- William Tallon
Infobox_Person
name = William Tallon
imagesize =
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birth_date = birth date|1935|11|12|df=y
birth_place =Coventry ,England
death_date = death date and age|2007|11|23|1935|11|12|df=y
death_place =England
occupation =
known_for = Queen Mother's "Steward and Page of the Backstairs"
title =
children =
spouse =
salary =
networth =
website =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 atClarence House .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.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 herCommonwealth tour in 1953-1954 but was kept back and did national service with theRAF . 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 Wilcock , 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.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.
References
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2950280.ece Obituary in timesonline.co.uk]
*cite episode |title = Last Word |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword_30nov2007.shtml |series = Last Word | serieslink = Last Word |network =BBC |station =BBC Radio 4 |airdate = 2007-11-30Persondata
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
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