How footman rose in status

It was a measure of how close Michael Fawcett was to the Prince of Wales that when Charles summoned him to Highgrove to dismiss him a few years ago, the confrontation left both men in tears.

The Prince felt he had to get rid of his trusted valet because Fawcett's bullying manner with other Palace servants was having a disastrous effect on staff morale. In the end Charles just did not have the heart for it, so Fawcett was not sacked after all.

Indeed, after the intervention of Camilla Parker Bowles, he was instead promoted to the position of personal assistant.

The story goes that Mrs Parker Bowles went into the kitchen and put her arms around the weeping servant, telling him: "We will not let this happen to you, Michael."

The incident underlines the fact that by the late Nineties, if Fawcett was important before, he was now indispensable.

His main job was to organise the Prince's social diary and entertaining - everything from overseeing the catering to sorting out the flowers - but in truth he was relied on to provide advice and assistance on a whole range of other matters. As Charles is said to have remarked once: "I can manage without just about anyone, except for Michael."

One legendary story had it that he squeezed Charles's toothpaste - and even once held a urine specimen bottle for the Prince. If outsiders might regard it as extraordinary that a mere servant could have such an influence over the heir to the throne, it is even more astonishing when one considers Fawcett's humble origins.

He was a boy from Bexley who did well in home economics at school, and after leaving his local comprehensive did a silver service and cookery course at Westminster Kingsway College. In 1981 he applied successfully for a job as footman at Buckingham Palace, arriving at the Palace in a polyester jumper with few other possessions.

Over the years he rose through the ranks to sergeant footman and then Charles's assistant valet, setting out his bespoke suits and Turnbull & Asser shirts every morning at Kensington Palace.

Fawcett's status in the pecking order was confirmed when the Prince allowed him to live in a £450,000 four-bedroom grace-andfavour home in west London, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. His other perks included a £3,000-a-year club membership with a £1,000 credit for entertaining, a Rolex watch, bottles of champagne and much more.

Perhaps inevitably something of Charles's style also rubbed off on 40-yearold Fawcett. He often fiddles with his cufflinks, just like the Prince, or stands with his hands clasped behind his back. As for his wardrobe, that is more handmade Turnbull & Asser shirts these days than polyester jumpers.

If Charles found Fawcett indispensable, others were less appreciative. Diana hated him. She is said to have confided to her secret video diary: "I feel completely isolated - Charles confides more in Fawcett than he does with me."

When Fawcett was chosen by the Prince to retrieve the Prince's personal possessions from Kensington Palace she changed the locks. Other members of staff resented him too, derisively referring to him as "Sir Michael".

His downfall came last year when he was accused of selling unwanted gifts on behalf of the Prince in the wake of the trial of royal butler Paul Burrell, earning him the nickname "Fawcett the Fence".

He resigned from his master's payroll this year after a report by the Prince's private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, which acknowledged that he was feared, loathed and envied by many of the 80 staff in the St James's Palace household.

The report detailed how Fawcett bent royal rules forbidding the acceptance of gifts from outsiders, but he was found "not guilty" of fiddling.

Resignation did not mean severing his links with the Prince, however. He continues to enjoy the Prince's patronage as a freelance fixer and party planner, and picked up an undisclosed cash severance package as well as an agreement to work as the Prince's events manager. He was also allowed to keep his grace-and-favour home, where he still lives with his wife Debbie and their two children.

Recent royal jobs include the organisation of Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle and helping with refurbishment at Clarence House, the Queen Mother's former home which is now the Prince's London headquarters.

He has also landed one of the most prestigious entertainment commissions of 2004 - party organiser to the Olympic Games. Those home economics lessons seem to have paid off.