Staff at the new monarch’s former official residence of Clarence House were made redundant during the thanksgiving ceremony for the Queen held at St Giles’ Cathedral.
Up to 100 employees were given their notice of redundancy
while King Charles and the Queen Consort were in Edinburgh, the Guardian
reported.
They include private secretaries, those working in the royal
couple’s finance and communications offices, and household staff, some of whom
have worked at Clarence House for decades.
Many of the former Prince of Wales’s staff assumed they
would be kept on and amalgamated into the King’s new household.
However, a letter from the King’s top aide, Sir Clive
Alderton, arrived and informed them that their roles would no longer be needed.
“Everybody is absolutely livid, including private
secretaries and the senior team,” one source told The Guardian. “All the staff
have been working late every night since Thursday, to be met with this. People
were visibly shaken by it.”
Alderton’s letter stated that the household at Clarence
House would be closed down.
He wrote: “The change in role for our principals will also
mean change for our household.
"The portfolio of work previously undertaken in this
household supporting the former Prince of Wales’s personal interests, former
activities and household operations will no longer be carried out, and the
household … at Clarence House will be closed down.
“It is therefore expected that the need for the posts
principally based at Clarence House, whose work supports these areas will no
longer be needed.”
King Charles’s private secretary then added: “I appreciate
that this is unsettling news and I wanted to let you know of the support that is
available at this point.”
It is understood that certain staff who provide “direct,
close, personal support and advice” to the King and Queen Consort would remain
in employment.
The staff who are made redundant will receive help to find
alternative employment across other royal households or externally and will
receive an “enhanced” redundancy payment higher than the statutory minimum.
A spokesperson for Clarence House said: “Following last
week’s accession, the operations of the household of the former Prince of Wales
and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and, as required by law, a consultation
process has begun.
Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some
redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify
alternative roles for the greatest number of staff.”
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