When Queen Camilla smoked, she had silver cigarette packets in every room – and you won’t believe how spoiled King Charles’ shoelaces are: Royal expert BRIAN HOEY reveals just how big the royals’ luxury life is

No one outside of the royal family really knows how luxurious the family’s lifestyle is.

On the outside, they appear frugal and thrifty – which they often are, although Princess Anne prefers to describe it as “good, old-fashioned Hanoverian housekeeping.”

But that frugality doesn’t extend to what they eat, drink, wear, drive and drive.

They enjoy only the best money can buy, even as they instruct their employees to negotiate the best deals on their behalf when ordering.

As a family, they take luxury for granted and value loyalty over all other virtues.

And as a former senior aide once remarked, “The royal family may not always be right, but they are never wrong.”

The idea of ​​having to accept second best in something never occurs to anyone in the family.

The attention to detail that the royals insist on is remarkable these days.

For example, when Camilla still smoked, footmen were apparently instructed to place silver cigarette boxes containing her favorite brand in each room.

They also had to make sure matchbox holders in solid silver containers stood upright nearby and a match was halfway out so she didn’t have to search for a light.

When entertainers are called to entertain the royal family, they are given a seven-page document with instructions on how to behave.

For example, they are told that under no circumstances should they slouch or lean on bars or tables, that bow ties should be self-tied, and that performers are not allowed to speak to members of the royal family unless told first talked to them.

Hatchards is “invited” to provide copies of the latest books before the official release date and always in hardcover and unopened form because they love the feel of a brand new book.

They want to have more than one copy of each book so that they can leave the one they are reading in a room and pick up the identical copy, marked on the correct page by a footman or maid.

The same applies to films too. Television and film companies supply the palace with the latest releases before the general public sees them so that the king and queen can get a preview.

The royal valets are shown tying their masters’ shoelaces. Some need to be cross-stitched, others simply tied straight.

And all laces must be ironed when the shoes are taken off.

Valets keep a checklist of what items of clothing were worn on a given day and where, so they can tell their superiors if they wore something more than once in the same place.

The King also has a fully equipped hair salon directly above his chambers at Buckingham Palace, where his hairdresser comes once a week to touch up the royal locks.

The only time Queen Camilla leaves the palace for a doctor’s appointment is to go to the dentist on Wimpole Street in Marylebone, as there is a fully equipped practice there.

Otherwise, all doctors and nurses will be called to wherever she is.

Whenever Queen Camilla is expected at a private home, her police officer calls the hostess on her cell phone five minutes before HM arrives so that the door is open.

The late Queen Elizabeth never rang the doorbell in her life.

The princess hates being driven, even by her husband, who has never been allowed to sit behind the wheel.

The king’s suits, of which he owns 60, cost over £5,000 each, while his shirts, all handmade, cost £1,000 and he owns more than 200, while his collar stays are made of solid gold.

His collection of regimental, club and private ties numbers over 500.

A soldier stationed at Birdcage Walk polishes His Majesty’s boots and shoes every day – he has had 50 pairs, costing over £2,000 each, made at Lobb of St James’s – and a housemaid hand-washes his silk underwear as soon as they are thrown away .

Nothing Charles or Camilla wears is allowed near a washing machine.

It was once claimed (but never proven) that Prince Edward fired a butler because the man was not outside the house when he returned and Edward had to open the car door himself.

His driver is instructed to always look ahead, even when the car is stationary.

Apparently nothing is too much trouble for the world’s most famous family.

Adapted from Brian Hoey’s 2012 book Not in Front of the Corgis, published by Biteback Publishing.