Prince William may make a big change to Buckingham Palace when he becomes king, a former royal butler has predicted.

The Prince of Wales, 43, is heir to the throne. When his father, King Charles, is no longer monarch, William will step into the role.

Many royal experts and commentators have predicted that William’s monarchy will look very different from Charles’. Some predict that William will bring a more “modern” approach to the royal family.

This could include Buckingham Palace no longer being the royals’ official residence. The palace became the monarch’s official London residence in 1837, when Queen Victoria became the sovereign.

Prince William’s ‘very modern approach’ to monarchy’s future

Speaking to Royal Insider on behalf of Genting Casino, former royal butler Grant Harrold shared his thoughts on what kind of king William could be.

Grant said that the Prince of Wales has “very many attributes” of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, his grandfather, Prince Philip, his mother, Princess Diana, and his dad, King Charles.

Going forward, who knows, even Buckingham Palace may no longer be the official residence.

He continued: “He’s a whole extraordinary mixture of all of them.

“We’ve seen how he’s going to be. I think he’s very modern in his approach, very down to earth. He’s very affectionate, but he has got his serious side.

“He has said that the royal family in the future will be ‘royal with a small r’, which means I think he is going to very much make a lot of big changes. I think he’s going to make some big sweeping changes.”

Prince William could make ‘big change’ to Buckingham Palace when he’s king

Grant went on to say that Prince William could reduce the size of the royal family again. A slimmed-down monarchy is something Charles has made happen since becoming monarch in 2022.

He explained: “He’ll be doing everything to secure its future, if that’s by reducing the size of it, reducing the outgoings or reducing a lot of what’s seen no longer needed.

“William certainly doesn’t have the same amount of homes that any of the royals have had previously, he’s just got Amner Hall and Kensington Palace.

“Going forward, who knows, even Buckingham Palace may no longer be the official residence. It could just be the home of the monarchy, but no longer the official residence.”

He added: “I can see him making some big changes, for the sake of the monarchy.”

Prince Harry’s ‘really sweet’ moment with royal butler

In the interview, Grant also discussed his time working for the royals. He was Charles’ butler between 2004 and 2011.

He recalled an amusing story about Prince Harry. Grant revealed: “One of the funniest things I remember was Harry asking me if I had kitchen paper towel, and I was thinking, ‘why do you want kitchen towel?’.

“You expect someone will ask for a drink or food or something, but he wanted kitchen towel. I asked why he wanted it but he wouldn’t tell me, so I wouldn’t give it to him. So he came down to the kitchen and got it himself.”

He continued: “I followed him upstairs and one of the dogs had been doing its business upstairs. He didn’t want to ask me to clean it up, he wanted to clean it up – which is why he came and got the kitchen paper. It was really sweet. I ended up helping him.”

Meanwhile, former royal gardener Jack Stooks also shared details of working for the royals.

Speaking to us on behalf of Fruity King, Jack said: “The one thing that I liked about the garden is that the king was very much on the ball. He knew what was going on.

“He was always very interested in the garden. I always loved the fact that I knew he would come in and he would say, ‘Oh, this hasn’t been done’, and he may have found fault in a job, but I don’t think that is negative.”