royals
The Queen’s valet “Tall Paul” reviews diaries
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh drive down Fleet Street for the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Also present: former footman Paul Whybrew (far left). photo
© Pa / PA Wire / dpa
Paul Whybrew served the Queen for 44 years and was one of her closest confidants. Now “Tall Paul” and a team can decide which documents of Elizabeth II are archived for the public.
Special honor for “Tall Paul”, the tall Paul: Queen Elizabeth II’s gigantic valet evaluates the private diaries and letters of the deceased Queen for posterity. The 1.93 meter tall Paul Whybrew is part of a small team that decides which documents are archived for the public and which remain confidential, the Mail On Sunday newspaper reported, calling the courtier the “keeper of the Queen’s secrets”. Whybrew works on the project two days a week and uses gloves. King Charles III I personally entrusted his mother’s “Footman”, born in 1959, with the task, according to the newspaper.
The Queen, who died on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96, kept a handwritten diary. The artifact could provide “unprecedented insight into the late monarch’s thoughts and views on political and family life during her long reign,” the British news agency PA wrote. 141 private diary volumes of Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901 and thus almost as long as her descendant, were digitized and published online.
Valet Whybrew served the Queen for a total of 44 years and was reportedly one of her closest confidants. It was said that he watched television with her during the corona pandemic.
Performance with Daniel Craig
“Tall Paul” caused a public stir when he led the film star Daniel Craig as James Bond to the Queen for a humorous video clip for the 2012 Olympic Games and then led the two through a corridor together with Elizabeth’s corgi. In 1982, Whybrew distracted intruder Michael Fagan, who had made it into the Queen’s bedroom at Buckingham Palace, with a glass of whiskey until the police arrived.
For his services, the valet was awarded the Royal Victorian Order medal after the Queen’s death and marched in the funeral procession.