An ex-colleague who'd been on Argonauts after leaving the RAF told me how it used to be...
The crew would breakfast together at a time of the Captain's choosing - they would satnd up and greet him with a "Good morning, Sir" when he came down from his luxury room. They would leave for the airport when HE decided.
On arrival at the airport, the briefing would be formal and comprehensive. Only when the Captain decided, would they proceed to the aeroplane. There would then be a lengthy session with the ground engineer who would brief the Captain of any quirks of the aeroplane and engines through the flight engineer. Once the crew was happy, the Captain would advise the ground handling agent that they were ready for the passengers.
Years later he got into trouble with ba management for telling the cleaners to get off his VC10 after the passengers had disembarked - he would tell them when they could get on and it wouldn't be until after he'd signed off the technical log! "You're one of the last of the Barons", he was told - "Yes, and proud of it - this airline once had standards!" came his reply.