At Home with the Queen: The Inside Story of the Royal Household - Hardcover

Hoey, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007126182 ISBN 13: 9780007126187

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

Behind the scenes of the private world at the heart of royalty, as revealed by a distinguished royal commentator.

One of our best-informed royal chroniclers goes behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace to tell the real story of what goes on inside the royal residences through the eyes and words of royal staff past and present.

Hundreds of anecdotes reveal the conditions in which the staff live and work and also their relationship with the Royals they serve. How does one get a job as personal footman to the Queen? Why does Prince Charles still have to send a written note to her Page of the Backstairs requesting a meeting with his mother? Which members of the royal family are best to work for? How does the Queen dispose of her old dresses? How much does every member of the Royal Household earn? How much ‘moonlighting’ goes on at the Palace? What are the duties of a royal valet? Why does the Queen hate men in three-piece suits, and still employ a Fender Mender?

Buckingham Palace remains an independent kingdom with its own rules and customs. Brian Hoey investigates the hierarchy in the Royal Household: the Master of the Household decides who get sthe best rooms to stay in at the Palace; the Lord Chamberlain issues invitations to Garden Parties; the Keeper of the Privy Purse allocates seats in the royal box at the Albert Hall.

‘Palace politics’ have never been so intimately revealed as in this searching account of the private world at the heart of royalty.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

One of our best-informed royal chroniclers goes behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace to tell the real story of what goes on inside the royal residences through the eyes and words of royal staff past and present.

Hundreds of anecdotes reveal the conditions in which the staff live and work and also their relationship with the Royals they serve. How does one get a job as personal footman to the Queen? Why does Prince Charles still have to send a written note to her Page of the Backstairs requesting a meeting with his mother? Which members of the royal family are best to work for? How does the Queen dispose of her old dresses? How much does every member of the Royal Household earn? How much ‘moonlighting’ goes on at the Palace? What are the duties of a royal valet? Why does the Queen hate men in three-piece suits, and still employ a Fender Mender?

Buckingham Palace remains an independent kingdom with its own rules and customs. Brian Hoey investigates the hierarchy in the Royal Household: the Master of the Household decides who gets the best rooms to stay in at the Palace; the Lord Chamberlain issues invitations to Garden Parties; the Keeper of the Privy Purse allocates seats in the royal box at the Albert Hall.

‘Palace politics’ have never been so intimately revealed as in this searching account of the private world at the heart of royalty.

About the Author:

Brian Hoey has been a writer and broadcaster for over thirty years. He is Princess Anne’s biographer, author of Monarchy (BBC Books), Invitation to the Palace: How the Royal Family Entertain (Grafton), All the Queen’s Men (HarperCollins), a biography of Lord Mountbatten (Macmillan), and Her Majesty (HarperCollins).

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0007126182
• ISBN 13: 9780007126187
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320