Behind Palace Doors - My Service as the Queen Mother's Equerry

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Colin Burgess. Behind Palace Doors - My Service as the Queen Mother's Equerry

BEHIND. PALACE DOORS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

A SLEEPING LUNCH

DON’T MENTION THE WAR!

SHOOTING SQUIRRELS WITH A SNIPER RIFLE

WHEN IS NELSON MANDELA GOING TO STAND UP?

‘WILL ONE OF YOU OLD QUEENS BRING THIS OLD QUEEN A GIN AND TONIC?’

‘HAVE I DIED AGAIN?’

‘OH, BLOODY HELL!’

THE RELUCTANT ROYAL AND A MAN IN A HURRY

PRINCESS MARGARET IS ON FIRE

SETTING THE HOUNDS ON THE BOYS FROM ETON

‘GO ON, GO ON, HIT HIM, GO ON, PUNCH HIM!’

‘GET YOUR BLACK TIE ON BECAUSE ONE OF THE GUESTS HAS DIED’

‘DID YOU GET LUCKY THIS WEEKEND, COLIN?’

IT’S GROUNDHOG DAY

EPILOGUE

SOURCES

COPYRIGHT

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MY SERVICE AS THE QUEEN

MOTHER’S EQUERRY

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These are just a few of the many tributes that poured in for Her Majesty the Queen Mother, known affectionately as the Queen Mum, after her death in March 2002. Many tried to paint a picture of a woman who was unswerving in her duty as the most senior of the Royal Family and who was kind, generous, thoughtful and hard-working but above all a very private person. For here lies the great mystery in the Queen Mother’s life – it was virtually impossible to puncture her outer shell and really get to know what she was like deep down. Many tried – close friends such as Noel Coward, Fred Astaire, her friends in the Special Forces and her ladies-in-waiting – but nearly all failed.

Type her name into Google and you’ll get hundreds of thousands of hits. But nearly all say very little about her, save for a smattering of quotes she has come out with over the many years and the odd anecdote, many of which have proven to be apocryphal, because so little is actually known about her life.

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