Kate Middleton was always "different" to other members of the family, reveals former royal butler

(Image credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images/Future)

published 22 October 2022

Kate Middleton was always "different" to other members of the royal family, a former butler for King Charles III has revealed, saying that she was always "fun and making jokes."

A former royal butler, who knew Prince William and Kate Middleton in the early stages of their courtship, has spoken out about his relationship with the fun-loving couple
As well as describing Kate as "different" to other members of the family, he also revealed that the young couple were 'like any boyfriend and girlfriend'
In other royal news, Kate Middleton and Prince William have put royal engagements on hold

Former royal butler, Grant Harrold, has revealed how Kate Middleton was different to other royal family members during the early stages of her and Prince William's courtship.

Harrold was a butler for King Charles at Highgrove House for seven years, during which he saw many key moments in all of the royals' lives and built lasting friendships with his employers.

In an interview with the Mirror, Harrold revealed that, when Prince William and Kate Middleton began dating, they were just 'like any boyfriend and girlfriend' and that the Princess of Wales was always "fun and making jokes."

He said, "[They weren't] any different to anyone else, it’s mad saying that when you think about who they are, but there wasn’t anything different. What I liked was that Kate, being a girlfriend and obviously not a member of the family, would be with me and the other staff and she was so polite, friendly, and fun and making jokes.

"I remember there were days I had off where I’d be running an errand or I’d left something up at Highgrove [House] and they were around, so you’d just catch up with them.

"It was always fun and it was always nice that I got on so well with them because they’d then ask me to travel the country with them. When my phone used to go off and it was William, all my friends would be like that’s so cool, but to me it was normal. That was the relationship I had with them. There’s very few people that the Royals actually get to know, so you do feel lucky that you were trusted with that.”

Kate Middleton and Prince William engagement

"I had the opportunity to look after William and Kate and Prince Harry and that was fun because not only did I get to know them on duty, but I got to know them off duty too.

"We went to the same pubs, we ended up having a lot of the same friends - I always knew who they were and respected who they were, but I got on really well with them. It’s quite strange now, when you see them as a family and as senior Royals, to think that the days I was with them they’d only just left university.”

While the butler focused on the fun he had while working for the royals, he also detailed how seriously he took his job within the household, saying it was like "Downtown Abbey."

He explained, "The easiest way to explain it is, it’s like what you see in Downton Abbey, butlers are there to look after the family - albeit quite a famous family - look after guests, serve meals and drinks… but what people don’t realise is that you’re also kind of a personal assistant and expected to make things run [smoothly] for them.

"If you can do something for somebody and it doesn’t impact their day for it to happen, then that’s being a good butler. They want someone who is going to make things happen."

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.