The “ladies-in-waiting” now serve King Charles instead.
Members of the Royal Household during a memorial service for the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Camilla, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, wants to do without ladies-in-waiting. The palace described this as a step into the modern age, because ladies-in-waiting were no longer up-to-date.
Queen Elizabeth II had nine. They accompanied her to official events, helped her get dressed and put toothpaste on her brush. The women were the Queen’s most loyal companions, often childhood friends of the nobility. They were officially referred to as Ladies-in-Waiting.
Camilla prefers to rely on so-called in the future «informal companions». She appointed five women, longtime confidants, who will take turns accompanying her to public appointments. Including an interior designer and a member of the British House of Lords. Squeezing toothpaste out of the tube is not part of their job.
Will the British monarchy become slimmer and more modern, as King Charles announced in the past? Not really.
The monarchy, one company
“I don’t know how they could have expected that after all this time we would just keep quiet when the company is playing an active role in spreading falsehoods about us.” That’s what Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and wife of Prince Harry, said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
“The company” is how the royal family internally describes the organization around the British palace. Meghan Markle also used the term to portray the royal family as a well-organized and distanced system. Just as a company, not as a family, in which there is a clear distribution of roles and loyalty is the top priority.
However, the monarchy is not just a company figuratively, as Markle used the term, but literally. Little is known about the exact number of employees and the associated costs. Like the «Insider» at the beginning of the year however reported, the number of employees amounts to more than a thousand. The associated cost to taxpayers in 2020: £44.1million.
The royal family as employers
They clean the stables, dust vases, answer calls or cook for the royal family and their guests. There are hardly any limits to the versatility of the tasks on the estates of the royal family. On the official website of the monarchy, she presents herself as a modern employer. Buckingham Palace is also on the Linked-in platform, where it regularly posts vacancies. The royal family advertises the job as a cleaner of vases and picture frames in the palace in Edinburgh by saying that the person can admire such a sparkling clean room “before thousands of others can”.
“In our employee survey, more than 95 percent of employees say they are proud to work for the royal household,” writes the royal family on its website. In a short portrait, the current confectioner says: “We get two days off a week and holidays – that’s a rarity in the five-star world.”
The British royal family, a model employer? Palace stories from current or former employees are rarely made public. The “Indeed” job platform, on which employees can rate their employers, offers a little insight. A former employee writes there: “Benefits of free lunches and Christmas gifts. Disadvantage: The diversity is not the best.” Today’s housekeeper complains that she has to work until she dies and that she hardly gets any recognition for her hard work.
King Charles III recently offered an insight into the tone of conversation between boss and employee. himself. Shortly after he took office as king, a video circulated on the Internet in which he snapped at employees. There have been reports before that Charles disrespected his servants.
Working for the royal family is an honour. At least that’s how the royal family sees it: “In the royal household, everyday jobs become something extraordinary. No matter what function or department, our employees are part of something great.”
Neither more modern nor slimmer
For the ladies-in-waiting, it was all about honor. They were at the Queen’s service free of charge. So Camilla does without help, for which the royal family never spent any money.
The royal house will by no means be slimmer and more modern without ladies-in-waiting. The previous ladies-in-waiting are not dismissed, but are now in the service of King Charles III. They are now called “Ladies of the Household” and are supposed to support the king at receptions in Buckingham Palace.
So Camilla hands over the Queen’s “loyal friends” to Charles. They are now housemaids instead of ladies-in-waiting.