'I worked for Prince Charles for seven years - one thing shocked me when he became King'

A former royal butler was shocked by a decision made by King Charles when he ascended the throne. Grant Harrold spent seven years working for the King at Highgrove House, his country residence in Gloucestershire.

Harrold described the job as an “absolute dream come true”. He describes the 76-year-old monarch as a “very gentle character” who “didn’t once raise his voice” during his time at Highgrove.

Harrold, who has now gone on to make a career as an etiquette expert, was made redundant in 2011 as preparations were made for Charles to become King. He remembers a particularly poignant discussion with Charles about taking the throne.

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When asked if they ever discussed the day by the Telegraph, Harrold replied: “He said when that job comes you lose a parent.”

Although it was another topic of their discussion that Harrold remembers more vividly, what name the King would take. Before the announcement he would become King Charles III, there had been speculation that the King could have taken George VII.

His grandfather George VI was one of three monarchs to have taken a different regal name when they ascended to the throne. Born Albert Frederick Arthur George, he decided to take a different regal name to show a “continuity” from his father after Edward VIII’s abdication.

Queen Victoria became the first monarch to choose a different regal name in 1837. She had originally been Christened as Alexandrina Victoria.

Her son, King Edward VII, was originally Christened as Albert Edward but dropped his first name when he ascended the throne, something his mother requested. In a 1901 announcement in the London Gazette, Edward VII said he “did not want to undervalue” his father’s name.

Harrold says the butlers believed the King was going to choose George VII as a tribute to his grandfather. He said: “I remember asking him what he would be, and he said to me, ‘I could be Charles, but I could also be George VII’, which is quite nice because his grandfather was George VI.”

Harrold was however left shocked when it was announced that the King would take the name Charles III. He added: “We were getting the impression that he would probably be George VII. So I was shocked when they announced he was Charles III.”

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that the King would go by the name Charles III in a speech from Downing Street. She said: "Today the Crown passes, as it has done for more than a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new head of state, his majesty King Charles III."

The former PM signed off her speech adding “long live the King”. She later paid tribute to the late Queen, saying: “Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which our country was built.

“Britain is the great country it is today because of her. She was the very spirit of Great Britain. That spirit will endure."