Royal YAYA

Considering ang daming Filipino na Yaya sa buong mundo, dapat lang na ang Royal Yaya ay galing sa Pilipinas.  Marangal ang pagiging yaya.  Kaya sobrang karangalan ang pagiging Yaya ng prinsipe.  Mahalaga na maging magaling ka sa ginagawa mo - at syempre kung ikaw ang isa sa pinakamagaling ikaw ang Royal Yaya.

Not sure kung nabalitaan nyo, ang yaya ni Prince William nung lumalaki siya ay si Araceli Lillie Piccio.   Korek, isang Pinay.  At syempre invited siya sa Royal Wedding mamaya.  Kung si President nga di invited, pero sya invited.

Eto ang article galing sa Philippine Daily Inquirer. 

BACOLOD CITY—A former royal nanny from Bacolod, Araceli “Lillie” Piccio, says she will have to remind herself not to say “How’s my boy” when she meets Prince William at his wedding Friday to Kate Middleton in London.


In Piccio’s mind, the future heir to the British throne and his brother, Prince Harry, are still the young boys she helped raise.

“I love them like they were my own children. It will be like watching a son get married,” said the 63-year-old Bacoleña, who had worked as the brothers’ nanny when they were small.

Piccio has been invited to the royal wedding. She has retired from working with the royal family but still lives in London.

She says she keeps forgetting that the two princes are grown up now.

“One time I saw Prince Charles and said: ‘Your Royal Highness, how are the boys?’ and he smiled and said, ‘Lillie, they are grown men already,’” Piccio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview.

Down to earth
Piccio said that when she sees William and Harry, they still hug and kiss her.

“In private, I refer to them as ‘my boys,’ but in public I address them by their official titles, in keeping with royal protocol,” Piccio said.

She said William and Harry are very down to earth as they were raised by their mother, Princess Diana, to be good to others even if they do not come from royalty like them.

“Princess Diana was a very good mother and her boys meant the world to her,” Piccio said. “I am sad that she will not be there for the wedding of Prince William. She would have been so proud of him.”

Working with Diana
Piccio, who has a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from La Consolacion College in Bacolod City, taught in public elementary schools in Candoni town and Bacolod in Negros Occidental before she moved to London.

In 1984, her employer, whom she did not realize was the private secretary of Prince Charles, recommended her to work for Princess Diana at her residence in Kensington Palace in London, Piccio said.

At first she was assigned to clean the guest rooms at the ground floor of Kensington Palace but two months later she was told Diana wanted to speak to her.

“The Princess told me, ‘Lillie would you like to work at the nursery’ and I said yes,” Piccio said.

Jolly Harry
She said Diana would often talk about the two princes, calling them “boys.” “That is how I got to calling them the boys, too,” Piccio said.

She said that when William was 6, he hid her bucket with her cleaning equipment and put a towel over her head. “I chased him with a stick and he giggled as he ran. His mother came out to see what we were up to,” she said.

Piccio recalled that Harry was the more jolly of the two princes, adding that William was more reserved.

“Prince William is very bright. He reads a lot of books and the news. He likes to know what is going on around the world,” Piccio said.

Surprise invitation
After Diana died and Piccio closed the drapes in the room of her beloved employer for the last time, she went on to work for Princess Margaret.

She said when she saw the brothers at the funeral of Margaret, they hugged and kissed her. “I teased William that Harry was more handsome and he (William) laughed,” Piccio said.

As she has retired from the royal household, Piccio said she was surprised when she got an invitation a month ago to William’s wedding.

“When I see William at the wedding, I will also say: ‘Best wishes, congratulations. May you have many children,’” she said.