appreciate anything beyond fighting and fish and chips.
Billy and Reg would have been aware of this, but they were famously skilled at looking after the more valuable items at Clarence House. They were taught by the indomitable Walter Taylor and other older servants of the time and, in fact, Billy quickly became something of a connoisseur in his own right.
Former maid Sally Dexter recalled a life that must have been rather similar to Billy’s when he first started work. She remembered that ‘the mistress had an idea that it would be almost impossible for me not to break everything I touched, so for the first week or so she followed me round the sitting room watching me clean her ornaments. And you know it was ridiculous really because the ornaments were not that delicate, nor were they particularly valuable. She quickly realised I was not a complete clot and after those initial worries she left me alone.’
Billy understood this world but somehow an in-built fastidiousness – a fastidiousness that had shown itself years earlier in his carefully pressed schoolboy trousers and general avoidance of anything dirty or chaotic – made him unusually sensitive to the values of those for whom he worked. An early report by the Comptroller of the Royal Household mentions that William Tallon is ‘intelligent, quick to learn and can be trusted with more delicate tasks’.
F ROM 1955 TO 1957 Billy’s life, to an outsider, might have seemed fairly routine. When the Queen Mother went up to Scotland, to Birkhall, her house on the estate at Balmoral, heaccompanied her. His main responsibility – in addition to his customary skill with the gin bottle – was the corgis. And it was Billy who amused Elizabeth by introducing at Birkhall a novel system of getting people to come down for lunch in which he would walk the halls and corridors ringing a bell and swinging a censer like a Catholic priest. He also threw himself into the dances that were a regular feature of life at Balmoral. ‘The Queen Mother loved the fact that Billy knew how to enjoy himself. At Balmoral dances the social barriers vanished temporarily and the Queen Mother would frequently ask specifically for Billy if she wanted a partner,’ remembered one Balmoral servant. On one occasion Billy excused himself from a dance and found a quiet corner to catch his breath. He had already danced a number of times with the Queen Mother and simply needed a rest.
‘Then I heard a high-pitched cry,’ he later recalled. ‘It was the Queen Mother shouting, “William, William, where on earth are you hiding?”’
When Billy re-appeared looking slightly shame-faced, the Queen Mother would tease him by saying, ‘William, I hope you haven’t been neglecting me in favour of the young men in the kitchen.’
Occasionally fuelled by excitement and drink Billy would suddenly execute his own version of a Highland sword dance. ‘It was very camp, very extravagant and very funny,’ recalled a Balmoral gillie. ‘It was the sort of thing only Billy could carry off but even so people were worried. I saw people glancing nervously towards the Queen Mother but she smiled and clapped her hands in delight.’
It was at these parties that the royal family could completely relax. One servant recalled HM the Queen, the Queen Mother and Prince Philip at lunch giggling uncontrollably after five minutes of throwing napkins at each other ended when Prince Philip almost fell off his chair.
They would also do impersonations or silly voices until they were all laughing. Or they would discuss things in the media that had annoyed them. They would always complain in a light-hearted way, but Prince Philip made everyone laugh on one occasion when he said about a journalist who had written about him that he was a ‘complete shit’.
At lunch Billy would stand behind the Queen Mother’s chair or close by, always ready to fill her glass and those of her guests. Indeed, Billy became famous for making these
Billy and Reg would have been aware of this, but they were famously skilled at looking after the more valuable items at Clarence House. They were taught by the indomitable Walter Taylor and other older servants of the time and, in fact, Billy quickly became something of a connoisseur in his own right.
Former maid Sally Dexter recalled a life that must have been rather similar to Billy’s when he first started work. She remembered that ‘the mistress had an idea that it would be almost impossible for me not to break everything I touched, so for the first week or so she followed me round the sitting room watching me clean her ornaments. And you know it was ridiculous really because the ornaments were not that delicate, nor were they particularly valuable. She quickly realised I was not a complete clot and after those initial worries she left me alone.’
Billy understood this world but somehow an in-built fastidiousness – a fastidiousness that had shown itself years earlier in his carefully pressed schoolboy trousers and general avoidance of anything dirty or chaotic – made him unusually sensitive to the values of those for whom he worked. An early report by the Comptroller of the Royal Household mentions that William Tallon is ‘intelligent, quick to learn and can be trusted with more delicate tasks’.
F ROM 1955 TO 1957 Billy’s life, to an outsider, might have seemed fairly routine. When the Queen Mother went up to Scotland, to Birkhall, her house on the estate at Balmoral, heaccompanied her. His main responsibility – in addition to his customary skill with the gin bottle – was the corgis. And it was Billy who amused Elizabeth by introducing at Birkhall a novel system of getting people to come down for lunch in which he would walk the halls and corridors ringing a bell and swinging a censer like a Catholic priest. He also threw himself into the dances that were a regular feature of life at Balmoral. ‘The Queen Mother loved the fact that Billy knew how to enjoy himself. At Balmoral dances the social barriers vanished temporarily and the Queen Mother would frequently ask specifically for Billy if she wanted a partner,’ remembered one Balmoral servant. On one occasion Billy excused himself from a dance and found a quiet corner to catch his breath. He had already danced a number of times with the Queen Mother and simply needed a rest.
‘Then I heard a high-pitched cry,’ he later recalled. ‘It was the Queen Mother shouting, “William, William, where on earth are you hiding?”’
When Billy re-appeared looking slightly shame-faced, the Queen Mother would tease him by saying, ‘William, I hope you haven’t been neglecting me in favour of the young men in the kitchen.’
Occasionally fuelled by excitement and drink Billy would suddenly execute his own version of a Highland sword dance. ‘It was very camp, very extravagant and very funny,’ recalled a Balmoral gillie. ‘It was the sort of thing only Billy could carry off but even so people were worried. I saw people glancing nervously towards the Queen Mother but she smiled and clapped her hands in delight.’
It was at these parties that the royal family could completely relax. One servant recalled HM the Queen, the Queen Mother and Prince Philip at lunch giggling uncontrollably after five minutes of throwing napkins at each other ended when Prince Philip almost fell off his chair.
They would also do impersonations or silly voices until they were all laughing. Or they would discuss things in the media that had annoyed them. They would always complain in a light-hearted way, but Prince Philip made everyone laugh on one occasion when he said about a journalist who had written about him that he was a ‘complete shit’.
At lunch Billy would stand behind the Queen Mother’s chair or close by, always ready to fill her glass and those of her guests. Indeed, Billy became famous for making these
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