One of King Charles' most senior household staff members is stepping down this weekend after four decades at the monarch's side.

Bernie Flannery, a butler who has served Charles since the early 1990s, is to stand down from his post in the royal household. The news was first revealed by royal author Robert Jobson on his Substack page and later reported by Hello! magazine.

Flannery's path into the royal household began aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, the decommissioned vessel that served as the Queen's floating residence for more than four decades. After his service there, he joined Charles's personal staff in the early 1990s — a period that coincided with the increasingly public breakdown of the Prince and Princess of Wales's marriage.

When Charles and Princess Diana separated, both wanted Flannery to continue serving them. Flannery chose Charles, reportedly at the Prince's insistence. It is a detail that places him among the small circle of domestic staff who remained constants through one of the most turbulent chapters in the modern monarchy's history.

His four decades of service span three reigns, a royal divorce and remarriage, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and Charles's accession to the throne. Few members of the royal household — let alone those in domestic service rather than the private office — have served a single royal for so long.

In 1999, Flannery was involved in a car crash while collecting a new vehicle for the Royal Household. The incident, reported as part of Hello!'s account of his career, did not end his service.

The role of a royal butler sits at the intersection of domestic management and personal attendance. Butlers in the royal household oversee the daily running of the monarch's private residences, manage junior staff, and handle the logistics of everything from state banquets to private family meals. They are, in household terms, the closest staff members to the sovereign's personal routine.

Flannery's departure leaves a gap in a household that has seen considerable change since Charles became King in September 2022. The King has restructured elements of his staff and household operations as part of the transition from a Prince of Wales's household to a full royal establishment.

No successor has been named publicly. The royal household does not routinely comment on individual staffing arrangements, and no formal statement has been issued by Buckingham Palace.