Read Online Not in Front of the Corgis by Brian Hoey - Free Book Online
Authors: Brian Hoey
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him for the rest of the journey. He was obviously right to feel he had outstayed his welcome as he resigned straight away – and he is no longer on her Christmas card list.
The lynchpin of the Household at Gatcombe is a lady-in-waiting who actually controls the day-to-day logistics at the country house (Nick Wright, a genial and highly efficient former Royal Navy Captain, is Private Secretary based at Buckingham Palace with a small office staff of five, from where he handles all enquiries regarding the official programme). The lady at Gatcombe, who acts as a personal secretary, is an invaluable conduit as she is able to tell Nick Wright and the other ladies-in-waiting and police officers on duty about the Princess’s state of mind on any particular day, so they know in advance how to approach her, and when to keep quiet.
Mark Phillips, the Princess’s first husband was well liked by his wife’s staff. His easy-going, laid-back manner made him a pleasant, undemanding consort and today, since their divorce, he remains on excellent terms with everyone. He lives at Aston Farm – leased from The Queen – next door to Gatcombe and still organises commercial shooting parties with the Princess throughout the season. Peter and Zara adore their father; their relationship with their stepfather , Tim Laurence, is correct if not entirely cordial and is said to be maintained mainly for the sake of their mother.
Admiral Laurence, who recently retired from the Royal Navy to take up a well-paid position in the private sector, is not held in the highest regard by staffat Buckingham Palace. He is thought of as a man with ideas way beyond his station and who has also, on occasion, adopted attitudes, not usually found among those born to the purple.
An example of the Princess Royal’s loyalty to her staff occurred when the late Lt Col. Peter Gibbs, who had been her Private Secretary for eighteen years, the longest serving of any of her servants, retired on reaching the mandatory age. Without telling him, she arranged for Col. Gibbs to be received by The Queen on his final day. When he entered Her Majesty’s sitting room he saw a kneeling stool in the centre of the room and imagined it was for someone coming after him. However, The Queen then knighted him for his long and distinguished service and he emerged as Sir Peter Gibbs, KCVO. It was a thoughtful and generous gesture on the Princess’s part and no one was more surprised than Peter himself.
If there is one thing that distinguishes her from her brother Charles, it is her decisiveness. Where Prince Charles has been known to change his mind and his opinions in the blink of an eye, indecisiveness is not a word in Anne’s vocabulary. As one of her private secretaries remarked, ‘the difficulty is getting her to change her mind once she’s decided. She may be wrong in some of the decisions she takes but at least they are her own decisions, and not based on the opinions of the last person she has spoken to.’
Her staff sometimes despair of getting her to see their point of view, which is why they tread very carefully around her. But they know that if they are blamed for something that is clearly not their fault, they canrely on her to back them up – which is why she comes so high in the list of popular employers.
Where once her image was that of an uncooperative , aggressive and surly young Princess, she has developed over the years into a thoroughly dependable, mature woman whose knowledge and professionalism as a working royal is unparalleled. And nobody appreciates the Princess Royal more than her parents. To The Queen and Prince Philip she has been a willing and enthusiastic member of ‘The Firm’ for over forty years, and they are delighted that there is no sign of her reducing her commitments in the near future.
T HE P RINCE OF W ALES
The Prince of Wales has the largest Household other than The Queen and also, at Clarence House, the highest turnover of staff, with the
The lynchpin of the Household at Gatcombe is a lady-in-waiting who actually controls the day-to-day logistics at the country house (Nick Wright, a genial and highly efficient former Royal Navy Captain, is Private Secretary based at Buckingham Palace with a small office staff of five, from where he handles all enquiries regarding the official programme). The lady at Gatcombe, who acts as a personal secretary, is an invaluable conduit as she is able to tell Nick Wright and the other ladies-in-waiting and police officers on duty about the Princess’s state of mind on any particular day, so they know in advance how to approach her, and when to keep quiet.
Mark Phillips, the Princess’s first husband was well liked by his wife’s staff. His easy-going, laid-back manner made him a pleasant, undemanding consort and today, since their divorce, he remains on excellent terms with everyone. He lives at Aston Farm – leased from The Queen – next door to Gatcombe and still organises commercial shooting parties with the Princess throughout the season. Peter and Zara adore their father; their relationship with their stepfather , Tim Laurence, is correct if not entirely cordial and is said to be maintained mainly for the sake of their mother.
Admiral Laurence, who recently retired from the Royal Navy to take up a well-paid position in the private sector, is not held in the highest regard by staffat Buckingham Palace. He is thought of as a man with ideas way beyond his station and who has also, on occasion, adopted attitudes, not usually found among those born to the purple.
An example of the Princess Royal’s loyalty to her staff occurred when the late Lt Col. Peter Gibbs, who had been her Private Secretary for eighteen years, the longest serving of any of her servants, retired on reaching the mandatory age. Without telling him, she arranged for Col. Gibbs to be received by The Queen on his final day. When he entered Her Majesty’s sitting room he saw a kneeling stool in the centre of the room and imagined it was for someone coming after him. However, The Queen then knighted him for his long and distinguished service and he emerged as Sir Peter Gibbs, KCVO. It was a thoughtful and generous gesture on the Princess’s part and no one was more surprised than Peter himself.
If there is one thing that distinguishes her from her brother Charles, it is her decisiveness. Where Prince Charles has been known to change his mind and his opinions in the blink of an eye, indecisiveness is not a word in Anne’s vocabulary. As one of her private secretaries remarked, ‘the difficulty is getting her to change her mind once she’s decided. She may be wrong in some of the decisions she takes but at least they are her own decisions, and not based on the opinions of the last person she has spoken to.’
Her staff sometimes despair of getting her to see their point of view, which is why they tread very carefully around her. But they know that if they are blamed for something that is clearly not their fault, they canrely on her to back them up – which is why she comes so high in the list of popular employers.
Where once her image was that of an uncooperative , aggressive and surly young Princess, she has developed over the years into a thoroughly dependable, mature woman whose knowledge and professionalism as a working royal is unparalleled. And nobody appreciates the Princess Royal more than her parents. To The Queen and Prince Philip she has been a willing and enthusiastic member of ‘The Firm’ for over forty years, and they are delighted that there is no sign of her reducing her commitments in the near future.
T HE P RINCE OF W ALES
The Prince of Wales has the largest Household other than The Queen and also, at Clarence House, the highest turnover of staff, with the
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