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0:03 When I first met Backstage Billy, you know, chums, it was a funny thing really because I didn't You you got to remember that we are from a generation that didn't have the internet. So, pictures of people in newspapers could be very grainy. You didn't necessarily know what they looked like. You had an idea. And you know, if somebody said to you, and I think you'll all agree with me on this, if somebody said, "I work for the Pentagon." you kind of almost believe them because, >> [laughter] >> you know, how could you prove it? You couldn't get out an iPad or your phone and go, "Let's just see, is this person there?" And the reason I highlight this is a friend of mine recently went uh for a position in a company. And during the interview, they were just literally looking this person up in front of them to see if they were telling the truth. And I thought, "It's a different world,
0:49 isn't it?" You know, because in our day, I'm sure you'll agree, you know, you took along your letter, you filled in your application form. Those checks would have been done before you signed on or whatever. And that really would be the deal. Now, we live in a different world. And that's really how when I first met Backstage Billy, William Tallon as he was called, was actually at a theatrical event. At the time, I was appearing in certain shows in the West End. And he loved show business. One of the things that I really feel I could share with you is the fact that, well, he told me this in fact, that had he not gone down the route of, you know, being in the royal family and working for them, he definitely would have loved a career uh on the performing stage. And I think he would have been brilliant. He was a wonderful mimic, a great raconteur, and knew exactly how to tell
1:37 a story and just time it. You know, he knew that people were waiting in awe of, you know, the he was just very good. Also, you have to remember in his youth, very debonair, very good-looking guy. Now, as I say, when I met him, he you know, people said, "Oh, this is uh They actually referred to him as Backstage Billy." And at the time, I thought, "Hmm, that sounds a bit ominous, you know." I never really heard of him at this point. Eventually, we got chatting. He said that he'd been to the show and he'd recognized and we got you know, we got on very well. As I said, this was after his in my opinion a really sad demise of the royal family because I think again we have to remember our generation was that we couldn't believe that somebody could be treated that badly given the service
2:24 that they given. Remember, he devoted his life to the late Queen Mother. But seemingly, again, wasn't enough. Now, we're not quite sure really, you know, you can read all sorts of things but I asked him why was he not in his position and he honestly said that it came to an end once the Queen Mother had sadly passed away. They couldn't find a role for him. Which is odd, isn't it? Because we are told that there are grace and favor apartments and clearly, you know, if you are liked, there's a position somewhere open for you. What was interesting over the numerous times that I bumped into Billy, as I say, I don't mean this unkindly but he was a lonely man in the latter part because it's a bit like anybody who's had that position of power and suddenly it's gone. It
3:10 doesn't matter whether you're a movie star, a pop star, you know, the Prime Minister, whatever you are, that moment of power walks out the door and that job goes with it. And you know, when you did see him round and about in Stoke Newington and Stoke Newington I assume a lot in Victoria and stuff, yeah. And you know, he was always either sat outside a cafe and I got the impression that he actually wanted to be noticed, you know? But as I said, he probably would have really loved the era of social media because, you know, I mean, I don't think he'd have been off it, to be honest, with all of his pictures and stuff. And now in this climate, imagine how that would have been because I think he could have got away with a book, a pictorial book of all the people that he looked after and met for the Queen Mother, you know. But ultimately, he
3:56 also told some rather revealing stories. And you know, you have to say that obviously as time went on, there could have been certain embellishments. But this particular story that I wanted to share with you really today was one that he told me sat outside of cafe. And that was simply because at the time and it's an interesting piece this because I was going for an audition for a musical based on Edward Simpson, right? That had been going knocking around for a long time, you know. And they were trying to put it together and it was a bit of a bit of a disaster to be honest. >> [laughter] >> I mean, I never understood how this could possibly be a musical, but you know, the music wasn't too bad. And I was explaining that, you know, I was just only a lowly part. And he said, "Oh well, you know, I think it's interesting
4:42 in history." And then he let slip the story about the Duke of Edinburgh. As you know, one of my favorites, Prince Philip and Wallis Simpson. And as ever, I wanted to share it with you. As I say chums, welcome back. Nice to see you. Thank you so much for joining me on a shorter version of By Royal Appointment, but nonetheless, it's always lovely to have a chat, share stories, etc. memories because that's what we all enjoy, don't we? And it's lovely sharing them with you because actually as as many of you said, "Oh you know, I can see you you like sharing them." I do because it reminds me of a different time. As I said, you know, we think about it. There's no internet. There was no phone at that particular maybe I did have a phone. I'm not quite sure. But you know, I he would just chat away. Now, as many of you may know, the Queen Mother was a formidable woman. For
5:30 our generation, for me particularly, I only knew her as this woman who was you know, cuddly, nice, sweet. She turned up bouquet of flowers dripping in diamonds. Oh, how nice. But as Billy said, there were as there are with many people two sides to every persona. And the Queen Mother, he said, could be very formidable. He said, you wouldn't want to cross her because she'd been around that long that people did go to her for advice. And their close relationship that the Queen Mother had with her daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, he said, was very sweet to see. He said it was the only time he saw the Queen really sort of change persona. She was a totally different person around her mother. But we all are, aren't we? We're on our best behavior around our parents, you know? Because
6:16 that's what we do. It doesn't matter whether you're royal or not. And what was interesting was he said that the Duke of Edinburgh always had, shall we say, a relationship, as he pointed out, that had a barrier around it. And this started out really from the off, you know, because I'm you know, no offense to be unkind, but I don't think she thought this was going to be the match that it was, made in heaven, you know. It lasted a long time, didn't it? And ultimately, I think the Queen Mother at the time thought, "Well, you know." But she really clashed with the Duke of Edinburgh. Uh really from the off, from the wedding, when, you know, they wanted to live separately, and then Buckingham Palace. And if you remember, of course, the Duke of Edinburgh was instrumental in us having the historical
7:02 documentation of the coronation in 1953 put together on television. You know, she was so against it. I mean, you know, even before her demise, Queen Mary was clubbing up with the Queen Mother or Queen Elizabeth at the time. Uh you know, to no, you know, we we don't think this is a good idea. According to Billy, though, that, you know, basically Prince Philip was very strong, very strong-minded, but also had the power and the position over the Queen. He knew that they, you know, they were union, and he could say, "Look, this this it's a good idea." Hence the reason this is what happened with Wallis Simpson. You see, we all know the story of Wallis Simpson, the back and forth, and there was no, you know, now the Queen Mother, to put it mildly, had no time for Wallis
7:47 Simpson, even on the demise of the Duke of Windsor. It was very difficult for her because, according to Billy, she couldn't let go of the past. He was very nice, Billy, I have to say. You know, he never was disrespectful in any level. He was just very nice. And as I told you, when Wallis Simpson came over to London, she stayed at Buckingham Palace. And there's that very famous picture of Wallis now, which is iconic in many ways, chums, I think, of her looking out of the window of Buckingham Palace. And clearly, you know, when you look at that, she must have looked out that window and thought, "What might have been?" Because this could have been her domain had the government and the people around at that time said, "Okay, we will allow this divorcee into the royal
8:32 family." Totally different times. Even at that point though, according to Billy, the Queen Mother didn't want this to happen. She didn't want to stain at Buckingham Palace. And this is where the Duke of Edinburgh came in because they had ferocious clashes about this. Not because he was particularly a Wallis fan, apparently. You know, he didn't get involved in that side of it. But he knew constitutionally how bad this would look on the world stage. There you have the widow of the ex-king coming back to London for his funeral out at Windsor. And of course, the royal family not offering to, you know, put them up. According to Billy, the idea originally originated to put Wallis Simpson in the royals' favorite hotel, The Goring. Mm. And what was interesting
9:19 about this was, of course, again, you could have said, "Well, you know, she didn't want to be in there all in a row and all this sort of stuff." But, you know, the Duke of Edinburgh just knew that this wouldn't look right. Eventually, as we all know, he managed to persuade them to get their way, you know, the way as it were. And really, according to Billy, he was also instrumental in finally getting the Queen, along with himself, of course, to pay a visit to the ailing King. Because again, you know, he said, "Look, despite what your, you know, love say, his mom has said, this is this won't look good. You may regret it. This is your chance to write the wrongs." And this is why I share these stories with you because obviously I met the Duke of Edinburgh, as I told you recently, on a number of
10:04 occasions. But I also met people around him that could tell you that fill in the blanks, you know? And I said, "So who really ruled the roost?" And I remember this really well because, as I say, we were sitting outside this coffee shop. He knew how to time a line, Billy, there's no two ways about it. And he said, "Well, to be honest with you, you know, really the Duke of Edinburgh does far more than people realize. He makes the big decisions, but obviously she executes them." And apparently, that famous line where, you know, you see the Queen Mother behind Wallis Simpson coming out, walking down, and all of that, even that caused a lot of problems. But apparently, the Duke said, "You have to do it because this is
10:50 what's expected. This will look bad." But the Queen Mother just could not apparently get over how much stress and strain, and she, apparently, according to Billy, and I have to say allegedly, but these were his words to me, that basically, you know, she kind of blamed that whole thing on the early demise of King George. But as Billy points it out, yes, he was a nervous character, not easy, you know, fitting in daily life, but he also smoked incessantly. And you know, as he said, you know, you're smoking at that level every day because it's a strain. But would he have smoked like that had he not had the responsibility of being a monarch. And you know, he was smoking for years, the stammer, everything. I'm
11:37 sure it contributed to that. But as Billy or Backstairs Billy, as he often referred to himself, I have to say, pointed out, ultimately for him, you know, he just felt that the Duke of Edinburgh was doing the right thing, wanted the right thing for the monarchy, and of course got his own way. The Queen Mother and the Duke never truly saw eye to eye. And as Billy also pointed out, >> [laughter] >> I just found this quite funny. The Silver Jubilee then was coming around, and he said that created even more problems because again, he was instrumental in what should be and what shouldn't be. And again, the Queen Mother, really, and Winston Churchill pointed this out, I would imagine, found it very difficult to relinquish the
12:22 bands of power. You know, she thought, well, you know, I've done this, and now of course it was somebody else's uh thing. But as he also said, there was another person attached to the Duke of Edinburgh, and that was Lord Louis Mountbatten. And apparently, she couldn't really get on with him too much either. More of that on another cast. Neil Sean in the very heart of the United Kingdom.
