“When the lights go on in Clarence House, it’s show time.”
Perhaps because of this butler’s passion for the royal household, the Queen Mother took to him.
Indeed, Billy’s job was to ensure that everyone always had something to sip.
Billy’s over-the-top displays of excess were the kind of gestures that the Queen Mother adored.
Apparently, the unlikely pair would dance together in different atmospheres, depending on the Queen Mother’s mood.
Prince Charles was despatched to drag him back."
Compellingly, it seems that the Queen Mother encouraged Billy to be a part of the wedding.
And, I think, she too was surprised.
And, she said, ‘Well, I feel I ought to get him a present.'"
In the end, Billy took his boss’ advice and agreed to be Stone’s best man.
Because of this, she was often happy when Billy brought a bit of cheekiness to her life.
Interestingly, Quinn claims that Elizabeth’s tolerance for Billy and his friends was essentially sky-high.
In a second picture, the two men were dancing while wearing the Queen Mum’s hats."
Apparently, at the time, Elizabeth found out about their antics but did little to punish them.
Even when confronted with Billy’s incident, the Queen Mother refused to show any outward sign of disapproval.
On the contrary, Elizabeth chose to brush the whole thing aside.
However, some formerpalace staffershave alleged that the duo did not always behave so gracefully when they were together.
‘We really are a sprightly pair of old gals, aren’t we, William?’
‘Shall we dance out into the mall?
Wouldn’t that surprise everyone?'"
But we’ve had some fun."
This was especially clear when the elder Elizabeth fell ill in the months leading up to her 2002 death.
Billy, sadly, was not allowed to follow her.
Meanwhile, at Windsor, the Queen Mother received around-the-clock attention from a team of excellent doctors and nurses.
Ultimately, this meant that Billy was unable to check in on his longtime boss.
Tragically, when she did pass away, nobody notified the team at Clarence House of her death.
The reporter revealed that he was “devastated” by the loss.
Apparently, the royal family never thanked Billy for his service.
For a number of the Queen Mother’s aides, this was, of course, devastating.
The palace and privy purse have behaved appallingly, but what can one do?"
However, that does not mean that Billy lost his sense of loyalty toward his former boss.
Butler recalled, “Some of the newspapers made a nuisance of themselves.
They kept up the pressure for quite a long time.”
That being said, Billy did not crack.
Perhaps, the reason for Billy’s silence was simply that he never stopped caring for his longtime companion.
