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Former palace staff shared their most awkward encounters with the royal family

Former palace staff shared their most awkward encounters with the royal family
Queen Elizabeth II.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
  • Working at Buckingham Palace would be a dream come true for many.
  • However, having the Queen as your boss is bound to put on more pressure than usual — and many staff members have made embarrassing blunders because of it.
  • Former palace employees spoke to Insider about their most awkward encounters with members of the royal family, from accidentally calling Princess Anne "sir" to being chased by the Queen's corgis.

Former royal butler Grant Harrold's accidental first meeting with Prince Charles didn't go to plan.

Former royal butler Grant Harrold
Grant Harrold is pictured with Kelly Clarkson during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."      Adam Christopher /NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Harrold, who is now well known as an etiquette expert, started out his days at the royal household working for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The former butler told Insider that Charles found him hiding in a storage closet when they first met.

Harrold said he had seen HRH walking down the hall and, wanting to get out of his way, got in the closet thinking it was the entrance to another room.

By the time he realized it wasn't, it was too late, and he was forced to walk out in front of Charles, who appeared bemused as to what he was doing there.

Harrold also called Charles' sister, Princess Anne, "sir" during a phone call.

Harrold also called Charles
Anne, The Princess Royal.      Ben Stansall/WPA Pool/Getty Images

"I was talking to her on the phone and I got so tongue-tied that I said 'will you hold on a moment sir,'" Harrold told Insider.

"I wasn't hauled off to the Tower of London," he added, laughing. "It was a mistake."

Former Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady said his first meeting with the Queen was interrupted by the royal corgis, who chased him away.

Former Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady said his first meeting with the Queen was interrupted by the royal corgis, who chased him away.
Darren McGrady (left) and Queen Elizabeth II.      Angela Weiss/Getty Images for BritWeek, Bettmann/Getty Images

"I remember the first time I met the Queen and the corgis, I was at Balmoral Castle, having a walk at the side of the river," McGrady said in a YouTube video.

"I saw in the distance the Queen and the corgis, and I got really excited. The Queen was walking towards me and I thought, 'this is gonna be really cool, I get to meet the Queen for the first time.'

"As she got closer, the dogs saw me, came running towards me, barking like crazy, all of them.

"I was so scared I turned around and ran away. The Queen was laughing, she thought it was really funny," he added.

McGrady also said his first job in the palace kitchens wasn't cooking for the Queen. Instead, he was preparing menus and dog food for the corgis.

Another royal chef called Prince Philip "Your Majesty" instead of "Your Royal Highness."

Another royal chef called Prince Philip "Your Majesty" instead of "Your Royal Highness."
The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty The Queen.      Press Association

Speaking to Insider, Darren McGrady said he wasn't the only chef to have an embarrassing moment in front of the royals.

McGrady said he witnessed another chef call the Duke of Edinburgh "Your Majesty" — the title that's reserved for the Queen.

"I was in the kitchen and Prince Philip came in," McGrady said.

"We had a new chef in, who was really nervous, and he said 'Good morning, Your Majesty.'

"Prince Philip just sort of looked and smiled. The great thing about the royal family is they know people are nervous around them, so it's not as if they would roll their eyes and say 'you're stupid,'" he added.

The Queen's dressmaker bravely told her that her outfit didn't suit her.

The Queen
Queen Elizabeth pictured at the Royal Variety Performance in 1991.      Indigo/Getty Images

The Queen's designer Angela Kelly recalled the moment in her book, "The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, The Dresser and the Wardrobe."

"I vividly remember one fitting where The Queen was draped in a very large piece of bold, jacquard material in a large print," Kelly wrote.

"Even a six-foot-tall model would have struggled to pull off something like that, and it absolutely drowned Her Majesty.

"Once again, I could not hide my disapproval when Her Majesty asked my thoughts. Without hesitation, I said, 'No way! It doesn't suit you at all and it is totally the wrong pattern.'

Kelly said that while an "awkward silence" and "icy atmosphere" descended on the room, the Queen eventually agreed after hearing that her husband had the same opinion.

"The Duke of Edinburgh happened to walk past and Her Majesty asked what he thought of the material, knowing that, like mine, his feedback is always honest. 'Is that the new material for the sofa?' he joked, before continuing on his way," she said.

Prince Philip once witnessed a kitchen disaster.

Prince Philip once witnessed a kitchen disaster.
Prince Philip speaking to a chef.      CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

"Another time I was in the kitchen with a pastry chef, and the Duke of Edinburgh came in and he wanted to know what ice creams we had made using the berries from the Balmoral gardens," Darren McGrady told Insider.

"And my friend opened the freezer and one of the handles broke, it just went spinning around like a Catherine wheel."

However, McGrady said Prince Philip wasn't angry. In fact, he "just burst out laughing — he had a great sense of humor."

Read more:

10 things you should never say to a member of the royal family

I took a 'quarantine etiquette' class with the royal family's former butler, and it completely changed my lockdown experience

12 photos show how social distancing has impacted the royals' return to work

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