By Katherine Tinsley
2:46pm PDT, Sep 17, 2025
_
Paul Burrell, who previously worked for Princess Diana, started his royal staffing career at 18 and was quickly promoted to one of Queen Elizabeth II's personal footmen.
"I had progressed beyond empty cups to potatoes and gravy. We were always told never to look at the Queen or to stare at her: never look her in the eye, always look down," Burrell said in his publication, The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana.
_
While working for Queen Elizabeth II, Paul Burrell admitted he was anxious in the beginning.
"Then my nerves got the better of me and the cups and saucers all started to rattle," the reality star admitted.
_
"I will never forget the noise. All I had to do was stand behind the Queen and the pages would come to me and collect the cups," Paul Burrell continued.
_
According to Paul Burrell, the rattling was "so loud" that Queen Elizabeth II turned to "look at what the commotion was."
Burrel noted that Her Majesty "got to know his face," as well as her other footmen who worked for her at "meet the people" lunches held in the 1844 room.
