William Tallon

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William Tallon

Born 12 November 1935(1935-11-12)
Coventry, England
Died 23 November 2007 (aged 72)
England
Known for Queen Mother's Steward and Page of the Backstairs

William John Stephenson Tallon, RVM, (12 November 1935 – 23 November 2007) was a stalwart and extrovert member of the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's staff at Clarence House.

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[edit] Early life

Tallon was born in Coventry, and he went to school in Coventry. He was interested in the royals and collected newspaper articles of the royals in a scrapbook.

[edit] Work with the Royals

Tallon first landed a job as a junior assistant at the young age of 15 after five years of asking for a job in letters. He finally got a reply from King George VI and was given the role in 1951 and was sent to work at Easter Court at Windsor.

He was later employed at Buckingham Palace. He was set to join The Queen on her Commonwealth tour in 1953-1954 but was kept back and did national service with the RAF. He then asked the Queen Mother if he could come to work at Clarence House. She agreed, and he remained with her until her death in 2002. He became Steward and Page of the Backstairs, the page closest to the Queen Mother. He was nicknamed Backstairs Billy.

After the death of his good friend, partner and colleague, Reg Wilcox, the House Deputy Steward and the Queen Mother's Page of the Presence, in 2000, Tallon became depressed. He was particularly upset when the Queen Mother turned to a younger nursery team.

When the Queen Mother died Tallon was moved out from his Lodge house at Clarence House and he settled in a ground-floor flat with a garden in Kennington.

He was one of the few holders of the Royal Victorian Medal in Gold.

[edit] Character

Tallon made several close friends while working with the Royal Family. He was adored by many of the other members of the household but others tried to become good friends with him but failed.

Tallon was good friends with the Prince of Wales who visited Tallon in hospital in March 2007

He was called a wizard with the drinks. According to several guests a glass never remained empty, even if you placed your hand over the glass he would pour through your fingers.

The four people in the world whom he held in most esteem were the Queen Mother, his parents, and his close friend Reg Wilcock.

[edit] References


Persondata
NAME Tallon, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Queen Mother's Steward and Page of the Backstairs
DATE OF BIRTH 12 November 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Coventry, England
DATE OF DEATH 23 November 2007
PLACE OF DEATH England