Inside the walls of Windsor Castle, even the most dedicated royal staff occasionally face moments that test their nerves. Steven Kaye, who served as a footman to Queen Elizabeth II for more than three years, shared a snafu that shows just how gracefully Her Majesty handled the (very occasional) hiccups of palace life.
Like most of us who've hosted dinner parties, the late Queen sometimes faced unexpected challenges (though mine are perhaps not quite as grand as those at Windsor). During one memorable evening, what began as a typical formal dinner turned into a scramble when the castle's dining room lights began mysteriously flickering.
Ever practical, Queen Elizabeth suggested switching to candlelight for the evening meal. There was just one small problem: no one had remembered to set out the candles.
As Kaye told Slingo, "There was one occasion where the under-butler had forgotten to put candles out on the dining table...the Queen ordered that the lights be turned off and we'd just have candlelight—well, there were no candles."
"We were then running down to one of the pantries to find some candles and bring them up while The Queen was virtually sitting in the dark," Kaye recalled.
What makes this story particularly sweet is the Queen's understanding nature in such situations. As Kaye explained, "These sorts of things do happen quite a lot, with any job where there has to be perfection, there's always going to be a lot of mistakes. But, as long as you correct those mistakes quickly, I don't think The Queen really minds."
The former royal footman—who made the remarks shortly before the monarch's death—added, "She doesn't like sloppiness, so given that it's an accident and not deliberate, she's usually okay."
In fact, Queen Elizabeth was known to actually enjoy it when something went awry. Samantha Cohen, who worked for The Queen for close to 20 years, told Australia's Herald Sun (via Vanity Fair), “She was so comfortable in herself, yet she loved it when things went wrong—if a cake was not cutting or a plaque didn’t unveil—because everything was so perfectly organized, it spiced her life up when things went wrong.”
Somehow I have a feeling that The Queen was probably delighted to be left sitting in the dark (or at least moderately amused).
