Social Norms: Diana and Staff
i'm sure someone out there could answer this.
some of you may recall the story about Diana being set straight about popping into the kitchen (at BP prior to the wedding and i believe it happened again on Brittanica although i could be wrong about the that one)and being told that it wasn't appropriate. would something like this actually happen(telling her it was inappropriate)? i would think that the average person would be thrilled that a future princess/queen would take the time to come and meet people that run the household. |
As I understand it, a one-time pop-in to meet & greet was fine.
Unexpected frequent appearances made the staff feel uncomfortable. |
Quote:
|
Really? Hmm...thinking over it, yes, I can see where it would make them feel uncomfortable. Did she really? I mean, pop in and out of the kitchen just to meet with staff??? Had never heard of that.
|
Quote:
|
can anyone enlighten me as to the relationship between servant and master/mistress?
|
Quote:
"No, Your Royal Highness, I don't. Not at all. This is servants' quarters, you should be in the saloon learning your crafts." (From Sarah Bradford's book, Diana, all rights reserved lol. Don't want any problems with the law :flowers:) I don't think it was an enormous problem that Diana (who wasn't, by the way, already princess) had a little chat with the staff which continued to do the job properly so why being fussy about it ?! |
Apart from anything else, it stops the staff from doing what they are supposed to be doing, it can really delay them and of course it will be the staff that get into trouble when they are late.
It is always wise to keep a distance, however small, between you and your staff. IMO. They would look on you differently, if you are too familiar, how can you respect your employer if you have seen them 'mucking' about in the kitchen or listened to them being indiscreet about others in the household? |
I think Stephen Barry mentioned in his book Royal Service that on her honeymoon on the Britannia Diana had the habit of going below decks to the servants quarters and the crew begged her not to bring Charles because if Charles were around, they would have to act formal and on their best behavior.
I don't remember if Barry mentioned anyone disapproving of Diana's actions though I would imagine their bosses might be concerned just for the sake of appearances about the crew spending that much time with Diana by herself on her honeymoon. Other than that the only objection I can see if they feared that the crew would get so comfortable being informal around Diana in private that they would forget and act the same way towards her in public. However, when Sarah Barnes was Diana's children's nanny, one of the reasons stated for her departure was that Barnes was used to being treated as a family friend at her former family and felt uncomfortable that Diana treated her as a servant. So its hard to know what to believe. |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
at least he read books :rofl::rofl:
Quote:
|
Quote:
(just kidding :flowers:) |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
It's rather like the Government and the Civil Service. Both know that the other one exists but that doesn't mean they ever want to meet or exchange ideas for the better.
|
This is sort of on topic I guess....... I know a guy who was in the household cavalry in the late 90s and he was an equerry to the Duke of Gloucester. But he and Lady Davina kind of...... dated I guess, and the Duke and Duchess didn't like it because it was crossing a line between professional and personal, so he was dismissed. But the relationship with Davina didn't survive the ordeal. But apparently he still left on reasonably good terms, and holds the highest respect for the Gloucesters. He just calls it "not seeing exactly eye to eye" with them. He talks fondly of his experience, brief as it was. He had a room in KP overlooking Princess Margaret's garden, and he knew Paul Burrell, haha.
|
-I can count three servants who waited on Diana who wrote books....Stephen Barry (valet to HRH Prince Charles), Wendy Berry (domestic staff at Highrove, her son worked at Buckingham Palace) and Paul Burrell. I guess I could include Patrick Jephson on that list too.
Then there were the massive number of staff who either left of were dismissed during the Diana years.... |
Quote:
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:44 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2022
Jelsoft Enterprises