On Friday, he’ll watch from afar the wedding festivities hosted by the palace where he once took care of the tiniest details. These days, Ely has plenty of multitasking to do in America. After decades of service to royalty, Hollywood celebrities and diplomats, the 48-year-old master butler is opening a Manhattan school to teach genteel old British ways — updated for 21st-century New York. “I really want to revolutionize service,” he says, adding with a grin, “Some people are clueless — not very organized.” Ely’s series of weeklong courses are part of estate management studies at The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan. Three classes start in mid-May: Culinary essentials, laundry essentials, and essentials of household cleaning and organization. The first two cost $1,995 each, and the cleaning class $1,750. Some students already are professionals, but are coming “to up their game,” Ely says. “My employers love to entertain their family and friends, and in order to enhance that, the meal should be carefully planned and executed — from the menu choice to the flowers and background music,” says Deborah Smit, e-mailing from her employers’ yacht in the Virgin Islands.
