Redundancies for King Charles’s staff during mourning period ‘heartless’, says union
A civil service trade union has criticised the decision for King Charles’s staff to be given redundancy notices during the period of mourning as “nothing short of heartless”.
The Guardian reported on Monday that up to 100 employees at the King’s former official residence, including some who have worked there for decades, received notification that they could lose their jobs following his accesssion to the throne.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), said: “While some changes across the households were to be expected, as roles across the royal family change, the scale and speed at which this has been announced is callous in the extreme. Least of all because we do not know what staffing the incoming Prince of Wales and his family might need.
He added that the union, which represents some palace workers, was working to ensure staff have “full job security”, and that it continued to support other royal staff concerned that their “futures are thrown into turmoil by this announcement at this already difficult time”.
Clarence House staff are not currently believed to have a recognised union available to them.
Clarence House, located next to St James’s Palace in central London, is the official London residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. King Charles’s and Camilla’s offices will move to Buckingham Palace after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and staff had expected to be transferred.
Some people in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace on Monday night were shocked at the Guardian’s revelations about the handling of redundancies at Clarence House.
The podiatrist Christhell Hobbs, 57, a regular attender at royal events, said: “I think it’s sad. They have families they
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