In 1971, the Observer bade farewell not just to Edward Howes – the second-last ‘genuinely grand’ butler in England – but to a whole way of life.
Howes entered service in 1928 aged 15 as a ‘hall boy’ in Eaton Square. It was another time in many ways: manservants had to be at least 6ft tall and were forbidden to wear glasses, shoes were polished with a bone, and clothes were folded, never hung. ‘Coat hangers are recent,’ he said.
