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

@MaxandMeg somewhat off topic, but read Lucy Maria Boston's memoir, where she describes creating the garden at Hemingford Grey.

Here in NYC, our three botanic gardens rely on volunteers, especially retirees. Public parks rely on volunteers, many of them student required to do community service .

We have informal day labor hire sites, often big box hardware stores. Before the ICE raids, employers would stop off and hire people for the day. In my experience, most NYC landscaping companies are using migrants and probably paying cash for the day. Communication is with the team leader, as many of the employees don't speak English.

I've had a pesticide free garden plot for years. My main issue has been oleander aphids on the milkweed, which I spray off with water. I have sparrow who attack my zinnia leaves to get insects. The leaves sometimes end up with holes but they are aphid-free.

Actually far from a ‘damp squib’ this gives another glimpse of how out of touch and entitled they are.

While the rest of us are trying to make ends meet and worrying about everything going on in the world, their priorities, whether it be growing flowers or sprinkling them on cakes, appears to be so at odds with ordinary people.

Things like this could just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for monarchists like me to say fuck it, let’s pack these baubles away in the loft forever after Charles goes….

Thank you for sharing that, @Pubgarden .
It ties in with what I've heard people say as well.

A point made halfway through the article, not emphasised in the reporting or mentioned by the initial posters, is that the issues with funding have been mainly since the running of Highgrove Gardens was taken over by the charity, as previously KCIII would write personal cheques if there were shortages.

@Screamingabdabz Pesticide -free gardening is really important. We need to keep pollinators of all kinds alive so that we can grow food to keep us alive.

Back in 2022, my job joined with a initiative to get people in the city to grow 1 foot by 1 foot plots of flowers to feed pollinators. I used an app to track my plots and was amazed at the number of solitary bees, butterflies, and flies that feed off it in the middle of a city.

I believe your Fields in Trust organization is trying to keep green spaces around the UK:

https://fieldsintrust.org/about-us/our-people

Thanks for sharing this. It’s a lovely anecdote.

How do you know if he doesn’t treat his sons and grandchildren well? Are you privy to information the rest of us aren’t? His relationship with Harry is none existent because Harry sold stories on his family, and continues to sell his soul to the devil for attention and to top up his bank account. Items I’ve read suggest he has a lovely relationship with George, Charlotte and Louis.

Me too! 🤣

Will never happen. Because the alternative is a President, and if you see the quality of prime ministers we get here, or the choices for America (Biden vs Trump at last election) who have millions more people to choose from than the UK, then I dread to think what we’d get.

Ah then it’s good news you have pointed this out to the op who is a trustee of a charity !

@Pubgarden Thank you for your lovely posts. You should write a book!

Does anyone seriously think the royals are not 'out of touch and entitled' though? They grow up in palaces and have people bow to them and call them 'Your Royal Highness' practically from birth. Of course they're out of touch and entitled.

I think this article will barely make a ripple outside of those who follow the royals, and will be forgotten by the end of the week. If this is the worst they have on Charles, the monarchy is safe for some time to come.

Do you know these refugees were not going to be paid?

No this article doesn't. It does make reference to some workers though. Don't exaggerate.

Is this Graham Smith? I recall one of his books being touted on here by a poster whose name I recall.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that would surprise me about any members of the royal family. And we probably don't know half of it.

Charles should put his hand in his pocket and pay his staff more, he is a double billionaire after all! They must be local people I imagine and it's a very expensive area of the country to rent, buy or live.

I have a gardener who comes once a fortnight because of our too big garden and our age meaning we can't totally manage it on our own. I pay her probably double what Charles pays his gardening staff. And that is because I value her expertise and the backbreaking hard work she does when she is here. The royals are such tightwads, they desperately hang on to every penny they can.

Charles should put his hand in his pocket and pay his staff more

As noted above, when he was in charge of the gardens and funds were running low he did just that (mentioned in the article - have you read it?). The gardens are now run by the charity, the King's Foundation.

The going rate seems to be £20 to £25 an hour for a decent gardener for an ordinary garden .To pay less than minimum wage is a disgrace.

Yes, thank you. I have read it. Twice actually. Have you?

Exactly. That is what I pay our wonderful gardener who comes once a fortnight.

Do you understand that it is a charity that is employing them, not Charles directly? If your gardener felt underpaid, she'd go and find a more lucrative job. What's stopping the Highgate garden staff doing the same, since gardening jobs can be well paid (I pay a fortune for mine too)? Why do they stay or go there in the first place?

Because it's Highgrove. It doesn't make lbarely MW right. Hence the 11 out of 12 staff leaving.

But we’re talking about staff wages, surely? You can’t pay your rent from a handout from the boss. SURELY everyone can agree that the RF should
pay their staff properly? That strikes me as being entirely uncontroversial!

Then they have voted with their feet and left. Charity pays national minimum wage (set by the government) to people who want to go and work at a prestigious setting. Nobody forced to work there or stay there. Presumably doing set hours, not working unpaid like many private sector workers are. Other, more lucrative jobs in the same sector available. Are Highgrove doing something illegal? No. So what is your problem?

Exactly. As I understand it, aren't the gardeners now employed by the charity, not by the King or the Duchy? So, a low wage is in keeping with the need to maximise returns for the charity. It's not ideal, but lots of charities only pay NMW (which is, of course, perfectly legal).
Thus seems like something of a storm in a teacup.