With armies of livery attendants handing out oceans of champagne, the Queen Mother lived like the last of the great Edwardian ladies, says HUGO VICKERS. Yet the carpets were worn, there were holes in the fabric. And I’m not even talking about the wiring…
When a new play called Backstairs Billy premieres at the Duke of York’s Theater in the West End, we can expect a wry look at the relationship between the Queen Mother and her faithful Page of the Backstairs, William Tallon.
The comedy, starring Dame Penelope Wilton and Luke Evans, is set at one point in the tumultuous year of 1979: Britain is in political turmoil, raging across the country, but at Clarence House the champagne flows unabated .
However, the play also evokes memories of a completely different world – an Edwardian world now lost in the mists of time.
Although the Queen Mother died less than 25 years ago, the style in which she presided seems as distant as the Victorian era into which she was born in 1900.
The Queen Mother at Heathrow in 1996. The ever-observant Billy Tallon stands behind her with the Corgis
An affectionate Queen Mother says goodbye to Charles, her grandson, as he leaves a lunch to celebrate her 86th birthday. The Page of the Backstairs, William Tallon, is present as always
Tallon was known as an irrepressible filler of wine glasses – those of the Queen Mother and her guests. She is pictured here at a birthday lunch in 1990
These days, King Charles won’t grab a quick sandwich at his desk, if he eats at all, but the Queen Mother maintained, until almost the end, a way of life that had been the norm when Queen Victoria was still around. the throne.
Every day was punctuated by meals, and not just simple meals, but full-fledged affairs.
Drinks would be served before lunch and there would be at least three courses, with wines and coffee to follow.
Butlers circled the table and glasses were regularly charged. Billy Tallon was a magician with a drink and clearly seemed to hate an empty glass.
The Queen Mother joked about him: “There’s no point in putting your hand over the glass, he’ll pour it through the fingers.”
Tallon saw it as his role to keep her laughing. He also took it upon himself to be master of ceremonies.
He made sure the Queen Mother’s guests were relaxed and happy before she arrived in the drawing room. Once he had them arranged the way he wanted, he would go find her.
Her arrival would be announced by a pair of Corgis entering the salon. She would come in, and at that point he faded into the background and she took over.
The guests were often fascinating figures from art, music or museums – John Betjeman, Frederick Ashton, Roy Strong, Ted Hughes.
The Queen Mother found them, plucked them from their world and entertained them royally. Her philosophy was that if you came into contact with her, you should be sent away feeling happy.
In the afternoon a hearty tea was served. The household was given tea and scones, but the female clerks, for a reason of etiquette imposed by Tallon, were refused the scones.
Queen Elizabeth drinks tea with her husband, King George VI
The Queen Mother travels with Princess Margaret to an engagement in 1965
Clarence House, where the Queen Mother ran an Edwardian-style establishment
The Queen Mother with her daughter, the late Queen Elizabeth. Today, the Queen Mother’s vision belongs to another world entirely
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, with grandchildren Charles and Anne in 1954
The dinner was also a splendid affair, with the Queen Mother having changed into evening dress.
When she went out to eat, she wore a hat; when she went out to dinner, she wore diamonds or pearl necklaces and a host of other jewelry.
If it were a beautiful summer day at Clarence House, the Queen Mother would suggest that the dining table be brought out into the garden and set up as if it were indoors.
When she made her annual visit to Walmer Castle, where she was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, the silver was brought from London and in later years the dining table too – for a formal lunch and dinner.
Clarence House was just one of her homes. When she moved to Royal Lodge, you could see a procession of cars heading towards the gates of Windsor Great Park. A similar form of entertainment took place here.
Croquet was played on the lawn, and sometimes there was evening entertainment, with Edward Fox performing, Noël Coward at the piano, or John Betjeman reading poetry. For Royal Ascot week, the Queen Mother moved to Windsor Castle. A surprised guest saw rows of outfits brought in, and plentiful hat boxes, as the Queen Mother hadn’t quite decided what she would actually wear.
And then there was Scotland – Birkhall, with its fishing on the Dee, and the Castle of Mey, in Thurso, saved by her in 1952, right on the northernmost coast of Scotland, Orkney in the distance across a wild sea .
A fly fishing spot on New Zealand’s South Island in 1966
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park was the Queen Mother’s second home. Today it is occupied by Prince Andrew
As Billy Tallon hovers nearby, the Queen Mother greets well-wishers outside Clarence House on her 89th birthday in 1989
Tallon thought it was his job to keep his employer laughing. With a dog in his arm, he has just returned the Queen Mother’s handbag to its owner at Heathrow
She was truly the last of the great Edwardian ladies.
And yet the Queen Mother was not as extravagant as she is portrayed. Aware that people liked a bit of pomp and circumstance, she preferred to arrive in a large car and wear her best clothes.
Yet she did not replace worn carpets, and her decorator, Oliver Ford, once saw her twisting a finger in a hole in the fabric of her chair, but she refused to replace it. When she died, the wiring at Royal Lodge had to be completely overhauled. Her answer was often, “I won’t be here much longer,” and yet of course she was.
Anyone who goes to the play gets a glimpse of this rarefied life. It’s entirely possible that they consider Billy Tallon to be her boyfriend.
No, he had known her for half a century. He could enter her rooms unannounced, she trusted him. But he never sat down in her presence.
- Backstairs Billy starring Dame Penelope Wilton and Luke Evans opens at the Duke of York’s Theater on October 27. The exhibition runs until January 27, 2024.