'Executive' butlers command £100,000

Butlers have shed their Upstairs, Downstairs image and the elite of the profession can now command £100,000 a year, according to the head of a London butler college.

Butlers can even expect to be classed as "executives", said Ivor Spencer, from the International School for Butler Administrators, based in Dulwich.

Mr Spencer, who has been training gentlemen's gentlemen for 21 years, said the demand for staff is stronger than at any other time in his career.

He said: "They are not servants any more but more like administrators.

They run beautiful homes around the world and often have budgets bigger than many small businesses."

Mr Spencer said that in America "we have people who are earning £55,000 a year, which can be doubled when you think that they don't pay for anything".

This means that some butlers can earn twice as much as an experienced live-out nanny working in central London, who on average could expect to be paid between £20,644 to £24,992.