as royal dramas played out — but now, one witness to the Windsors’ most private moments is pulling back the curtain.
Former Buckingham Palace butler Grant Harrold reveals Prince Philip’s searing four-word verdict on Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle, why King Charles will never again trust him and William’s plan to modernize the monarchy in his bombshell new book, “The Royal Butler.”
“The king doesn’t trust Harry, because of what Harry has said. He worried that he would use it to his advantage. And he has,” Harrold told Page Six.
During his time as Charles’s butler, Harrold also catered for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Grant Harrold, former personal butler to King Charles, has lifted the lid on his experience of working in the world of private service.
Vikki Bruce
“He’s done what household members typically do and spilled the beans. It’s a big thing for the family to have one of their own do this.
They were all so close, and to see that relationship completely destroyed, I do not see them coming back from it.”
Harry, 40, is in the UK this week, where he is rumored to have an audience with the king, but Harrold warns he and Meghan’s podcast, book and TV deals rule them out of any significant re-entry to the royal circle.
“If they reconcile, then fall out again, what’s to say there won’t be another book, Netflix series or interview about it?” he asked.
Harrold, who was butler to King Charles between 2004 and 2011 (when his title was Prince of Wales) said Wiliam and Harry were still incredibly close during his service.
Harrold noted that several royal staffers, including Charles’s valet Michael Fawcett, “saw themselves as better than others.”
Harrold pictured with Queen Elizabeth II at her 80th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace in 2006.
Anna Philips
“The two of them were not just the best of friends, they were inseparable,” he tells us. “At Highgrove [Charles’ private residence], they were always together. They were walking together, in the pub together, on motorbikes together. Very rarely did they do stuff separately.”
The former palace staffer, 47, notes in the book, to be released Sept. 23, how everything changed once Harry met Markle in July 2016.
As soon as Meghan came into his life, everything changed,” Harrold tells Page Six. “It could be that Harry had his own awakening and suddenly decided he didn’t like the organization, but the problem is that Meghan was with him when it happened.
“The biggest change in Harry’s life is Meghan.”
Harrold has worked for Charles at Highgrove from 2004 to 2011.
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In his book, Harrold highlights just how close Prince Harry and his estranged brother, Prince William, were throughout their childhood.
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Still, the ex-staffer also believes “something bigger happened” between Harry and William.
“I was genuinely shocked when they fell out,” he said. “There must be something deeper going on that we’re not being told.”
Among various digs at his brother in his memoir “Spare,” Harry accused William of physically attacking him and knocking him to the floor, breaking a dog bowl, in 2019. He also calls him his “beloved brother and arch-nemesis” in the book.
Still, the brothers were still on good terms when Harry and former “Suits” star turned lifestyle influencer Markle married in 2018.
The breakdown of Harry’s relationship with William took place shortly after Meghan Markle entered the royal fold.
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The feuding brothers have not spoken in years after the Sussexes quit royal life in 2020 and moved to the US.
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According to Harrold, trust issues remain at the forefront of the Firm’s concerns.
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The Sussexes aired out their dirty laundry during a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
They wed in a lavish ceremony at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, with both the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, in attendance. Harrold said Philip couldn’t resist uttering one of his trademark one-liners to mark the occasion.
“Once all the formalities were over, we watched as the happy couple, and then the other members of the Royal Family, filed out of the chapel.
“When Prince Philip came out, he turned to the Queen and said, ‘Thank f–k that’s over.’
“It was very funny. I think he was speaking for the majority of people, but he was the man who actually said it.”
The book also revealed the late Prince Philip’s searing four-word verdict on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding that stunned even those closest to the throne.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
In an exclusive photo shared with Page Six of the moment, Prince Philip famously said to the late queen, “Thank f–k that’s over” following the Sussexes’ nuptials.
Jack Stooks
“I was standing opposite him and it was so funny,” Harrold recalled to Page Six, sharing an exclusive photo of the moment with us.
Harrold added the comment made the Queen, who passed away in 2022, turn to her husband and grin.
Once installed as an official royal, Meghan was seen to be a disruptor. During the less than two years she was a working member of the royal family, she quicky became known for attempting to do things her way and putting many noses out of joint.
Harrold recalled one instance where the “Suits” alum, now 44, wanted to host some of her friends for lunch on a day she was slated to carry out a royal engagement.
Harry and the “Suits” alum tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
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Harrold’s debut book, “The Royal Butler,” hits shelves on Sept. 23.
The king doesn’t trust Harry,” Harrold told Page Six.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“She would rather have lunch with her friends, thinking that was fine and it wasn’t,” Harrold divulged, noting the royal diary is set six months in advance.
“That’s not how it works. You can’t change it. She obviously thought she could come in and do her thing, and you can’t,” he added.
“I think the problem with Meghan is that she went into the organization and she assumed that after watching all the Disney princesses that she thought it was going to be like that. When you join the royal family, you are given rules and protocols to follow.”
Meanwhile, in the book Harrold says despite the royal family’s admiration for tradition, he expects William, 43, to scrap a lot of the long-standing formalities once he becomes monarch, using his reign to press a “reset button” and slim down the central figures in the family.
The Scot had worked for Charles for seven years when he was the Prince of Wales.
King Charles walks ahead of Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the Sandringham estate on December 25, 2018.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
The reality is, when [William and Princess Catherine’s children] George, Charlotte and Louis become of age and start getting involved, the monarchy will be the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children only,” Harrold says.
“The monarchy will get more fragile as the years go on, and it’s changing. It’s become more of a celebrity thing than a historical firm. Harry was the first celebrity royal,” he added.
The Wales family, Harrold notes, will also continue to live without a butler — something William and Princess Catherine, 43, have done for many years.
I wanted to butler, to look after [William and Catherine], and they didn’t want any of it,” Harrold said. “They wanted to do stuff themselves. They were carrying their own stuff, doing their own washing up, their own cooking.”
“They are very much still like that. [William] is very hands-on. To this day, I’m the only one that has ever done any butlering for him.”
Harrold also notes in his book how working for the royal household can go to the head of some members, and certain people like to throw their weight around.
I learned about the politics within the organization early on. Some of the staff members can be more royal than royals!”
The chauffeurs and secretaries in particular, Harrold notes, “saw themselves as better than others.” He aptly calls them the “men in suits.”
“We were all supposed to work as a team,” he tells us. “But there was always that feeling of jealousy. The higher you got, the more people didn’t like you.”
