A glimpse into private royal life has been shared by former royal butler Grant Harrold, who spent seven years working for King Charles at Highgrove House.

For him, serving the then-Prince of Wales was, as he describes, “an absolute dream come true.”

Harrold remembers the King fondly, calling him “very gentle” and noting that during all his years in service, “he didn’t once raise his voice.”

A Somber Reflection on Becoming King

Before his coronation on May 6, 2023, Charles gave a moving response when asked about his future as monarch. Harrold recalls him saying: “When that job comes, you lose a parent.”

That reality came with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, just over a year after Prince Philip’s death on April 9, 2021. Their marriage lasted an extraordinary 73 years, making it the longest in royal history.

Memories of the Crown

According to the BBC, Charles admitted to feeling “anxious” ahead of his coronation. Speaking in the documentary Coronation Girls, he recalled vivid memories of the night before his mother’s coronation when he was just four years old.

“I remember it all so well then, because I remember my sister and I had bath time in the evening. My mama used to come up at bath time wearing the crown to practise,” he said.

The King reflected on how the weight of the crown had always stayed with him:

“You have to get used to how heavy [the crown] is, I’ve never forgotten, I can still remember it vividly. It is very important to wear it for a certain amount of time, because you get used to it then. But the big one that you’re crowned with, the St Edward’s Crown, it weighs 5lbs. It is much heavier and taller, so there’s always that feeling of feeling slightly anxious, in case it wobbles. You have to carry it, you have to look straight ahead.”

The Question of a Regal Name

Harrold also remembered a conversation about which name Charles would choose as King. Some believed he might honor his grandfather by becoming George VII. George VI, originally named Albert Frederick Arthur George, had selected his title for the sake of “continuity.” Similarly, Queen Victoria had reigned under a name different from her baptismal one, Alexandrina Victoria.

Harrold explained: “I remember asking him what he would be, and he said to me, ‘I could be Charles, but I could also be George VII’, which is quite nice because his grandfather was George VI.”

The butler admitted the final decision came as a surprise: “We were getting the impression that he would probably be George VII. So I was shocked when they announced he was Charles III.”

At the time, then-Prime Minister Liz Truss formally confirmed the new monarch’s title in a national address: “Today the Crown passes, as it has done for more than a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new head of state, his majesty King Charles III.”