As King Charles and Queen Camilla (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles) visit to Canada wraps up, one of the couple’s former employees is sharing something the monarch’s wife fears everytime they travel but many don’t know about it.
Here’s what that is, plus just how much planning goes into royal visits, even one as brief as their two-day Canada trip.
Former royal employee shares Queen Camilla’s fear whenever she has to travel far
Grant Harrold was King Charles’ butler for seven years. During his time working for the now-monarch, Harrold also looked after his Camilla. His duties included that of valet, housekeeper, house manager, and driver. The former royal employee discussed what went into planning trips abroad for the royals and Camilla’s biggest travel fear.
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, Harrold shared with Showbiz Cheat Sheet that Camilla actually has a fear of flying.
“When the royals fly, there are no security checks, no scanners, and no limited luggage,” he explained. “They’ll be in a VIP lounge — you’d sit there and have tea, coffee, and biscuits. When you walk out to board, your bags are taken from you, and you walk straight onto the plane without a ticket.
“When you’re on the jet, you’ll be given a menu and can choose what meal you want. It’s a jet, which means you get to experience luxury, and it’s a nice way to travel. But the downside of these jets, when I would be on them, is they were obviously small and very prone to turbulence.”
Harrold revealed: “Camilla is definitely not a fan of flying. While she has to travel all over the world, flying was never her favourite mode of transport. I don’t think it’s to do with the heights — it’s more the turbulence. But even though she has this fear, she deals with it when she does have to travel.”
How long royal trips take to plan
Harrold also talked about just how long royal trips and visits abroad actually take to plan out.
“There are normally months of planning,” he said. “The planning is done by the office, and then, behind the scenes, you’ve got the butlers and the valets who are in charge of the day-to-day stuff. When Charles travels, he’s got to have the certain things he likes in his diet, or his meals that will be sent over that you can’t get in the US or Canada.”
Harrold added: “The king has valets who do his packing — I used to do valeting as well. They’ll be the ones that are in charge of making sure his clothes are all sorted and he’s got what he needs. There will be day suits, military uniforms, his medals, or possibly swords, depending on where he’s going. The plan is extraordinary.
“The butlers will be sorting out his personal side — the kind of correspondence he’s got to deal with when he’s away from that point. Then you’ve got the security side that all has to be put together as well. That’s why these take months to plan, not weeks.”
