A royal butler once revealed he was “horrified” over a food mishap that occurred while serving King Charles his meal. Grant Harrold didn’t realize he was missing one important element of the royal’s dinner, causing Charles to utter a surprising response.
King Charles couldn’t believe when a royal butler had a major food faux pas
Royal butler Grant Harrold shared details of an embarrassing moment between him and King Charles with The Sun. Thankfully, Charles had a sense of humor about the mistake.
“The biggest faux pas that I ever did in the dining room, which I’ve never talked about, I was serving dinner to the King and some family members and I remember going around the table and putting plates down. We were going back to get the starter, a souffle or something, and I remember walking around the table serving everyone,” Harrold recounted.
“I got to the king, leaned over, offered the dish, and went back,” he continued. “I’m looking and I thought ‘Oh God, I haven’t given him a plate.’ The food had gone straight onto a charger, an underplate, a silver one.”
Harrold said that he and Charles looked at one another surprisingly, not knowing what to do. Thankfully the royal broke the ice, telling Harrold, “Don’t worry it’s fine’.”
Charles’ quip put the royal butler at ease
Grant Harrold said that what happened next put him at ease. King Charles was a good sport about the faux pas.
“Charles pointed to himself asking, “Royal?” to which Harrold replied, “Yes sir.”
Charles pointed to the silver underplate and quipped, “Silver, it’s fine, I’m a royal, I can eat off silver.”
Harrold said at that moment, he realized Charles’ humility and humanity. The king could have made a big deal about the mistake, but instead, treated Harrold with kindness.
He added: “It showed his humility if it had been anyone else they would have said ‘Can you go get me a plate’ or ‘Can you clean this up?’”
“That just shows you that behind closed doors he’s a genuinely nice guy. Even when you got things wrong, he wouldn’t even make a big thing about it. He was very lowkey about it and turned it into a bit of fun,” Harrold concluded.
King Charles regularly spreads kindness to his staff
King Charles regularly spreads kindness to his staff, says a royal associate to the Daily Beast. “Ultimately, people like working for him, but everyone is under a lot of pressure, because his office is incredibly busy.
“He’s absolutely not a monster in the office, but he is human, and he snaps sometimes. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a camera on him when it happens,” he admitted.
Charles is also reportedly very generous to his staff monetarily. In 2022, Charles once handed out bonuses out of his pocket, upwards of $700 per person, on top of their salary.
These bonuses were handed out to hundreds of workers, including palace cleaners, servants, and footmen. The bonuses were higher for those making lower salaries, to lower, for those who made more money working for the House of Windsor.
King Charles will round out 2024 by spending Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham. There, he will host several a week of events, culminating in New Year’s.
