Page 204 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

‘If you will just drive through the arch there and park where you
see the other cars.’
I followed the instructions but thought there must be a mistake as
there were only two or three other cars. Had I taken a wrong turn? It’s
a big place, I told myself, there are probably lots of places to park a car.
I got out of the Rolls and was greeted by a butler, the kind I had
always wanted to hire but had never been able to find.
‘If you will come with me, sir.’
As we were walking up the stairs he told me that we would be
eating in the Chinese Dining Room. I thought that sounded
fabulous, but I was surprised that I couldn’t hear the sounds of a
party coming from down the corridor. It dawned on me that
maybe this wasn’t going to be a big function after all. No cars, no
noise: maybe it was just a small dinner.
‘How many of us are there for dinner tonight?’
‘There are a few, sir.’
A few? Was that a handful or a hundred? There was no way of
telling. He escorted me to the Chinese Room and, as I’d suspected,
it was just the board members and Prince Andrew. Suddenly, I was
really nervous. I was at a private dinner in Buckingham Palace.
Oh, my God! Am I dressed right? And when I looked at the table
there were so many pieces of cutlery I started to panic: I regularly
eat curry and chapattis with my fingers!
I calmed my nerves by talking informally to Andrew – we called
him Andrew, not Sir or your Royal Highness – and Stanley and me
started to have a laugh and I began to relax. For the first course I
was sitting opposite Andrew, but he switched seats for the main
course and came and sat next to me. It was hard not to be struck
by what a natural, friendly guy he was and what great company
he is. He was also pretty tactile. I remembered all the techniques I
had learned at Reid Trevena about using body language and touch
to reassure people: had he been taught these skills, too, or were
they just natural for someone in his position?

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