A FORMER butler to the Queen said his time working with the Royal Family was ‘an amazing experience’.

Peter Ridley, 42, of Langport, worked across the Royal Family’s homes at Buckingham Palace, Sandringham House, Holyrood Palace and Balmoral Castle for five years.

Originally from Durham in North-East England, Mr Ridley applied for the job when he left college at 18 and was shocked when he found out he had gotit.

He told the County Gazette: “Ijust wrote to them and it all just happened within two days, I finished my exams and moved to London where I lived in the Palace – they trained me up in everything.

“I thought I would go for it because I knew I would travel the world and see lots of people.

“It was an amazing experience.”

Mr Ridley, who looked after the young princes William and Harry, also took on a number of roles including silver service at meal times to walking the dogs around the gardens.

He is unable to divulge too much information about his experiences from working and living at the Palace as he had to sign the Official Secrets Act.

After five years working for the Royal Family, Mr Ridley said he decided to move on and has since ran his own private dining business and has cooked for stars including Joan Collins, Judi Dench and the King of Spain.

Before moving to Somerset, Mr Ridley was living in London but now runs the new artisan bakery called Kitchen in Parrett Close, Langport and he said it got to the stage where he thought let’s switch it around.

He added: “I love it here and I have a better work-life balance. I was tired of the commute and I wanted to pursue my passion for baking so when the shop in Langport came up I jumped at it.

“We can’t thank people enough for the support, it’s fantastic to see there are plenty of people who want something different, artisan breads and patisseries baked onsite right here in Langport.”