The Duke of Sussex once surprised staff with an act of responsibility
Former royal butler Grant Harrold has shared a little-known story about Harry’s younger years, recalling how the Duke of Sussex once carried out a secret mission inside Sandringham House.
Speaking at the launch of his memoir The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service on September 1, Harrold told GB News that Harry quietly stepped up to deal with a mishap involving one of the family’s dogs.
“Harry came into the kitchen one morning and was kind of looking around for something,” Harrold said. “He grabbed a whole load of kitchen paper, and I asked where he was going. He just said, ‘I need to do something, don’t worry about it.’”
Curious, Harrold followed him and discovered the young prince cleaning up a mess on the floor. “It’s Harry – he shouldn’t have to clean it all up. I went to help him, and he wouldn’t let me,” he recalled. “He always came across as a gentleman. He would put an umbrella up for you, help ladies — that was what Harry was like.”
Harrold also remembered William’s more mischievous side. On one occasion, while Harrold was refuelling Charles’s car, a motorcyclist in full leathers tapped him on the shoulder. “I heard a voice say, ‘You don’t recognise me?’ He lifted the helmet, and it was William being silly,” Harrold said with a laugh.
For Harrold, these moments revealed the humanity behind the royal façade. “They were just fun,” he said. “They were just a family.”
