Backstairs Billy
Subtitle: the life of William Tallon, the Queen Mother's most devoted servant
By: Tom Quinn
Publisher: The Robson Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 259
ISBN-13: 9781849547802; 9781785900006
Subjects: Household employees; Royal households; Gay men; Biography; History
Description: "From humble beginnings as a shopkeeper's son in Coventry to 'Page of the Backstairs' at Clarence House, William Tallon, or 'Backstairs Billy' as hecame to be known, always knew he was destined for a life in the royal circle ... Charming, loyal, promiscuous and in possession of a truly wicked sense of humour, Billy entered royal service at the age of fifteen and, over the next fifty years, became on e of the most notorious figues, and most remarkable characters, ever to have graced the royal household. Although nominally a servant, over time Billy became one of the Queen Mother's most trusted friends and confidants. While others came and went, Billy was the one servant the Queen Mother just could not do without. She adored him, and he her, perhaps because of his high camp style or his witty and provocative remarks about the well-born equerries, royal press people and advisers. Sometimes scandalous, often shoscking, and always entertaining, [this] is the fascinating life story of the man who spent more than half a century working for one of the world's most elusive institutions" --Publisher's description.