Noif anyone – apart from Prince Philip – really knew the Queen, her thoughts, doubts and longings, it was him. He stood by the Queen for 44 years of her 70-year reign. He was her faithful companion and servant. He was there during some of the darkest moments of her reign, during the years of her children’s disagreements, but he was also one of those who witnessed her laughter and jokes.
The image of iron determination
On Wednesday, when the coffin with the remains of Queen Elizabeth II. escorted in a procession through London to the British Parliament in Westminster, is in a procession led by Charles III. and Princes William and Harry, the Queen’s personal page and Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order Paul Whybrew also walked. Tall and erect, “an image of iron determination,” as he writes Daily Mailis one of three members of the Queen’s staff to receive this honour.
The Queen’s most loyal confidante was in her service for 44 years, and for his dedication he was awarded the Royal Victorian Order, silver and gold medals. Queen Elizabeth II. she was able to have sex without anyone but this man, whom she affectionately called “Tall Paul”, according to sources inside the royal palace. At 192 centimeters, it was of course hard to miss him. But he was not so indispensable because of his height, he writes Daily Mail. He was distinguished by his discretion and uprightness, as he never got involved in the crises and dramas of the royal family, which he witnessed for more than four decades, he was always there mainly as a support for the queen.
When the coffin with the remains of Queen Elizabeth II. escorted to Westminster Hall, her personal page and Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order Paul Whybrew (front left) also walked in the procession. PHOTO: Reuters
Married to his job
It was Paul Whybrew who handed the Queen the phone when Prince Harry called her from California. And it was Paul who, when she decided to stop drinking alcohol, swapped her favorite drink of gin and dubonnet for apple juice. Paul played a key role in the 1982 incident when intruder Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and made his way undetected into the sleeping Queen’s bedchamber. When the alarm was raised, Whybrew coolly led the intruder away, poured him a glass of whiskey and held him until the police arrived. And, of course, it was he who had the honor of appearing with the Queen and Daniel Craig in the famous video entitled The Queen and James Bond for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The Queen’s former butler Grant Harrold is also in favour Insider stated that the Queen had only two confidantes among her many staff members: they were her right-hand men Angela Kelly and Paul Whybrew. In contrast to Kelly, who was not exactly popular, Paul Whybrew was well-liked by both the staff and the royal family. Kelly and Whybrew joined the Queen and Prince Philip during the first quarantine in isolation.
Whybrew was born in 1959 in Braintree and graduated from Clacton High School. He entered the service of the Queen at the age of nineteen, first as a junior footman, but was quickly noticed by the Queen because “he knew how to handle her Welsh shepherds well”; his reliability and discretion soon made him her favorite page. His title of page (page of backstairs) dates back to the Stuart period, when pages, the most trusted servants, could get a high position with the king.
In the last moments of life
When the Queen turned 80 in 2006 and decided to spend more time at Windsor Castle, she asked him to move there too. He left his modest apartment above the old stables at Kensington Palace and moved to a house near Albert Lodge in Windsor Great Park. The queen ordered him to furnish her to her taste and send her the bill. She wanted him to be comfortable, sources said. All these years of service were not without sacrifices. He remained single, reportedly “married” only to his job Daily Mail say his friends. Over the years, members of the royal household came and went, but Whybrew remained. Because of his position and the trust shown to him by the queen, he earned the nickname – the keeper of the queen’s secrets. He was with the queen even in the last moments of her life.
