King Charles - disquiet at Highgrove & the gardeners’ exodus - SUNDAY TIMES INVESTIGATION

[vera99]

Murdoch is growing bolder in his dotage — first with Trump, and now with another bombshell investigation into the grasping, stagnant, and catastrophically out-of-touch Windsors. And yet we keep pumping more public money into this so-called dysfunctional family.

What you need to know

King’s demands, staff shortages and low pay led to gardener exodus at Highgrove

Royal charity which runs gardens told to offer mental health support after formal investigation

Charles has lost 11 of 12 garden staff since 2022 including two head gardeners who quit within a year

Monarch said of one worker: “Do not put that man in front of me again”

After Ukraine invasion King proposed plugging staff shortages with war refugees or the elderly

At one point half of staff were on minimum wage

https://archive.ph/fspT3#selection-1495.0-1501.155

Yes indeed but it seems some people are still taken in by the, er, 'glamour', 'prestige', etc of working for the Royals.
It's noteworthy that the people higher up in the Royal Households are paid a more competitive wage, the private secretaries and so on, perhaps to attract the best talent. Not so much the footmen, under-butlers, maids, cleaners and gardeners.

So they are getting prestige and proximity to glamour and can't complain if that's what is attracting them to the job, when they could go work somewhere else for more money, where perhaps they wouldn't be able to brag about it.

Well yes, because there are different skill sets to being private secretary to a head of state (one of a kind job) and a cleaner. And I don't imagine there are many jobs available if you want to be a footman, so you have to go where you are needed and accept the salary, or you get a more realistic career.

I'm afraid you're not comparing like for like.

Highgrove's ticket price of £40 includes a guided tour with a gardener - you learn about the history of the house, the evolution of the garden and the planting.

The same at Chatsworth costs £55.

I'm afraid you're not comparing like for like.

Sums up this thread, really.

Firstly this is second hand from a volunteer I know and trust who worked backstage in Shangri-La - the nightime clubbing area. Harry was a popular and friendly person enjoying discrete partying away from the common gaze and came back over a number of years. The point I'm making is that with detectives in tow observing this lawbreaking nothing was done apparently. And you can bet reports came back to the Palace as well. It was covered up. That said it's a credit that no photos leaked of that they would have been worth a fortune in the tabloids at the time , and if his behviour wasn't self-confessed to in Spare I wouldn't have mentioned it either.

Are you joking - reporting drug taking behaviour to the Police at Glastonbury - they would have thought you were on some yourself if you ever did ! It's not that sort of place.

Not taken in by it.
Much more that people starting out are aware of what a spell working in some of the best houses and gardens in the land will mean for their careers.

Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire (herself not a stranger to superb service) described how the staff in royal houses and the service they provided was exceptional and beyond all expectation. The training must be good to impress her. You can see why people would want that on their CV.

Upstairs - Downstrairs and if you get the maid preganant she will get despatched to some far away cottage on an estate house to sit it out in shame. Not now of course....

That will be so they can keep an eye on you and stop you nicking plants - or showering ragworts seeds in a fit of Republican pique !

A rather out of date comment......

Do you understand how protection officers work, especially for children? Not just in this country for the RF, but for the children of presidents etc. If a protection officer is going to do their job effectively, they need the complete and unwavering trust of their protectee. So the protectee isn't giving them the slip and putting themselves in danger. So the protectee isn't giving them the slip because they think their protection is telling tales behind their back. The protection officers aren't there to police the behaviour of the protectee, they are there to protect the protectee against potential danger from third parties.

Yes you could absolutely have called the police if you thought a crime was being committed. Your excuse is lousy. People like you are the problem with crime going unreported and unrecorded.

Harry’s faults are most definitely his own

Or maybe just acknowledge you got your facts wrong?

I did love the series when I was growing up - taught me a lot about the upper classes. That and the Remains of the Day ...

Most likely primarily from a security perspective. There won't be the same issue at Chatsworth.

I wasn't there and it was hearsay long after the 'crime' had occured.

I guess so.

Can anyone tell me anywhere more prestigious than the Palace? Imagine having prepared the state banquet dining table for President Macron on your cv, honestly this thread is ridiculous.

I am a Groucho Marxist - "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others "

Colour me shocked! 😮 Private secretaries to the King earn more than cleaners! Blimey report them to ACAS. Do the cleaners in your company get paid the same as the CEO? Of course they don’t, try harder next time.

Highgrove is protected by CCTV and patrolled by armed guards.
The very knowledgeable lady in a cardigan and amber beads who walked us around the stumpery was not the thin blue line.

Still didn't stop the ragwort sneaking in on a gust of wind.... we're all dust in the end - the Prince and the pauper - which I would be if I forked out 40 quid for garden - no house included. I come from up t'North originally - how much ? I'm not paying that !

Eh? I think the point is that royal employees higher up the tree are more likely to have wages on a par with similar work in the “outside world”, when cleaners, gardeners, kitchen staff and so on get paid less than their outside world peers. I do think this is, and always has been well known.

Ha! I think it’s the way I interpreted the post! In all honesty though the batshittery of this thread it wouldn’t surprise me if certain posters actually thought that! seeing as King Charles is on the same level as an employer as Jeff Bezos or the owner of a Victorian Pit according to this thread.

Back to business as usual, with the Palace pushing out PR pieces so naturally, the Fourth Estate takes its opportunistic swipe, reminding those in power who really calls the shots. To be fair to Charles, he has achieved a great deal over a long life marked by depth and purpose. But when his time comes and William V ascends, one wonders how respectful the media will be especially if the royals fail to pull their weight or resonate with the national mood. Somehow, I doubt “Netflix and chill” will cut it. Then again, who knows? We are, after all, a much-diminished nation.

WTAF are you on about? Or is this just a spiteful swipe at the Wales children?