A touch of upper class

Butler to the royals passes on his skills to Chinese

Britain's royal family and aristocracy holds a deep fascination for many Chinese, and now they can live it by getting a transfusion of its blue-blooded culture.

The man performing the operation is Grant Harrold, a former royal butler, who is offering etiquette classes.

Grant Harrold says there are more Chinese students coming to his etiquette classes because they want to know how household management is conducted in the UK. Photos provided to China Daily

"Increasingly there are more Chinese students coming to my etiquette classes, because they want to know how things are done properly in the UK," Harrold says. "They want to know about how etiquette operates in the UK, how the royal family lives and does things. They want to know how to live like a royal.

"They are very nice people, very keen to learn. Their English is very good, they have great manners and are approachable."

Harrold, who used to be a member of the Royal Household of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, established his own company, Nicholas Veitch, which organizes fine-dining events, etiquette dinners and butler tuition.

He also works in partnership with Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia to be a leading authority on royal etiquette. Princess Katarina is a great niece of the British queen.

Over the past few years, Harrold's staff of about seven tutors have given lessons to a few hundred students, of whom between 50 and 60 have been from China, mainly businesspeople, and their butlers as well.

These businesspeople, who have acquired wealth through China's rapid economic transformation, are showing a hunger to live a more refined life, and the UK seemed to be an obvious country to look up to and learn from.

"They now have butlers and wish to come to our classes to understand what to expect and how to manage their butlers," Harrold says. "These changes in China are proving to be really exciting for us."

Chinese firms have talked to him about the possibilities of opening a similar school in China, he says, a prospect that excites him.

The public's perception of the butler's role is greatly influenced by films and television series such as Downtown Abbey, but Harrold says the work of the butler in modern life is far more varied and involves great multitasking skills.

All the tasks that the butler does in traditional society are still relevant nowadays, such as preparing for dinner, preparing for a garden party, setting the table and managing other household servants, but the modern butler also takes on the role of personal assistant to the household.

"So the butler would act as a host at parties and dinners, to welcome the guests, as if he is the host. He would also look after the possessions in a household, as if they are his own, but in a very subtle way, and never cross the line.

"He would also answer phone calls and decide which ones are important calls and which ones are nuisance calls, and respond in the right way."

The work requires great dedication, including working very long hours, perhaps from 7:30 in the morning to 7 at night, but sometimes it can extend to even midnight, Harrold says.

Some butlers working for rich households can be paid as much as 100,000 pounds ($154,000; 137,000 euros) a year, but the salaries of most are far more modest, with additional benefits such as accommodation, food and sometimes a car.

"It is hard work but a wonderful experience, and you do get great privileges," Harrold says, recounting an experience at Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, once the residence of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He attended a ball there and danced with several members of the royal family including the queen.

Harrold was born in 1978 in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, also in Scotland. From a young age he wanted to work for the royal family after he watched TV documentaries such as Elizabeth R.

When he was 18 his mother worked as a housekeeper in a big country house in Scotland, and he began working alongside the butler there.

In the late-1990s he applied to work for the 13th Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey after watching the BBC series filmed there, Country House, and featured several times in subsequent series. After five years at Woburn, Harrold's brother, a footman for the queen, suggested he apply to fill a vacancy in Prince Charles' household.

Working in such an intimate capacity for the royal family has enabled him to realize that they are very similar to any other family in many ways, he says.

"They are like my family, or your family, but because they are the royal family they are in the limelight 24 hours, seven days a week, with many more duties on their plate.

"But it is absolutely a pleasure to look after them. I felt extraordinary, as if I was being a part of history."

Chinese students in his butler classes are keen on knowing about the royal family, Harrold says.

He says he is often amused by tourists in front of Buckingham Palace asking him to take a photo for them as he walks past but not knowing who he is.

Harrold says he believes the visit by Prince William to China over the past few days will play a big role in cementing the ties between the two countries, especially from a cultural perspective.

"China and the UK are both fascinated by each other's cultures and traditions. Our royals are very good ambassadors of the British culture, and their visit will bring delight to both the Chinese leaders and the general public."

After leaving his post as butler in the royal family, Harrold decided to set up Nicholas Veitch so more people from the UK and internationally could understand the essence of British etiquette - which is a subject he feels passionate about.

"I feel this is a way I can do my bit to promote the image of British culture and etiquette."

More specifically, he drew the inspiration for the business idea from an encounter with a butler student, who had paid enormous sums to a butler's school but said he had gained little from the experience.

"I think a lot of the butler schools are taking a wrong approach to teaching, so I wanted to do something to change it," Harrold says.

Nicholas Veitch's courses vary in length, but a one-week course can cost about 2,000 pounds and a one-month course up to 10,000 pounds, accommodation included. But rather than saying goodbye to students at the end of the course, Harrold and his team keep in touch with them to answer any follow-up questions they may have.

After the student finds a post in a household, Harrold works with the household to define its needs and expectations of its new butler, which allows Harrold to work with the butler to satisfy these expectations with a course designed specifically designed for the household. The household may even contribute to the butler's training for this bespoke service.

In the UK, many big households have butlers, so many young students who train to become butlers are from migrant households that have moved to the UK, or households overseas.

Harrold says that while many people believe etiquette is very exclusive to the social elite, the truth is that modern day etiquette is fundamentally about having good manners and behaving in a way that shows respect.

Reflecting on the essence and popularity of British culture, he says it combines many different cultures, an obvious example being the tea drinking culture from China.

"When you think about British culture in a marketing campaign, there is always Big Ben, the London Eye, the royal family and scenes of tea drinking. People coming to the UK almost always wish to experience afternoon tea in the traditional British setting, but tea culture is actually an influence from China.

"The UK has creatively embraced influences from around the world, and by adding its own British twist has made them a part of the British modern-day culture we know and love."

(China Daily European Weekly 03/06/2015 page26)