Tips From a Former Buckingham Palace Footman

LONDON, March 30, 2011— -- It's now less than a month until Prince Will and Kate tie the knot and begin life as a married couple.

ABC News spoke to a former Buckingham Palace footman, Christopher Ely, a man with three decades of experience of royal life.

So what exactly is a footman?

"I was always told a jack of all trades, master of them all," said Ely.

It's what Americans would call a butler.

So what are the essential traits for a royal butler?

"Cleanliness is a big thing," said Ely. "No one wants to sit down and see finger prints on, on anything."

No longer a royal butler, Ely has now taken his skills to the French Culinary School's new department of Estate Management Studies in New York, where he teaches his trade.