How did the British housekeeper gradually become a senior personal assistant?

As an old joke goes, the highest level of life is: get a Saudi salary, wear a Swiss watch, marry a Japanese wife, drive a German car, smoke Cuban cigars and hire a British housekeeper.

Those who can occupy a place in this kind of joke and be named are all extravagant to the extreme. But in Brother Brown's view, Saudi salaries, Swiss watches, Japanese wives, German cars and Cuban cigars are relatively easy to do, while British butlers are not affordable for everyone.

In today's society, it is not only the embodiment of strong financial resources, but also the symbol of noble status, noble taste and better quality of life.

Speaking of English butler, what kind of picture will come to your mind?

Dark swallowtail men's suit, white shirt and gloves, elegant and rigorous.

Every morning, one hand holds the tray containing the host's breakfast, the latest newspaper that has been ironed and folded into squares is pressed under the tray, and the host's door is gently knocked, so he walks into the room gracefully and gentlemanly, pulls open the curtains, stands well when the host is eating, and asks for the work arrangement for the new day.

Then from dawn to night, I will arrange everything for the host in detail, deal with all kinds of headaches and emergencies, and list the work items to be asked and the work arrangements to be completed.

Stand by for 24 hours, even if you just lie down at three in the morning, you must wash and dress neatly, and rush to the owner in an emergency to complete his instructions.

This is not a TV series, but a true portrayal of the daily work of British senior butlers in the 2 1 century. Compared with the early British butler, the modern British butler is more like a "universal butler", and the traditional British butler has been expanded into a "lifestyle manager" or a "senior personal assistant" to meet the needs of the times.

Speaking of it, the British housekeeper is famous all over the world, thanks to the French.

The word "housekeeper" originated in France, but the old British court paid more attention to etiquette, details and vanity. According to court etiquette, the professional concept and scope of duties of housekeepers were strictly regulated, which became the industry standard, and British housekeepers also became the classics of domestic service.

Therefore, at the beginning of the world-famous British butler, only hereditary aristocrats and aristocratic families with titles could enjoy it, for nothing but royal blood.

In the early days, the roles of British housekeepers in the giants were quite diverse.

Although most things don't need a housekeeper to do, from shopping and purchasing, managing family finances, entertaining guests, preparing dinner, preparing meals, sending children to school, washing clothes and ironing clothes, the housekeeper needs to know fairly well, assign each job to the next executive reasonably, and perform the duties of supervision and inspection. At the same time, she has multiple identities such as the owner's private secretary and trusted partner.

British housekeepers need to have extremely high self-quality, and must have rich life skills and professionalism.

A pure british butler needs to be familiar with different manners in different countries and occasions, different flavors of food and famous dishes around the world, world-famous and high-grade famous wine brands, their origin, taste and strength, as well as the maintenance and preservation methods of gold, silver, jade, diamonds and crystals. A higher-level housekeeper can only serve those high-level customers if he knows astronomy and geography.

Preparing meals is the specialty of British housekeepers, especially at formal dinners or entertaining relatives and friends. British butlers have a set of detailed practices on the order and etiquette of serving.

There is a smell of "British extreme" preparation everywhere, and even the size of napkins varies greatly in different situations-65,438+07-20 feet for lunch, 65,438+02 feet for afternoon tea, 26 feet for dinner and 6-9 feet for cocktail party.

At the dinner party, the length of candles, the number of flowers and the brightness of lights have to be checked by the housekeeper. The position of tableware should be accurate enough to require the housekeeper to use a ruler with good size and strictly control the error.

In addition, the English "candlelight dinner" is not just as simple as candlelight: the length of candles should be changed according to the height of tables and chairs, so that the candlelight position is just above the guests' eyes, so that candlelight looks the most beautiful at the night banquet. At the dinner party, the housekeeper pays close attention to every guest's behavior to ensure that the guests who enjoy the food can get the right service.

Housekeepers in aristocratic families not only win the trust and dependence of their masters, but sometimes their masters regard them as members of the family. Therefore, loyalty is the first quality that a British housekeeper must have.

In that era when wealthy families were allowed to hire British butlers, some British butlers in the United States and Germany were injected with new ideas. Nothing can reassure employers more than loyalty when they leave their houses, families and property in the care of housekeepers. Even those housekeepers who win the trust of their owners are even authorized to help them manage the company's business.

Masterman, the old housekeeper in the famous British mystery film Murder on the Orient Express, is a model of British housekeeper who is loyal to the extreme. In order to avenge the master's family, after five years of tracing, the old housekeeper organized a group of nannies, tutors, drivers and chefs who had served the master, followed the murderer who caused the destruction of the master's family to board the Orient Express, carefully planned a perfect murder and executed the murderer who was at large. The cautious old housekeeper shivered and resolutely stabbed the first knife, completing a housekeeper's persistent final loyalty to his master.

In the sixties and eighties of last century, British housekeepers lost to the changes of the times and eventually became an "outdated" profession.

After more than 30 years of silence, to meet the needs of the new era, the senior butler industry has experienced an unprecedented revival and risen in the rich circle.

For the rich who own private jets, luxury yachts or an island in the Caribbean, their wealth is no longer worth showing off. What is commendable is the first-class housekeeper trained according to the standards of the British royal family.

Serve food, manage wine cellar, manage kitchen, etc. It is no longer the focus of modern British butlers, but has been extended to a new generation of British butlers, who are "lifestyle managers" or "senior personal assistants". No matter what kind of problems the owner encounters, as long as the owner gives the order, he will try his best to deal with them perfectly anyway.

Although the modern British butler is very different from the ancient British tradition, Britain has turned life into an art and influenced various countries through the existence of British butler.