King Charles III is cutting 20% of his royal household staff to improve efficiency, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.
"There is a real feeling that the staffing at all the palaces is too heavy," a source told the Mail. "There are far too many assistants to assistants. The King and Queen would prefer to pay people proper wages top to bottom but have less people. For instance, there are chefs for them and chefs for the staff. Why, they ask, can't there be one lot of kitchen staff for everyone?"
The move is expected to affect "dozens" of employees at the royal residences of Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral, the report said.
The report said King Charles and Queen Camilla are prioritizing efforts to "modernize" the monarchy and are reportedly "dismayed" at the number of staff members doing essentially the same job.
The hope is that the cuts will relieve some of the financial burden on the country's taxpayers who finance royal operations.
"Her Majesty cannot abide too many people doing the same jobs," a source told the Mail. "Senior housekeeper, executive housekeepers, and juniors."
The report said Camilla will "have a key role" in the staffing changes and has already broached the subject with the master of the household, Vice-Adm. Tony Johnstone Burt.
While the King appears to support a streamlining of the monarchy fully, not everyone in the Royal Family agrees.
Princess Anne told a Canadian News outlet in May that cutting the staff was not a good idea, and that eliminating Prince Harry and Prince Andrew from their duties may be enough.
"I think 'slimmed-down' was said on a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment," the Mail reported Princess Anne saying at the time. "It doesn't sound like a good idea from where I'm standing."
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles eliminated dozens of jobs, telling up to 100 staff at his residence of Clarence House their services would no longer be needed, the report said.
In addition, 16 members of the late queen's staff received "exit packages" in the latest Sovereign Grant Report, which details royal spending.
The Mail reported that just under 500 permanent workers were employed across the royal households.
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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