One royal butler who worked for Prince Harry, William and Kate Middleton has opened up about their falling out, explaining that the family may never be seen as united in public againAlex West Acting Assistant Entertainment Editor, Charlotte Foster and Rachel Cronin
10:51 ET, 22 Aug 2025
The Royal family rift continues(Image: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Grant Harold, a butler from Airdrie who worked for King Charles and the royals for years, has spoken candidly about the family’s estrangement, stating that we must face the harsh reality of the situation.
The Scottish Royal insider served as one of King Charles’ trusted butlers for seven years, spending most of his time at Highgrove, making him among the select few who witnessed life behind palace walls.
Speaking to The Mirror about Kate Middleton, he said, “That girl was a Queen in waiting in every aspect. She is the perfect Queen material and you can so obviously see that. Everything about her — the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the way she interacted with people, her kindness, her beauty — she was, if I can say, the modern day Princess Diana.”
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Grant shares intimate details about his Royal service in his new book The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service.
His employment with the royals spanned from 2004 to 2011 – primarily serving King Charles as a butler, though he sometimes worked for Queen Elizabeth, reports the Daily Record.
Kate Middleton was described by Grant as a ‘Queen in waiting'(Image: Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)
Kate first crossed his path during the initial stages of her relationship with Prince William.
Drawing parallels between her wit and that of Princess Di, he added, “Diana used to do things at Sandringham to make the staff laugh by poking her head out the window and pulling faces, and Kate was doing the same kind of thing. She is everything you can imagine, she is a beautiful and intelligent woman.”
Grant had dreamed of working for the Royal family since childhood, following a vivid dream where he danced with Queen Elizabeth, and he spent most of his time with them at Highgrove, the breathtaking Gloucestershire estate that King Charles shared with William and Harry.
While Kate and William “took a while” to warm up to him, he fondly remembers how Prince Harry first welcomed him with an impromptu water balloon fight.
Looking back at how united the princes were during those days, he reflects, “William and Harry were so close, as brothers go. With many siblings, you can be close as children and then maybe drift a bit as you grow up in your late teens and early 20s, but William and Harry were the opposite.
“I don’t know if it’s because of their mother’s death, but they were inseparable. They were hanging out together, going to pubs together, just having fun together.
The rift between the royal brothers has been growing for years(Image: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“If I had been told all those years ago that they were going to fall out, I would’ve bet £100 that it would never happen. Even when the rumours [of their estrangement] first started, I was saying publicly to the press that they would never fall out, that’s how sure I was.
“And when all the conflict really started, I was asking myself ‘Why has this all gone so badly wrong?’ I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Now they’re not even speaking to each other, and they used to speak all the time. It’s really sad.”
Grant also suspects that any potential reconciliation between the princes might occur behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny. He says, “I think families fall out and families can heal, but it’s never the same. So yes I can see a reconciliation, I can see Harry coming back, but not in the Firm as it used to be.
“I don’t see Harry and Meghan ever on the Palace balcony for Trooping the Colour for example, but I can see the family patching things up behind closed doors and working towards the King seeing his grandchildren [Archie and Lilibet].
“I think that’s what they’re trying to work towards. I think they could be thinking ‘Let’s just be a family behind closed doors and move on from this rift from our point of view, not from the public’s point of view.'”
Despite his hopes for a reunion between the Sussexes and the broader Windsor clan, Grant continued by saying that “things are such a mess right now”, and confessed, “I think we have to accept that there is a real possibility that we may never see them as a united family in public.”
However, he describes King Charles as an extraordinarily caring individual and believes the monarch could be the driving force behind any future reconciliation, explaining: “The thing that surprised me was how genuine and nice he was.”
He remembers how while serving dinner, he would hear: “I would hear ‘Oh and how are you today?’ and I’d ignored him (King Charles) because I thought he was talking to the guests.
“Then he’d say my name and ask me again, and then he’d start saying ‘How’s your mum? How’s your papa? How’s your brother? How’s your home?’
“If I was having something done, he’d always know and remember what was going on. He’d say ‘Did that thing get done in your house?’ His kindness and compassion would catch me off guard every single time.”
Convinced that Harry will have maintained some form of contact with his father amid his health battle, Grant adds, “Charles is a very compassionate man. So, even if William – as the big brother – is angry at what Harry has done and maybe has more reservations about meeting up with Harry, I think the King, at this point in his life, will be thinking ‘Let’s look at the bigger picture. Life’s too short, and family is all you’ve got.'”
He also thinks Harry will want to mend the divide with the king. He says, “I think Harry does want to reunite with his father, because at the end of the day, Harry is aware that his father has not been a very well man, because they were very close and that doesn’t always change.”
Obviously a huge admirer of the King, Grant remembers a heartwarming moment when he presented him to the late Queen at a dinner at Kew palace.
The Scots butler is a big fan of Charles, who he said was always kind to him(Image: Danny Lawson – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Chuckling, he says, “I’ll never forget, I was so focused on the job, and so overwhelmed and excited to be on her service and I was thinking, ‘Don’t do anything wrong, Grant. Don’t put down the wrong plate, don’t drop the sauce, don’t overfill the glass,’ all these things.
“I remember going over to offer the Queen the vegetables and suddenly Charles looks around at the Queen and over to me and says ‘Oh Mummy this is Grant, my newest butler’. And I’m thinking ‘Oh god not now, not over the vegetables!'”
With news breaking that William and Kate, alongside their three kids George, Charlotte and Louis, are preparing to move to Forest Lodge on the Windsor estate from their current residence at Adelaide Cottage, Grant offers his perspective on what lies ahead for Buckingham Palace.
“When it comes to William, he is used to smaller houses like Highgrove, because he didn’t grow up in the huge palaces or castles,” Grant explains. “So I think there’ll be a transition where Windsor becomes the hub of the monarchy.
“As Forest Lodge is on the Windsor estate, that whole area will become the royal HQ. And then Buckingham Palace could just be open year round as a tourist hotspot, while also operating as the royal office, because it is such a landmark of the royal institution.
“So, I think Windsor will become the embodiment of the Firm as William and Kate move into their forever home. Living in Forest Lodge will be a lot cheaper than living in Buckingham Palace.
“Also, William has long championed homelessness causes, and it’s a bit hard to support the homeless when you’re living in your massive castle, so I think he’s aware of that.”
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