Former royal butler Paul Burrell has claimed there is only one person who can say no to King Charles as he offered his insights into the current Royal Family dynamics.
Paul began his career as a footman at Buckingham Palace at the age of 18 before serving Princess Diana for a decade.
In his book The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana, Paul, 67, identified the sole individual capable of declining the monarch as his spouse of two decades, Queen Camilla.
Paul characterised Queen Camilla as a “non-negotiable”—someone who seldom requests anything yet receives everything, reports the Mirror.
He elaborated: “Charles has always lived in a world where all his household and staff bow and call him ‘Your Royal Highness.’ Now, of course, it is ‘Your Majesty.’ Nobody says no. If you do, you’re out. He lives in a gilded bubble and is served whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and by whom he wants.
“The only person who can say ‘no’ is Camilla. She is and always will be a non-negotiable. Perhaps her no-nonsense approach is what Charles needs. She’s the steady hand on the tiller of the royal ship now, like it or not.
“She is at the helm. She rarely asks for anything but is given everything and now has the ultimate position as queen.”
Beyond identifying the one person capable of saying no to the 76-year-old sovereign, Paul also suggested that Charles’ daily habits have remained largely unchanged throughout the years.
He wrote: “His routines have never changed. His toothpaste is squeezed onto his toothbrush every morning, and he uses a silver key which winds down the tube to avoid any waste.
“His pyjamas are laundered or pressed every day, the drawstring tapes pressed flat like his shoelaces. He, again like his father, likes his dress shoes to be ‘spit-and-polished’ to a mirror finish.”
While Paul remarked on Charles’ longstanding daily rituals, another former butler weighed in on how the monarch might have perceived a military-themed social media post by Prince Harry‘s wife, Meghan Markle, which highlighted the service of military personnel.
Meghan posted the clip to honour Veterans Day, America’s equivalent of Remembrance Day, paying tribute to her husband’s service and all military personnel.
Regarding Charles’ potential reaction to the post, ex-royal butler Grant Harrold told ReachPlc that he believes the King would have been supportive of it.
Grant elaborated: “It’s a very powerful video, and a very emotive post. It’s definitely showing Meghan’s move to a more ‘celebrity’ approach to social media, sharing the video she wants and feels is important on key days. It’s a really nice post. I don’t think the Royal Family will feel badly about it at all; I think they will approve it.
“She’s marking Veterans Day — which is America’s version of Remembrance Day — and showing her pride in the active service her husband undertook.
“The King was extremely proud of his son serving in Afghanistan, and he will be glad at Meghan acknowledging and respecting this.”