- Insider published a database of 1,133 positions in the royal household.
- Of these staff members, only a select few are in close contact with the Queen each day.
- The most powerful members of the Queen's circle aren't necessarily the most senior.
From the Queen's butlers to her private secretary, the royal household has at least 1,100 members.
Of the many employees who work across various royal residences, tasked with keeping the monarchy operating at full speed, only a trusted few are in close contact with the Queen each day.
There are those in senior positions, who oversee the day-to-day activities and ceremonial events at Buckingham Palace — and then there are the Queen's private staff, her most trusted advisors.
The Queen's private aides Angela Kelly and Paul Whybrew have the most pull
The Page of the Backstairs, Paul Whybrew, and the Queen's dressmaker, Angela Kelly, are "the most powerful" of all the Queen's staff because they are the most trusted, former royal butler Grant Harrold told Insider.
Kelly and Whybrew even self-isolated with the Queen and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle during the UK's first lockdown last year, Royal Central reports.
Harrold, who was employed by Prince Charles from 2004 until 2011, says he met both Kelly and Whybrew on several occasions during his time at the household.
Both are discreet in their roles, Harrold said. The quality is essential when working for the Queen.
Whybrew is the Queen's most senior male servant. His role as Page to the Queen is similar to a butler's role, and involves catering to her daily needs.
The role dates back to the Stuart era, when the Pages — the most trusted servants — positioned themselves on the "backstairs" to the monarch's private apartments, Royal Central explains.
At 6 ft 4 inches, Whybrew is known as "Taul Pall" to his friends, according to Harrold.
Whybrew helped when intruder Michael Fagan broke into the Queen's bedroom in Buckingham Palace in 1982, according to The Express, which reported that Whybrew was able to get Fagan out of the room before police arrived.
Whybrew was also chosen to star alongside the Queen and Daniel Craig in a video for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
"You'd assume the private secretary is her right-hand man, but no — that's a professional relationship," Harrold said. "The private staff get to know her really well, on a more personal level, spending time in her living quarters."
Kelly joined the royal household in 1994 as an assistant dresser to the Queen, before ultimately being promoted to personal advisor, curator, wardrobe and in-house designer.
The designer was given permission from the monarch to detail her experiences in her 2019 memoir, "The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe."
"In those early years at Buckingham Palace, I remember feeling very aware that some people might look down at me," Kelly wrote in the book. "I was, after all, from Liverpool and had a Scouse accent, not to mention that I was divorced with three children, and possibly not the ideal candidate to be working for The Queen."
Kelly's modesty is what ultimately led her to become one of the Queen's most trusted aides.
"Most people are never aware of how close she is to the Queen, because she's very discreet and down to earth," Harrold told Insider of Kelly.
"Some staff members become more 'royal' than royal. They have their tweed and their country sticks, and go shooting in Scotland. They think they're royal," Harrold said, adding that Kelly and Whybrew are "nothing like that."
"They don't pretend to be something they're not," he added.
The Queen's lady-in-waiting Susan Hussey doesn't get a salary, but she's one of the most influential people at the palace
The Queen has eight ladies in waiting: one Lady of the Bedchamber and seven Women of the Bedchamber.
These positions are unpaid and personally selected by the Queen to be close companions, accompany her during state visits, and carry essential items like combs, gloves, and tissues.
Royal historian Marlene Koenig told Insider that the lack of salary isn't an issue to these women, who mostly come from wealthy aristocratic families.
Ladies of the Bedchamber are usually peeresses. This means they are the wife or widow of a peer, a male who holds an aristocratic title. Meanwhile, Women of the Bedchamber are daughters of peers.
"To them, it's a privilege. Some of them have become good friends — Lady Susan Hussey, for example, is very close to the Queen," Koenig said.
As Woman of the Bedchamber, Hussey is one of the Queen's longest serving ladies. Her role initially involved replying to letters after Prince Andrew's birth in 1960.
She was granted more responsibility in the years that followed. Now 81, Hussey has influence over who joins the household.
Hussey interviewed Kelly for the role of assistant dresser in 1994, the dressmaker wrote in her memoir. And she recommended Prince William and Prince Harry's longtime nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, for the job, Tatler reports.
Hussey holds a high honor, as she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. The award, started by Queen Victoria in 1896 to reward people who helped her as a monarch, is the highest rank that the Queen can issue, according to British Heritage. (The Duchess of Cambridge and the late Prince Philip are also recipients.)
And Hussey is virtually part of the family herself, as godmother to Prince William, Hello! Magazine reports. She also accompanied the Queen in her car to Philip's funeral in April, the publication added.
Lord Chamberlain Andrew Parker planned Prince Philip's funeral weeks after he started
Lord Andrew Parker is one of the royal household's most recent additions.
Parker became the Lord Chamberlain on April 1, the most senior member of the Lord Chamberlain's Office — which is responsible for all ceremonial and public events in the Queen's diary — and the household.
While his role is only part-time, the Lord Chamberlain operates as "the Queen's voice," according to Harrold. Parker supervises all five household departments that report directly to the Queen, which include the Lord Chamberlain's office, the Private Secretary's office, Master of the Household's department, the Privy Purse and Treasurer's office, and the Royal Collection Trust.
Parker's first major duty involved overseeing the planning of Prince Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel on April 17 — two weeks after he started.
However, Koenig said that this likely wouldn't have phased Parker, who previously spent 37 years at MI5, Britain's counterintelligence and security agency, where he served as director general from 2013 to 2020.
"It's throwing your feet into the fire, but they all have this experience," Koenig said. "They don't find these people on LinkedIn or Jobs.com."
Parker is also responsible for overseeing some events attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, future king and queen consort. For example, his staff organized the Queen, Prince Charles, and Camilla's appearance at the State Opening of Parliament in May.
"The Lord Chamberlain has to know what's going on everywhere," Koenig said. "And the most important person he has to liaise with is the Prince of Wales. At a moment's notice, we could wake up and he could be king."