Former Royal Butler pays tribute to 'selfless and devoted' Queen

For former Royal Butler Paul Burrell, the Queen’s death is “the end of the golden Elizabethan era” because she devoted her life, selflessly, to the service of her people - and never had a day off.

Royal Butler, Paul worked and lived at Buckingham Palace for 11 years. He travelled the world with the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Diana. 

"She was a good, pure, simple woman in lots of ways."

He remembers her as “incapable of telling a lie or of being jealous,” recalling that they always had a joke in the palace about the Queen’s priorities - “horses, dogs, husband, kids.” 

Paul Burrell was the son of a coal miner who was brought up in the village of Grassmoor in Derbyshire. He says his family was so proud of his role at Buckingham Palace. 

Behind the scenes the Queen had a great sense of humour. 

“The Queen would roll around on the floor with her corgis and often get into a fight because those dogs are quite vicious, and she would get bitten and I’d wade in there and I’d get bitten. So the Queen would say ‘shall we send for the vet or the doctor?’ She thought it was hilarious.”

Following her death, Paul thinks life at Buckingham Palace will never be the same. 

“This is the end of the golden Elizabethan era, we will never see anything like this again in our country...Now I suppose it’s time for change”.