Behind the Royal Family's traditions, glamour and dedication to a huge array of organisations and charities there's a team of equally committed members of staff. Former royal butler, Grant Harrold, was one of them and he worked at King Charles's beloved Highgrove House residence in Gloucestershire for seven years.
Now, in his coming memoir, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, Grant is ready to discuss his experience. Alongside his reflections that King Charles is a "very gentle character" and someone who "works very hard and doesn’t suffer fools", is a story about his first meeting with Prince Harry that is seriously memorable.
In excerpts published in The Telegraph, Grant claimed that, in 2004, just a few weeks into his "dream" job at Highgrove, he was chatting to the royal chef when a water balloon came flying at him.
The book reportedly goes on to claim that the butler ducked just in time to avoid the first water balloon, but saw another was being allegedly lined up by practical jokester, Prince Harry.
"I spied a small window about the size of a picture frame, with a net covering to stop flies coming in", Grant is quoted as writing. "As soon as I hit the ground a water balloon smacked me on the back."
After this unexpected moment, Grant found himself face to face with King Charles’s youngest son, who supposedly responded, "Sorry. I’m just being a bit silly."
Taking it all in his stride, Grant is said to have introduced himself to Prince Harry as "the new guy", and the Duke of Sussex apparently wasted no time trying to make him feel more at ease. As per Grant’s claims, he asked the butler what he was "doing for food" and if he would like a takeaway.
Prince Harry allegedly offered, "You can sit with me as I’m getting one". So their first interaction reportedly went from a surprise water fight to the pair sitting in the kitchen, "chatting" and tucking into a takeaway together.
Back then in 2004, the King's youngest son was not yet 20 and his carefree and fun approach to royal life showed his sense of humour. A year later, he attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, from which he graduated in 2006 as a 2nd Lieutenant.
It’s warm, friendly exchanges like this one between him and the Duke of Sussex which Grant wants to be at the heart of his memoir. In addition to his reported fun interactions with Prince Harry, Grant revealed how King Charles conducted his interview for the role of royal butler.
This supposedly involved "an informal chat over tea and Duchy lemon biscuits".
"I always remember him saying 'do you really want to work with me? Can you put up with this, because it’s very different?' I remember saying it would be an absolute dream come true," he wrote.
