The fraction of people with luxury beliefs that also have to request vacation days to a manager is too high to be an exclusive upper class signal.
Private jets, yachts, personal cooks and butlers are truer symbols of the upper class.
Private jets, yachts, personal cooks and butlers are truer symbols of the upper class.
Those are all signs of wealth; most classy people would actively avoid them, even if they're wealthy.
I'm from the UK; I suspect that in the USA, it's easier to raise your social class by simply spending money. Here, social class by default is inherited. It's reinforced by where you went to school. Most people of high social class are slightly embarrassed about it; showing it off is seen as tacky.
Would be happy to hear examples of upper class UK people who still do their own laundry and flies coach.
Sometimes classy people fall on hard times; so yes, they make their own breakfast. But they don't lose their class.
Flying coach is also an extreme example; anyone who can afford business class avoids flying sardine-grade. And it's mostly business people that zoom around in private jets; those denote wealth and power, not class.
You can "upgrade" your class, sometimes; a commission in a "good" army regiment can get you upgraded. They train their officers in how to behave in classy company. Public schools serve the same purpose, but are less effective.
I'm not familiar with the domestic arrangements of any upper-class people, so I can't give you examples you asked for. But for the most part, they're not famous, so you wouldn't have heard of them anyway; after all, famous people can trade their fame for wealth. I've known quite a few people of class who had to work for a living, e.g. as teachers.
[Edit] OK, well-known example: Princess Diana (Diana Spencer). Until she hitched up with the Prince of Wales, she was a nursery teacher, and lived in shared accomodation (i.e. no servants). Of course, she was never stuck for a penny or two; the Spencers are a wealthy, aristocratic family.
"class" is a social status. "classy" is a behavioral style.