The Admirable Perkins, Royal Bodyguard

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32234, 28 February 1970, Page 5

The Admirable Perkins, Royal Bodyguard

(By PETER TAUBER?

It has never been admitted officially that Commander Albert Perkins carries a gun. The “law-abiding” English are sensitive about things like that. And it is particularly unthinkable that such precautions should be necessary in the protection of their Queen —which is Albert Perkins’s job. He is chief permanent bodyguard to Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth, responsible for her personal safety 24 hours in the day, 365 days in the year. And he does carry a gun. A 9mm. Beretta nestles snugly in a shoulder holster; but his Saville Row suits are so impeccably tailored that it never shows. And in all the 15 years that he has been Her Majesty’s bodyguard he has never had to use it Should the need arise, however, Perkins could be as quick on the draw as Matt Dillon and deadly accurate in his aim. Regularly every month he keeps his eye in with a spell of sharp shooting practice on the police pistol range at Aidershot. On the mantelpiece of his home near Windsor Castle there is a row of silver trophies he has won for pistol shooting, and it was this prowess which helped him to get his Royal job. He is also no mean performer at judo and, if it. came to a punch-up, a right hook with all his 2001 b weight behind it would be a k.o. But being a James Bond at Buckingham Palace needs other qualities such as gentlemanly manners, excellent dress sense and the ability to see everything while remaining invisible. Natural Choice So Perkins was a natural choice when a new Royal detective was wanted in 1942. Although he was just a sergeant on the beat in the London suburb of Tooting, he had a reputation as the best-dressed man in the Metropolitan Police Force. He spoke in a cultured accent, with just a trace of the dialect of his native Worcestershire. And his educational background at his local grammar schools was well above that of the aver-

age London constable. Moreover, he had this so necessary quality of unobstrusiveness. Since first coming into Royal service with Queen Elizabeth’s father King George VI, and then taking over as her No. 1 bodyguard in 1955, Perkins has been the man in the background, always there just a few paces from his Royal charge, always alert, but quietly and unobtrusively fitting into the background like a chameleon. Whenever the Queen sets foot outside Buckingham Palace, Perkins is there too—at banquets in the Guildhall, on safari in some dusty distant land, grouse shooting on the Yorkshire Moors. Always he dressed perfectly for the occasion. At Ascot in his topper and tails he often outshines the dandies on the Queen’s lawn. In the country, his tweeds are tweedier; in the City his suits are smoother: on foreign tours his garb is just right—whether white dinner jacket or khaki shorts are required. On one tropical country visit, when shorts had to be worn in order to keep as inconspicuous as possible, Perkins covered his white knees with sun tan paint. Queen’s Friend For maintaining his extensive, high class wardrpbe, Perkins receives a special supplementary allowance on top of his £3950-a-ayear salary as a commander. Undoubtedly he receives other unofficial gifts from the Queen, who holds him in very high personal regard. “The Admirable Perikins” is her nickname for the man who, after 15 years as her constant shadow, is now regarded by her as her personal friend as well as a servant. But, for all that, Perkins never presumes to move from his proper place—in the background. Guarding the Qneen is a full-time job, so Perkins has his own private apartment at Buckingham Palace, one floor above Her Majesty'. He is married, without children, Work Defined “At the age of 16 or 17, I decided that I did not want to work for my living. 1 define work as that which you would give up tomorrow if you came, into a fortune.”— Neville Cardus, veteran music critic and writer on cricket, in a 8.8. C. World Service interview.

and sometimes his wife stays with him in the Palace, but usually she lives in the house at Windsor which the Queen gave him. Perkins joins her there when the Queen has no outside engagements and when he has a deputy standing in for him. There are three police officers regularly available for such duties. On big occasions, of course, the bodyguard squad is much bigger. Fifty or more plain clothes officers from Scotland Yard may be around the Queen, all of them “invisible.” Plans Security But Commander Perkins is the man in charge. He is the man who plans all the security arrangements, checks Royal routes in advance, ensures that no Kennedy-assas-sination vantage point for a sniper is unchecked, has all cars, aircraft, trains, minutely examined before the Queen enters. When Royal visits overseas are being planned Perkins always pays a preliminary visit to examine routes and buildings and check over security arrangements with local officials. Once a fanatic laid a steel girder across the railway line ahead of the Queen’s train bound for Sandringham. Perkins’s men found it in time. There have been threats to the Queen’s life. Ln Gibraltar, Corsica, Northern Ireland, Uganda, and Aden, sometimes by cranks, some times by terrorists; but always quashed in advance, thanks to Perkins, so that the Queen knew nothing about them. Much of Perkins’s work is routine. On a normal day at the Palace his first job is to visit the Queen’s kitchens and examine the food from which her day’s meals are to be prepared. Then he has a look at her mail before it is passed to her. Any suspiciouslooking packages are checked: there could be a bomb or booby-trap. Rescued Princess A look at the day’s list of engagements tells him what clothes he needs to put out. Perhaps the Queen is going for a ride in the morning—so breeches and boots must be ready. Perkins is now an excellent horseman. He took special lessons to that he could be beside the Queen even when she was riding. Then perhaps there will be a luncheon engagement in the city, a visit to a hospital in the afternoon, a theatre gala in the evening. For each occasion, a change of clothing, and—on each occasion—there he is unobtrusively at hand. Only once has the Admirable Perkips slipped up. That was on a Royal tour of Australia, when he was “arrested” while quietlv strolling hear the royal yacht Britannia on the quayside at Port Darwin. The Australian police did not recognise him, and he had left his identity papers on board. It was nearly two hours before the Australian police released him. Another near - mishap occurred when Princess Anne strayed into the men’s dressing room at the Windsor polo ground. “Uncle” Perkins had to rescue her. Now aged 61, Commander Perkins is near retirement. The Queen will be sorry to lose her favourite shadow. Cleaning A House “I’d rather have a grubby house than be worn out and bad-tempered by struggling to do too much at a time:”— Home economist Alison Denny, giving some hints on spring-cleaning in a 8.8 C, broadcast