A plethora of former royal employees have opened up about what it’s like working for Queen Elizabeth II. However, one former butler’s story about a private meeting with the late monarch is perhaps stranger than the rest.
Paul Burrell, who recently released the book The Royal Insider: My Life With The Queen, The King, and Princess Diana, got candid about a meeting he had with Queen Elizabeth after working at the palace for one year. As reported by the Daily Star, Burrell said of the encounter, “That morning in the staff canteen we had sausages for breakfast. I wrapped two up in a paper napkin and put them into my tailcoat pocket. I thought, ‘She’s got dogs.'”
Burrell reportedly continued, “Went upstairs, knocked on the door, she said, ‘Come in.’ She said, ‘You’re Paul.’ I said, ‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ and I bowed.”
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Elizabeth subsequently asked the butler whether he was a fan of dogs, to which he replied, “I love dogs.” Burrell continued, “She said, ‘Well let’s see if they like you.’ So she handed me all the leashes.”
“So she handed me all the leashes.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Queen reportedly introduced Burrell to each of her pups by name. “This is Smoky, this is Shadow, this is Piper, this is Chipper, this is Jolly, this is Socks,” the late monarch reportedly told Burrell.
Reflecting on the meeting, Burrell explained, “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m never going to remember all these names.'” According to the former butler, the monarch had 10 dogs at the time, comprised of nine corgis and one Labrador.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m never going to remember all these names.'”
(Image credit: Archives)
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Once outside, Burrell reportedly had a secret plan for the dogs. “I thought, ‘I’m going to take them all off the leads and I’ll run across the lawns and they’ll follow me,'” he explained. “And they did, because they could smell the sausages.”
According to the former royal employee, he fed sausages to the dogs “behind the greenhouse,” out of view of The Queen, and “could see the net curtain twitching.”
The former monarch was allegedly impressed with Burrell’s control of her pets. The royal employee explained, “When I got back into her room she said, ‘That’s quite extraordinary, they do like you—I think I’ll keep you.'” He continued, “She kept me for eleven years. What a lovely lady she was.”
