Wife rose up ranks with valet

As Michael Fawcett rose from footman to being one of Prince Charles's closest confidants, his wife also did well for herself.

When Fawcett first met Debbie Burke she was a lowly palace housemaid, but in a mirror image of her husband's own progress, Mrs Fawcett rose swiftly through the ranks and ended up working for the Duke of Edinburgh.

Later she left the Palace to work for Burberry, a job she may have secured thanks to her husband's connections.

The couple have two children and in the early days of their marriage they found it hard to get by on Palace wages. For a while Fawcett took a part-time job serving behind the counter at Turnbull & Asser, the Prince's bespoke shirtmakers in St James's.

While they were not always as well off as they are today, the Fawcetts were always keen to put on a good show. Their marriage at St James's Parish Church near their then Duchy home in Hampton Hill, Middlesex, on 28 September 1991 was followed by a lavish reception to which dozens of royal servants were invited.

The champagne was plentiful and there was a large awning over the garden and part of the street outside.

"It was a high-class do, despite the fact they were only servants, but it was quite snobbish," a guest told a newspaper last year.

Nowadays Mrs Fawcett, 39, is sometimes involved in her husband's party-planning company, Premier Mode Events. When Charles's press secretary Colleen Harris had her leaving party it was deemed inappropriate for Fawcett to be present, and instead Mrs Fawcett was the public face of the caterers.

" Debbie was scurrying around, sorting everything out on her own," one guest said.