A former butler at the Royal Household has revealed they had to use rulers to make sure the cutlery was straight.
Richard Kerrigan worked for the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace and has revealed just how far they had to go to make sure everything was perfect for state dinners.
He said: "It was a crazy time in my life. We’d lay the great table. When the plates are all set up, you’ve got to measure it with a ruler and make sure the plates are all in line. A lot of these functions have 180 guests [around the] big horseshoe shaped table and you’ve got to make sure the glasses are polished, the silvers in the right line.
"Out of 180 guests, there’s probably about four staff per eight or 10 guests. So you can imagine how many level of service we’re silver serving. [The Royal Family] do acknowledge you but they’re busy with their guests. But they do acknowledge you and say hi. They’re so nice. It’s amazing."
And Kerrigan also revealed there was a "cool little [traffic light] system" to say when they could enter the room and when they weren’t aloud to.
Speaking on Australia’s The Morning Show, he added: "First of all, it was quite a cool little system as a traffic light system. We’re behind the scenes, and there’s a green and a red traffic light system. So we’re not allowed to go into the room when the little red light is on. So when there’s any speeches on or anything they want us to not know about – and as soon as they press the green button, we go in."
Royal butlers use rulers to make cutlery straight
