How much for your soul?

Posted by: The Private House Insider

As scandals go, the one they called Vatileaks was a bit of a humdinger, with the head of the Catholic Church and some of his closest allies caught up in a furore which threatened to plunge the Vatican into turmoil. It began when a series of documents allegedly exposing corruption were leaked to the press in March of this year and resulted in international headlines about power struggles, bribery and in-fighting within the Church.

Matters came to a head when a man called Paolo Gabrielle was arrested and put on trial for theft of the Pope’s private material in September: Gabrielle, in case you missed the news, was the Pope’s butler.Whether or not Gabrielle was acting in the boss’ best interests as he believed – the butler claims he helped orchestrate the exposé to “put the Vatican back on track” – he broke the butler code.

The what?

Think of the butler code as another way of describing one of the butler’s key attributes: namely that he must be the soul of discretion at all times. You might not find it in any reference book or official training manual, but everyone in the industry knows that no matter what information you are privileged to in the line of duty, you must never betray the confidence of the Principal. The butler code might be 100 per cent unofficial, but it is also 100 per cent vital, and has been serving the industry well for centuries.

The problem, of course, is that sticking to this time-honoured protocol can be easier said than done. While not nearly as ubiquitous as celebrity kiss-and-tell stories, industry-damaging tales of personal assistants, chauffeurs or other members of household staff “spilling the beans” for personal gain occasionally do surface.

The morally-dubious employees behind these scandals were tempted, and they succumbed, proof that greed can be an enormous and dangerous motivator. And it lurks under the noses of household staff with a sometimes bewildering regularity.

Has Sir been overheard discussing a top-secret business buyout in the back of the Bentley?

Are the family struggling financially and quietly dipping into their childrens’ inheritance?

Perhaps there are matters of ill-health that would make news headlines – or be of interest to a rival company?

Fortunately, the lion’s share of people attracted to butler, valet, chauffeur and similar positions are made of more incorruptible fibre, frequently going on to form strong and lasting relationships with their employers. For them, whatever happens privately stays private.

And for the unscrupulous few who do await the chance to sell their soul, it’s worth remembering that the household staff recruitment sector is, in many ways, self-regulating: betray once, and a deceitful ex-employee is unlikely ever to find work again. The industry has a tendency to remember these things.

Companies such as Randolphs – whose stock-in-trade is helping Principals find skilled and dependable household staff – typically take their approach to finding reliable and trustworthy employees very seriously. It has to be that way: without a tacit understanding that a new employee is going to be honest and isn’t going to run off to the press the moment his ears prick up, the whole system falls at the first hurdle.

By striving hard to forge a close working relationship with our butlers, valets and other household staff, we have built up a stable of resourceful, decent and dedicated candidates who understand that behind closed doors, every family in the world has its little secrets, and that it is important that things stay that way. They know that the true measure of quality household staff is – and always will be – discretion. That without the all-important – if unspoken – sense of loyalty to the Principal, cracks will appear. Which would lead to Principals who become guarded and secretive around their employees. High turnover of staff. Cold silences when employees enter the Principals’ quarters. Job satisfaction would disappear, too – and with it, one of the greatest rewards that the industry offers, as the happiest household staff are the ones who feel trusted, invaluable, and part of the team.

The Pope’s disgraced right-hand man, who was found guilty of his charges, incidentally, will have the next 18 months in “prison” (actually private chambers in The Vatican) to contemplate what he has done.

Ample time, we imagine, to give a little thought to the importance of the butler code.

Update: The Butler movie

Shooting for the film has now finished, with everything shifting into the post-production/editing phase in advance of the anticipated autumn 2013 release. The script for the The Butler (the story of Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served eight US Presidents) is said to be extremely strong, with several of the cast’s major stars reportedly having taken a lower fee than their going rate just because they wanted to be involved. The cast includes Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Robin Williams, and Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, who plays Allen himself.