Prince Harry’s ex-butler tells world to eat rice with ‘knife and fork or chopsticks’, sparking online backlash in Asia

Self-proclaimed ‘etiquette expert’ Grant Harrold, who once served Britain’s Charles, William and Harry, made the remarks in a post on Twitter
Responses ranged from outrage at ‘so-called civilising colonisers’ telling others what to do, to toilet humour surrounding wiping or washing

Britain

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 12:48pm, 10 Mar 2021

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Social media users from across Asia have hit out at a former butler to the British royal family after he said on Twitter that people should not eat rice with their “hands or fingers”.

Grant Harrold, a self-proclaimed “etiquette expert” who previously worked for Britain’s Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry, made the offending post on Saturday. It has since garnered more than 10,000 replies.

“Ladies and gentlemen, remember we always use a knife and fork or chopsticks to eat rice,” he wrote, alongside a picture showing a nearly empty plate and someone using a knife to scrape the last grains of rice onto a fork. “We do not use our hands or fingers!”

Responses online ranged from outrage at “so-called civilising colonisers” telling other people what to do, to toilet humour referencing cultural preferences for wiping versus washing.

“Are you expecting us to take food advice from the same people that find baked beans really appealing?” asked one Malaysian Twitter user, while another from Indonesia pointed out that “most of us Asians, any Asians, eat using our hands”.

According to Statista, the average person in Asia consumes 60.4kg of rice a year, almost double the world average consumption of 38.4kg of rice per person. China is the world’s largest rice producer, followed by India and Indonesia.

One online commentator from India asked if Harrold was “trapped in colonial times” or if his remarks reflected “a sorry admission of the inability to use your hands for anything elegant”.

“These people like to impose themselves, even where it’s not necessary,” another post said. “We’re not going to listen to you. Save your knives and forks for your culture.”

Malaysian newspaper The Star cited chef Redzuawan Ismail as saying it was foolish to “follow white people’s thinking” when it came to food.

“Asian cuisine is full of gulai (curries). If you only have a fork and knife, how are you going to scoop all that without a spoon?” he was quoted as saying.

“We have our culture too. There’s no right or wrong. If some of us love to eat rice with the hand, then it’s OK too. Don’t be so rigid.”

How to cook rice: in Asia, it’s no laughing matter

Harrold, who has also used his Twitter account to offer etiquette advice on kissing recently – as well as a post chastising men for making “adjustments” to their underwear while in public – did not offer a reason for posting about rice.

However, in a reply to one comment, he stressed he had “British etiquette training not worldwide etiquette training” and asked in another for Twitter users to “please refrain from calling me a racist, supremacist, white trash and savage and research your facts prior to these serious accusations”.

In the replies to Harrold’s original post about rice, one Twitter user suggested he was “missing one of the greatest joys in the world” by not eating with his hands, “especially when the rice is covered with curry and served on top of a banana leaf”.

There were also appeals for greater acceptance, such as from a commentator in the Philippines who wrote: “Eat [using] whatever cutlery you’re comfortable with, it’s 2021 already – cultural diversity is now accepted.”