To feel bad for the new employee at work

Call them out - something like “ooh, you sound so jealous”! or “as of you guys wouldn’t take a mortgage free flat if it was on offer”. Just shut it down.

I dunno if I'd go as far as saying she needs 'a champion and a mentor'. I think it's fair to challenge the bitchiness and to be a friend to her, but I understand the bitterness if she's dropping it in about her mortgage free millionaire home and I'd be much more inclined to mentor and champion people who weren't born to it. In fact I mentor on several schemes in my industry and found myself annoyed at once having to mentor a private school girl. I'm all for helping girls and I did help her, but I'd much rather have helped someone who didn't already have wealth, connections, and the confidence and 'in' that it brings (and yes there are exceptions but this wasn't one). So yeah, be a good friend but I'm sure she can cope and that the upsides to her curse of privilege more than make up for it.

Maybe when this girl is out of the office you could have a word with your unpleasant colleagues and tell them she’s a perfectly nice girl and doesn’t deserve any of what they’re saying and doing. Ask them to give her the fair chance she deserves to get on with her job.

So many people think everyone should be hard up like them, have to start at the bottom of the barrel.
It's madness.

I'm surrounded by a mix of people that had a privileged up bringing, HUGE inheritances and actually never need to work in their lives (but they do) Equally have friends that come from generational "social housing" families who have worked their way up, got great jobs and great careers. Neither are better than the other but we need both types of people in society!

i'd call your colleagues out on it. and i have done in the past.

Victim blaming at its finest. She's young, naive and was just being honest. They are bigots

Call it out and be a mentor to her. There is so much tall poppy syndrome in British culture aimed at women, it is unreal.

Jealousy is trotted out on mumsnet far too often in my opinion but this actually reeks of it. And I agree with pp, they are clearly think a young woman is an easier target. You should stick up for her, tell them to pack it in

Not that I’m excusing the colleagues’ behaviour, but If she’s so intelligent, she really should have had the wit to keep quiet about a freebie £2m flat. Especially now, with rents soaring.

Letting it drop about the graduation gift is really tone deaf. Why would anyone do it? I'd possibly not be too worried about her. She'll be fine.

Are you using the term Etonian as an umbrella term for the alumni of any top boys' public school?

Absolutely this

OP is there anything you can do for your colleague to help and support?

You are clearly concerned about the way she is being treated and I don't think YABU at all, she may need a "friend" so to speak to stand up for her and to make her feel welcome!

The conversations your colleagues seem to be having sounds like jealousy or they feel threatened!

I think you always get that one group at work who are tight and like to pick on others. Ours is a group of middle aged women 🙄 it's so petty!

People shouldn’t be talking/gossiping about her behind her back in the office. If heard anything like that at work I would definitely say something.

Plus they should be focussing on work not gossiping about other employees.

She needs a champion and a mentor.

I love supporting younger people, and watching them grow. To those who are being unkind, I would tell them in no uncertain terms to cut it out.

What are you going to do to change this?

I think it’s really unkind of them. Of course people should be judged on character and not what they own. Yes, there is a lot of inequality in the, but people are still allowed to have money. They need to grow up.

This is true. I suspect if it was a man they would not be bitching about his privilege. They’d probably all be trying to be his mate.

I definitely would!

Your workplace culture seems incredibly pathetic and immature. This sort of behaviour towards a colleague should not be tolerated and I would be escalating what you see to management.

Perhaps point out that those people bitching about her would almost certainly take a mortgage free flat if they were given one, so it’s not nice to bitch about her good fortune.

I'm working class and I dislike inverted snobs as much as I do conventional snobs.

To be honest this is typical British mentality, prevalent throughout our culture.

Resent Rich people, have them pay for running society, moan about everything but never take any steps or risks to make it yourself.

Your colleague is not self made, but even if she was, they would treat her the same way.

Crabs in a bucket.

You need to ask them to stop bitching. How would you handle it if they were isolating someone else for the way they live?

Misogyny is alive and well then. Call it out OP, the fact they are picking on a young woman for no reason apart from her fortunate birth is disgraceful.

Would they bully a council estate employee? No you’d feel incensed and deal with it.

She may be privileged but she still deserves respect.