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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider published a database of 1,133 positions in the <keyword id="12307488" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-household" source="Orion">royal household</keyword>.</li><li>Of these staff members, only a select few are in close contact with the Queen each day. </li></ul>From the Queen's butlers to her private secretary, <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-firm-royal-org-chart-who-works-for-queen-2022-01">the royal household</a> has at least 1,100 members.Of the many employees who work across various royal residences, tasked with keeping the monarchy operating at full speed, only a trusted few are in close contact with the Queen each day. There are those in senior positions, who oversee the day-to-day activities and ceremonial events at <keyword id="12002697" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="buckingham-palace" source="Orion">Buckingham Palace</keyword> — and then there are the Queen's private staff, her most trusted advisors.<h2>The Queen's private aides Angela Kelly and Paul Whybrew have the most pull</h2>The Page of the Backstairs, Paul Whybrew, and the Queen's dressmaker, Angela Kelly, are "the most powerful" of all the Queen's staff because they are the most trusted, <a href="https://www.insider.com/i-spent-an-afternoon-at-royal-butler-school-prince-charles-2021-4">former royal butler Grant Harrold</a> told Insider. <a href="https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen/the-queen-and-her-most-trusted-aide-tall-paul-quarantine-together-at-windsor-castle-139504/">Kelly and Whybrew even self-isolated with the Queen and Prince Philip</a> at Windsor Castle during the UK's first lockdown last year, Royal Central reports. <div type="image" title="Angela Kelly, Paul Whybrew" height="1500" width="2000" msid="89253335" hostid="261"></div>Harrold, who was employed by Prince Charles from 2004 until 2011, says he met both Kelly and Whybrew on several occasions during his time at the household.Both are discreet in their roles, Harrold said. The quality is essential when working for the Queen. Whybrew is the Queen's most senior male servant. His role as Page to the Queen is similar to a butler's role, and involves catering to her daily needs. The role dates back to the Stuart era, when <a href="https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/the-royal-household-pages-of-the-backstairs-39999/">the Pages — the most trusted servants — positioned themselves on the "backstairs" to the monarch's private apartments</a>, Royal Central explains.<a href="https://peoplepill.com/people/paul-whybrew">At 6 ft 4 inches</a>, Whybrew is known as "Taul Pall" to his friends, according to Harrold.Whybrew helped when <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-crown-michael-fagan-broke-into-queens-room-buckingham-palace-2020-11">intruder Michael Fagan broke into the Queen's bedroom</a> in Buckingham Palace in 1982, according to The Express, which reported that <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1122803/Queen-elizabeth-ii-royal-news-butler-saved-life-paul-whybrew-spt">Whybrew was able to get Fagan out of the room before police arrived</a>.Whybrew was also chosen to star alongside the Queen and Daniel Craig in a video for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics."You'd assume the private secretary is her right-hand man, but no — that's a professional relationship," Harrold said. "The private staff get to know her really well, on a more personal level, spending time in her living quarters."Kelly joined the royal household in 1994 as an assistant dresser to the Queen, before ultimately being promoted to personal advisor, curator, wardrobe and in-house designer. The designer was given permission from the monarch to detail her experiences in her <a href="https://www.insider.com/queen-elizabeth-angela-kelly-confessions-other-side-of-the-coin-2019-10">2019 memoir</a>, "The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe." <div type="image" title="Angela Kelly, Queen Elizabeth, and Anna Wintour at London Fashion Week 2018" height="1430" width="2000" msid="89253336" hostid="261"></div>"In those early years at Buckingham Palace, I remember feeling very aware that some people might look down at me," Kelly wrote in <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Y5MYFHR/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1">the book</a>. "I was, after all, from Liverpool and had a Scouse accent, not to mention that I was divorced with three children, and possibly not the ideal candidate to be working for The Queen."Kelly's modesty is what ultimately led her to become one of the Queen's most trusted aides. "Most people are never aware of how close she is to the Queen, because she's very discreet and down to earth," Harrold told Insider of Kelly."Some staff members become more 'royal' than royal. They have their tweed and their country sticks, and go shooting in Scotland. They think they're royal," Harrold said, adding that Kelly and Whybrew are "nothing like that.""They don't pretend to be something they're not," he added.<h2>The Queen's lady-in-waiting Susan Hussey doesn't get a salary, but she's one of the most influential people at the palace</h2>The Queen has eight ladies in waiting: one Lady of the Bedchamber and seven Women of the Bedchamber.These positions are unpaid and personally selected by the Queen to be close companions, accompany her during state visits, and carry essential items like combs, gloves, and tissues.Royal historian Marlene Koenig told Insider that the lack of salary isn't an issue to these women, who mostly come from wealthy aristocratic families.Ladies of the Bedchamber are usually peeresses. This means they are the wife or widow of a peer, <a href="https://www.debretts.com/expertise/essential-guide-to-the-peerage/what-is-the-peerage/">a male who holds an aristocratic title</a>. Meanwhile, Women of the Bedchamber are daughters of peers."To them, it's a privilege. Some of them have become good friends — Lady Susan Hussey, for example, is very close to the Queen," Koenig said.<div type="image" title="The Queen and her lady-in-waiting susan hussey" height="2957" width="2000" msid="89253338" hostid="261"></div>As Woman of the Bedchamber, Hussey is one of the Queen's longest serving ladies. Her role initially involved replying to letters after Prince Andrew's birth in 1960.She was granted more responsibility in the years that followed. Now 81, Hussey has influence over who joins the household.Hussey interviewed Kelly for the role of assistant dresser in 1994, the dressmaker wrote in her memoir. And <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/who-is-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey-prince-philip-funeral">she recommended Prince William and Prince Harry's longtime nanny</a>, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, for the job, Tatler reports.Hussey holds a high honor, as she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. The award, <a href="https://britishheritage.com/royals/kate-dame-grand-cross-royal-victorian-order">started by Queen Victoria</a> in 1896 to reward people who helped her as a monarch, is the highest rank that the Queen can issue, according to British Heritage. (The Duchess of Cambridge and the late Prince Philip are also recipients.)And Hussey is virtually part of the family herself, as godmother to Prince William, <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210417111253/the-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey/">Hello! Magazine</a><a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210417111253/the-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey/"> reports.</a> She also accompanied the Queen in her car to Philip's funeral in April, the publication added.<div type="image" title="Prince William ceremony" height="1696" width="1200" msid="89253339" hostid="261"></div><h2>Lord Chamberlain Andrew Parker planned Prince Philip's funeral weeks after he started</h2>Lord Andrew Parker is one of the royal household's most recent additions.Parker became the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/lord-parker-minsmere-kcb-appointed-lord-chamberlain">Lord Chamberlain</a> on April 1, the most senior member of the Lord Chamberlain's Office — which is responsible for all ceremonial and public events in the Queen's diary — and the household.<div type="image" title="Andrew Parker and Queen Elizabeth" height="1333" width="2000" msid="89253340" hostid="261"></div>While his role is only part-time, the Lord Chamberlain operates as "the Queen's voice," according to Harrold. Parker supervises all five household departments that report directly to the Queen, which include the Lord Chamberlain's office, the Private Secretary's office, Master of the Household's department, the Privy Purse and Treasurer's office, and the Royal Collection Trust.Parker's first major duty involved overseeing the planning of Prince Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel on April 17 — two weeks after he started. However, Koenig said that this likely wouldn't have phased Parker, who previously spent 37 years at MI5, Britain's counterintelligence and security agency, where he served as director general from 2013 to 2020."It's throwing your feet into the fire, but they all have this experience," Koenig said. "They don't find these people on LinkedIn or Jobs.com."Parker is also responsible for overseeing some events attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, future king and queen consort. For example, his staff organized the <a href="https://www.insider.com/photos-prince-philip-throne-removed-at-state-opening-of-parliament-2021-5">Queen, Prince Charles, and Camilla's appearance at the State Opening of Parliament</a> in May."The Lord Chamberlain has to know what's going on everywhere," Koenig said. "And the most important person he has to liaise with is the Prince of Wales. At a moment's notice, we could wake up and he could be king."

Meet the most powerful people in the Queen's orbit who keep the monarchy operating at full speed

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Lady Susan Hussey is more than the Queen's lady-in-waiting.</li><li>Hussey is a godmother to Prince William and a close friend to the monarch, reports say.</li></ul>The most powerful members of the <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-firm-royal-org-chart-who-works-for-queen-2022-01">Queen's royal household</a> don't necessarily have the most senior job titles.Lady Susan Hussey, 81, is one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, a role held by aristocrat women who act as personal assistants to the monarch.Hussey was initially hired to <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210417111253/the-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey/">respond to letters after Prince Andrew's birth</a> in 1960, according to Hello! Magazine, and has spent the past 60 years accompanying the monarch at official state events, where she rubs shoulders with celebrities, politicians, and royalty alike. <div type="image" title="state opening of parliament 2004" height="1960" width="3008" msid="89253332" hostid="261"></div>She has been photographed at the State Opening of Parliament, the formal start of the parliamentary year where the Queen reads a speech setting out the government's agenda for the coming months. She also accompanied the Queen in the car before Prince Philip's funeral, Hello! Magazine reports. While Hussey is one of eight Ladies-in-Waiting, she is reportedly known as the palace's <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/who-is-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey-prince-philip-funeral">"Number One Head Girl"</a> and has been described as "one of the key trusted figures helping the Queen in her later life," according to Tatler.<h2>The only catch? Hussey doesn't get paid a salary</h2>The role is considered a "huge honor" among aristocratic circles, according to Prince Charles' former butler Grant Harrold, who told Insider that it is given to women who are wealthy enough to afford to take the unpaid position.Harrold added that he would describe Hussey as a "friend" to the Queen rather than an employee because she doesn't get a salary. Hussey's official title is Woman of the Bedchamber, a title given to ladies-in-waiting who are peeresses, the wife or widow of a peer (a man with an aristocratic title).Hussey was married to the late Marmaduke Hussey, the Baron Hussey of North Bradley, who was also known as Lord Hussey. Lord Hussey was the chairman of the BBC when Princess Diana gave her "Panorama" interview in 1995, according to Tatler, and was the former chief executive and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/dec/27/pressandpublishing.broadcasting">managing director of Times Newspapers</a>, according to his obituary in The Guardian.He was knighted in 1996 and died in 2006, according to the obituary.<h2>As the Queen's close companion, Hussey is virtually part of the <keyword id="11893535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-family" source="Orion">royal family</keyword> herself</h2>Royal Historian Marlene Koenig told Insider that Hussey is "very close to the Queen."The 81-year-old's loyalty to the <keyword id="11893529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="royals" source="Orion">royals</keyword> goes behind her official duties. She is <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210417111253/the-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey/">godmother to the monarch's grandson, Prince William</a>, Hello! Magazine reports, and was in the official family photos at his christening ceremony.<div type="image" title="Prince William ceremony" height="1696" width="1200" msid="89253333" hostid="261"></div>Hussey holds a high honor, as she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. The award, <a href="https://britishheritage.com/royals/kate-dame-grand-cross-royal-victorian-order">started by Queen Victoria</a> in 1896 to reward people who helped her as a monarch, is the highest rank that the Queen can issue, according to British Heritage. The Duchess of Cambridge and the late Prince Philip are also recipients.And the monarch clearly trusts Hussey's judgment. The 81-year-old has influence over who joins the royal household.She interviewed the Queen's dressmaker Angela Kelly for the role of assistant dresser in 1994, Kelly wrote in her 2019 memoir, "The Other Side of the Coin." Kelly has worked for the Queen for 27 years and was given special permission from Her Majesty to write about their relationship in the book. <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/who-is-queen-lady-in-waiting-lady-susan-hussey-prince-philip-funeral">Hussey also recommended Prince William and Prince Harry's longtime nanny</a>, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, for the job, Tatler reports.

The Queen's lady-in-waiting doesn't get a salary. Here's why she's still one of the most powerful people at the palace.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The UK treasury determines an amount of public funding to give Queen Elizabeth's household each year.</li><li>The household's financial reports show the payout, known as the Sovereign Grant, swelled from £30 million in 2012 to £86.3 million in 2021.</li></ul>Public funding for <keyword id="11893534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="queen-elizabeth-ii" source="Orion">Queen Elizabeth II</keyword> and other senior members of the UK <keyword id="11893535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-family" source="Orion">royal family</keyword> has nearly tripled since 2012, according to an Insider analysis. The palace's annual financial disclosure reports showed that the amount of taxpayer money the <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-firm-royal-org-chart-who-works-for-queen-2022-01">royal household</a> took in swelled from £30 million in 2012 to £86.3 million ($116.6 million) for the fiscal year ending on March 31st, 2022.Since 2012, the annual public payout has been known as the Sovereign Grant. It covers the costs of the Queen's official duties and travel as head of state, as well as for some other senior <keyword id="11893529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="royals" source="Orion">royals</keyword>.The UK treasury determines an amount of public funds to funnel into the Sovereign Grant each year based on a percentage of the profits generated by the <a href="https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/en-gb/resources/faqs/">Crown Estate</a>, which is a series of assets, including property, that have passed from monarch to monarch for centuries but are owned by the state. As the Crown Estate is not the sovereign's private property, all of its revenues go into the public purse. An amount equal to 15% of those revenues is known as the "core" of the Sovereign Grant. According to Insider's analysis of the annual reports, the core grant has grown by 60% since 2012, and its year-over-year growth has outpaced inflation by at least £1 million for seven out of the past eight years. For fiscal year 2021-22, the treasury has set the core grant at £51.8 million.Since 2017, the UK treasury has topped off the core grant with additional funding to cover the costs of Buckingham Palace refurbishments at the royal household's request. With this temporary increase, the total Sovereign Grant is equal to 25% of Crown Estate revenues until 2027.A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that annual reports on the Sovereign Grant provide transparency on royal household operations. The royal household did not respond to Insider's detailed questions about the Sovereign Grant's growth over the last decade.The value of the Crown Estate's portfolio declined last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the most <a href="https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/en-gb/media-and-insights/news/the-crown-estate-announces-2693-million-net-revenue-profit-for-202021/">recent disclosures</a>, the estate reported a £269.3 million net profit on its revenue — a 21.9% decrease compared with the previous year. While the royal household has benefited from the estate's growth, it has been shielded from taking a hit during less prosperous periods.The treasury confirmed that the royal household wouldn't suffer any budget cuts as a result of those plummeting profits. "In the event of a reduction in the Crown Estate's profits in the reference year, the Sovereign Grant is set at the same level as the previous year," a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sovereign-grant-act-2011-guidance/sovereign-grant-act-2011-guidance">statement on its website says</a>. "The rules for the Sovereign Grant incorporate a 'golden ratchet,'" Graham Smith, a spokesperson for the anti-monarchy-campaign group Republic, told <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/18744825.taxpayers-bailout-queen-investments-plummet-coronavirus-crisis/">The National</a> in response to the treasury's announcement. "Once the grant goes up it can never come down, and the taxpayer loses out."According to the Sovereign Grant annual report, the royal household's gross expenditure was £96.9 million in the fiscal year ending on March 31st, 2021 — £7.3 million more than the previous year. Most of the spending increase was concentrated in property maintenance, where the household spent £49.5 million, including £2.6 million on "external redecorations" for Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.Other spending decreased in the 2020-21 fiscal year, including official travel expenses and housekeeping and hospitality. Staffing costs also decreased as the household implemented hiring and pay freezes.

Striking chart shows UK taxpayers foot a hefty bill for the Queen

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider published a database of 1,133 positions in the royal household, shedding light on one of the UK's most protected institutions.</li><li>The palace releases only select financial information and is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.</li></ul><keyword id="11893534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="queen-elizabeth-ii" source="Orion">Queen Elizabeth II</keyword> is among the most-watched people in the world, but the inner workings of her household are obscured by a web of legal exemptions and arcane privileges which make it difficult to see how it works. So Insider has compiled a <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-firm-royal-org-chart-who-works-for-queen-2022-01">searchable database</a> of 1,133 royal household positions that make up "the firm." Compiled entirely from publicly available sources, the database illustrates the massive scale of the British monarchy.The household is responsible for everything from cleaning the palaces to counting the Queen's swans.The database includes mysterious-sounding titles — such as fendersmith, carpet planner, and yeoman of the glass and china pantry — along with hundreds of workers in less glamorous roles who support the official business of the Queen.At the top of this vast workforce are an elite number of executives, in highly paid and influential positions, such as the Queen's private secretary.Insider spent months combing through the Crown's public announcements and job advertisements to compile the database, which demonstrates how unwieldy it is to get an accounting of the royal household that goes beyond top-line budget numbers.Although it produces an annual financial report that's audited independently, legal exemptions keep much of the household's inner workings — and their effect on the UK — shrouded in obscurity.In response to a detailed request for comment and a review of the database, Buckingham Palace spokesperson disputed its accuracy and clarity, without providing specifics.They said: "Details of employee [sic] paid by the Sovereign Grant are disclosed annually by The Royal Household in the Sovereign Grant Annual Report and Accounts, providing transparency and information on the wide range of roles within The Royal Household which support the official work and public duties of the <keyword id="11893535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-family" source="Orion">Royal Family</keyword>."It is disappointing to find glaring inaccuracies and outdated information being relied on for a series of ill-informed and baseless claims about the operations of The Royal Household." <h2>Where does the royal household's funding come from?</h2>The Queen draws on public funds to cover her official business as head of state. The UK government has been funding the sovereign since 1760; since 2012, the <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130129110402/http:/www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/leg_sovereign_grant_secondreading_140711.pdf">public payout</a> that subsidizes the Queen's official duties has been known as the Sovereign Grant. Each year, the UK treasury determines an amount of taxpayer pounds to pay into the Sovereign Grant, based on a percentage of the profits generated by the <a href="https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/en-gb/resources/faqs/">Crown Estate</a>.The estate includes land, property, and mineral reserves that have passed from monarch to monarch for centuries. But the Crown Estate isn't the Queen's private property, and it surrenders all its revenues to the treasury.In addition to covering the Queen's official costs, the Sovereign Grant funds some of the duties of senior <keyword id="11893529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="royals" source="Orion">royals</keyword>, such as Charles and Camilla, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall; and William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The grant also pays for the upkeep of occupied palaces, travel arrangements, and staffing and running the Queen's household.For 2020-21, the Sovereign Grant was equal to 25% of the Crown Estate's revenue, or £85.9 million ($116.1 million). That percentage was raised considerably in 2017, from 15%, after the royal household argued it needed to modernize and make urgent repairs to its palaces.<div type="image" title="Buckingham Palace" height="2499" width="5000" msid="89253346" hostid="261"></div>The royal household also generates income for one of its departments by opening up palaces to the public. That income took a hit after the pandemic began, with the royal household reporting a 53% loss — largely from loss of visitor income — in 2020-21."At the moment, people are feeling a bit sorry for the palace because they've got a big black hole in their pocket due to COVID," David McClure, the author of "The Queen's True Worth," told <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/royal-family-could-take-35m-hit-because-of-covid-19-as-figures-reveal-familys-most-expensive-trips-12080887">Sky News</a> when losses were first projected early in the pandemic."But one should equally remember that in the last nine years, the Sovereign Grant has really gone up and up and up," he added. "It's actually gone up by two-thirds in the last nine years and if you look at inflation, inflation has only gone up 20%, so they really have had a rise in income in the last decade or so."<h2>'It's an opaque institution'</h2>In its annual report on the Sovereign Grant, the royal household presents itself in terms familiar to any corporate employer, and it volunteers some key data.Its accounts are vetted annually by an independent body and can come under political scrutiny via a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, which last reviewed them in 2014.Despite the modern tone of its self-reporting, the royal household has made extraordinary efforts to excuse itself from the scrutiny that other UK institutions undergo. In successive legislation since the early 2000s, the royal household has secured for itself complete exemption<a href="https://www.royal.uk/freedom-information"> from Freedom of Information requests</a>, <a href="https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2011/03/royalty-free-freedom-of-information/">as Index on Censorship</a> reported. "As a consequence, what we know about this fascinating and hugely significant part of the British state still consists mostly of reheated gossip, self-interested briefings from a range of current and former royal flunkeys, and tabloid revelations," professor Philip Murphy, the director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at London University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-royal-family-can-learn-from-mi5-about-secrecy-45023">wrote</a>. Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic, a group that advocates eliminating the monarchy, told Insider that the household's self-reporting didn't go deep enough. "The finance report misses an awful lot of costs," he said. As an example, he said the household only itemizes its travel spending when the cost of a trip tops £15,000 ($20,500). "It simply doesn't measure up to the scrutiny that you would get elsewhere," he continued. "If it's an NHS trust, for example, if they feel they have misspent money, or if their standards are slipping, there'll be consequences."He added, "But if it's the royal household, nothing.""It's an opaque institution," he said. <h2>An employer exempt from discrimination law — and with the privilege to vet those laws</h2>There are even more gray areas when it comes to the royal household's employment practices. Its <a href="https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media/sovereign_grant_report_2020-2021_0.pdf">2020-21 Sovereign Grant report</a> showed that senior roles are largely held by men. Ethnic minorities make up 8.5% of its workforce — compared to about 13% of the UK population. The report gave no breakdown of how those employees are distributed across senior positions. These disclosures are entirely voluntary. An investigation by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/02/buckingham-palace-banned-ethnic-minorities-from-office-roles-papers-reveal'">The Guardian</a> in June found that the royal household is exempt from race and sex discrimination laws.The paper also found that, back when the palace made the case for that exemption in 1968 — when the UK's fledgling Race Relations Act was under review — its reasoning was that it was "not, in fact, the practice" to employ people of color in office roles at the time. <div type="image" title="A side view of several Yeomen of the Guard in full red regalia at a royal event. One man peers sideways." height="1000" width="2000" msid="89253347" hostid="261"></div>Buckingham Palace told the paper that it now has its own process for complaints of discrimination, but it didn't elaborate.The 2020-21 Sovereign Grant report said the royal household aims to be a "best in class" employer for diverse applicants, "appointed on merit." The Public and Commercial Services Union, which said it represents a number of royal household workers, said the exemption was "a relic of the past and must be reversed.""The public sector should be leading the way on equality duties, and the royal household should be no exception, particularly given its historical and cultural significance with many in the country," a PCS spokesperson told Insider.Historically, the royal household has also exercized unique rights over legislation that might affect its workings.<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent">The Guardian reported</a> that more than 1,000 draft laws have come under the Queen's consent. This is a little-known privilege that allows the royal household to examine bills for any issues that might affect royal workings before they are debated in Parliament. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/742221/Queen_s_and_prince_s_consent_pamphlet__September_2018___accessible_.pdf">Government guidance to ministers on the procedure</a>, dating back to 2018, discusses at least three draft bills where the royal household's employment practices justified invoking the Queen's consent. It's unclear whether the palace lobbied for any changes to the bills.Grant Harrold, who served as Prince Charles' butler for seven years, said he relished his work for the royal family. But he believed transparency was key to seeing the institution he loved continue past Elizabeth's reign."There's a lot of admiration, there's a lot of time for the Queen. And when she's gone, that will go," he said. "And they will be scrutinized, and they will be questioned: 'Is it worth having a royal family? Is it worth the money?'"He added, "And these questions will come up, and they have to get it right."

Why Insider is publishing a database of positions in the Queen's household, one of the least-scrutinized parts of British public life

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider analyzed advertised pay rates for 503 jobs in the palace — information normally exempt from public-records requests.</li><li>The royal household appears to have abandoned an ambition to pay its staff at a living wage in recent years.</li></ul>In 2015, a Buckingham Palace insider signaled that the Queen would begin paying her staff a living wage that reflected the true cost of living for UK residents. "Queen to pay the Living Wage to servants,"<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3085742/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Queen-pay-Living-Wage-servants.html"> read the Daily Mail headline</a>. A review of the royal household's public accounts of its spending and an analysis of advertised pay rates suggest that while the palace is mostly meeting that goal, a large chunk of workers are getting the bare minimum.Insider identified 503 jobs at the royal household with pay rates advertised between 2015 and 2021. Ten of those positions advertised salaries starting below the living wage recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. A further 274 positions advertised pay within pennies of that rate.Former staffers for various members of the royal family; a spokesperson for the staff union, the Public and Commercial Services Union; and others told Insider that workers tolerate the low pay because they have immense pride in working for the monarchy. "Our members take pride in their work," the PCS Union told Insider. "But as a culturally significant institution in the public consciousness, the royal household should be leading the way on good pay and working conditions."The Living Wage Foundation, an influential nonprofit formed in 2011, calculates a minimum wage needed to support the true cost of living in the UK. UK companies have widely adopted its model wage benchmark, which is higher than the legally required minimum wage.In 2015, the royal household's public account of its spending in the annual Sovereign Grant report said it "aspires to offer London and Regional Living wage as a minimum." In 2021, the foundation's benchmark was £10.85 an hour (about $14.50) in London and £9.50 (about $12.75) in the rest of the country."The Queen pays in a very tight-fisted way," Norman Baker, author of "And What Do You Do? What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know," told Insider. "It's been apparent to me for some time that when [job] adverts come up that they are not advertised at a generous salary," he said. "It's just shocking that one of the richest people in the world pays some of the lowest wages."Baker is a former Liberal Democrat minister and <a href="https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/privy-council/privy-council-members/#b">member of the Privy Council</a>, a large group of current and former lawmakers that advises the Queen on royal prerogative. There, he says, his advice is "to pay people properly."<h2>'Just about paying the living wage isn't the standard we ought to expect from our head of state'</h2>In addition, the palace benefited from Windsor Castle's location when it comes to paying staff. The castle is within walking distance of the London city limit. Windsor borough is one of the wealthiest and most expensive towns. But because Windsor is technically outside of London, the palace may pay the lower regional wage. "They have a huge amount of money, an endless amount of money, really," said Graham Smith, a spokesperson for Republic, a group that campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy. "They are quite capable of leading in terms of paying people a living wage at the very least and make sure that people are well-paid for what they do.""These people are working in, living in London, or just on the outskirts of London, an expensive place to live … You would think that they would be leaders on this issue and pay comfortably over that [the living wage] and reward people properly for the work they do, which I imagine can be fairly demanding given the people that they're working for." In response to Insider's extensive request for comment, a spokesperson for the royal household said, "It is disappointing to find glaring inaccuracies and outdated information being relied on for a series of ill-informed and baseless claims about the operations of The Royal Household."The palace declined to specify the matters it considered inaccurate or outdated. <h2>The palace's staffing practices are shielded from the Freedom of Information Act </h2>It's nearly impossible to produce an overview of the royal household's staffing practices, which are <a href="https://www.royal.uk/freedom-information">exempt from UK Freedom of Information Act requests</a>. Based on available public records, such as job advertisements and official announcements, Insider compiled — in one place, for the very first time — a <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-firm-royal-org-chart-who-works-for-queen-2022-01">searchable database of 1,133 positions</a> in the royal household.Insider's database includes posted salaries for top aides like the Queen's private secretary and the keeper of the privy purse, as well as advertised salaries for hundreds of much humbler positions.Most of the Queen's official business is funded by taxpayers' money.The grant totaled £85.9 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31st, 2021. It covers things like palace repairs, royal travel, and staffing the royal household. (It does not cover staffing for other working <keyword id="11893529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="royals" source="Orion">royals</keyword> like Prince Charles, Prince William, and Kate, but it does fund some of their official business, such as trips abroad.) <h2>The palace has stopped talking about the living wage</h2>Every year, the royal household issues an annual spending report, and since 2014 that report has taken a progressively weaker line on paying a living wage.Sovereign Grant reports for 2013-14 and 2014-15 said the palace offered "London and Regional Living wage as a minimum to staff" and included a commitment to pay at the market median. There was an exception for staff who were provided housing. But the 2015-16 report said only that the household "aspires to offer London and Regional Living wage as a minimum to staff." Mention of a living wage disappeared in the 2016-17 report, and even meeting the market median was framed as an aspiration.<h2>What the Queen actually pays her workers</h2>So Insider looked at the palace's help-wanted ads to see what the Queen pays her workers — from those who scrub the palace fireplaces to those charged with washing the dishes after a royal banquet. The palace appears to have made some progress in paying a living wage:<ul><li>23% of the jobs were advertised at or below the living wage.</li><li>19% of regional jobs were advertised at or below the living wage.</li><li>27.7% of London positions were advertised at or below the living wage.</li></ul>The London Living Wage would be the equivalent of about £21,000 a year. Median annual pay for all full-time UK employees was £31,285 in 2021.The PCS Union, which represents some palace workers, told Insider that many of its members' pay rates at the household were "far too low."The Living Wage Foundation says it's confirmed that <a href="https://www.livingwage.org.uk/accredited-living-wage-employers">more than 9,000 companies</a> operating in the UK, including Nestlé, Burberry and Ikea, pay the living wage it recommends. But a foundation spokesperson said the royal household was not among them.The royal household has never spoken to the foundation, the foundation's director, Katherine Chapman, said. She told Insider she would be "delighted" if the palace were interested in committing to paying its living wage. <h2>A castle among multimillionaires</h2>Of the 503 royal roles Insider looked at, 171 were at Windsor Castle. The 1,000-room castle, which sits on 13 acres, is in one of the priciest boroughs in the country. But its location just outside of Greater London allows the palace to pay the foundation's Regional Living Wage, which in 2021 was £1.35 lower than the London living wage. Yet you'd need deep pockets to afford to live there."Windsor may not technically be in London, but it is to all intents and purposes part of that region that is a very expensive place to live," said Smith, the Republic campaigner.In 2019 Windsor was the UK's richest town, housing 250 multimillionaires, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverwilliams1/2019/11/15/these-are-the-uk-towns-and-cities-where-the-wealthiest-live/?sh=5a2090471055">according to the research firm New World Wealth</a>. Many residents would surely love to send their children to nearby Eton College, where William and Prince Harry were educated. The real-estate company Zoopla included Windsor in the 15 most expensive UK towns to buy a home in. Insider identified 119 jobs at Windsor Castle with advertised pay rates in 2018 that were no more than 15 pence (about $0.20) above the regional living wage of £8.75 an hour that year.Eighty-two percent of the jobs in Windsor were advertised with pay within pennies of the Regional Living Wage. A job listing for an admissions assistant at Windsor Castle in 2019, for example, was advertised at £9.45 an hour. If the castle were in London, five miles to the east, the position might have paid about £2 more an hour."Just about paying the living wage isn't the standard we ought to expect from our head of state," said Smith, the spokesperson for Republic.No-one gets rich on the Living Wage. It is designed to represent the minimum needed to cover living costs, but not much more. "The real Living Wage covers all the everyday needs of living – household bills, rent/mortgage payments, travel, food – as well as a little extra to cover for unexpected costs – a broken boiler, a new winter coat for a child," said a spokesperson for the Living Wage Foundation.<h2>Watering down a commitment to paying the living wage</h2>In opening up palaces to the public, the royal household employs hundreds of people in hourly low-wage positions, such as retail assistants, ticket-sales and information assistants, and visitor assistants.Insider's analysis found:<ul><li>Five positions at the Royal Collection Trust were advertised with salary rates starting below the living wage, all advertised at £18,500 or less. </li><li>Another 255 roles at the Royal Collection Trust were advertised at 45 pence or less above the living wage.</li></ul><ul><li>Five Buckingham Palace positions funded by the Sovereign Grant — that is, taxpayers' money — were advertised with salaries starting at less than £19,000, below the living wage.</li></ul>Some palace positions — such as kitchen porters, palace attendants, and housekeepers — are advertised as including housing or meals "for which there is a salary adjustment." Two former senior staffers for Prince Charles — Grant Harrold, a former butler, and Carolyn Robb, a former executive chef — told Insider that their jobs paid lower than comparable jobs outside the royal household. A former live-in staff member, Harrold said shifts were often long. "Because you were on duty," he said, "you were fed, you were watered, you were warm, you were comfortable" — a situation he said allowed him to save money. <h2>Senior aides are compensated handsomely</h2>While most hourly-wage positions in Insider's database were advertised at or below the living wage, the salaried roles appeared to be paid above the benchmark and offer benefits like pensions.Insider's database shows that higher-paid jobs in the royal household are in areas like accounting, human resources, and executive retail. Salaries for these generally white-collar jobs start at about £40,000 and top out at £190,000 for senior positions. The Sovereign Grant report says salaries for the household's six directorate positions — the lord chamberlain, the comptroller of the lord chamberlain's office, the keeper of the privy purse and treasurer to the Queen, the private secretary to the Queen, the master of the household, and the director of the Royal Collection Trust — are benchmarked against the UK's senior-civil-service pay scales.<h2>You might get to share a joke with the Queen </h2>None of the palace workers who fall under the PCS Union were willing to answer Insider's questions about their working conditions. The PCS Union spokesperson told Insider that members were "subject to stricter than usual contracts and NDAs."But former higher-level employees emphasized that some royal-household employees accepted their lower pay because of the perceived privilege and historic significance of working at a royal palace.Baker, the former minister, said there is an "attitude that people should be grateful for being in the same place as the royal family, and that they should be prepared to work for a very low wage just for the sheer honor of being there."Richard Fitzwilliams, a longtime royal commentator and journalist, told Insider that genuine reverence for the royal family means that for many, the job comes with an "actual gut feeling of loyalty.""The point is you do have a lot of people who would be prepared to work for less for something that they very, very definitely believe in," he added.In her 2019 memoir, Angela Kelly, the Queen's <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/queen-elizabeth-ii-royal-dresser-book">stylist and dresser</a>, described playing practical jokes on the Queen and — because they happen to have the same-size feet — even breaking in the monarch's shoes. Robb, the former chef, told Insider over email that despite the lower pay "it was the job that I wanted above all others." She said she had other benefits "which made it very worthwhile for me."Harrold, the former butler, told Insider that many roles are an impeccable boost to the résumé — he can likely be a butler anywhere on the planet now.Working for the monarchy also provides unique experiences. Harrold said that when he gives talks about his former work, people are "literally gasping and laughing and crying" when he reveals he's danced with the Queen.Baker disagrees with this mindset. "Well, more fool them," he says. "Why should they take a small sacrifice in their salary to serve some of the richest people in the world?"

People who work for the Queen are often poorly paid, palace wage data shows

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2051573">Geograph.Org.UK via Google Images</a></div></div></div>FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.<a href="http://www.fa-mag.com/news/fiserv--nearly-half-of-u-s--households-say-they-can-t-access-advice-26632.html?section=43">Nearly half of Americans think they have no access to financial advice</a> (FA Magazine)A new report from Fiserv, a Brookfield, Wisc.-based financial services provider, found that nearly half of US households said they don't have anyone to rely on for financial advice.Moreover, about one-third of respondents said they receive conflicting advice on how to manage their money, reports Christopher Robbins.<a href="http://www.financial-planning.com/news/can-advisors-get-clients-to-invest-rationally">Shopping at a mall is closer to investing than you think</a> (Financial Planning)It's easy to let your emotions get the best of you when the market swings wildly. Very easy. As such, Jonathan Clements and Frances McMorris detailed several strategies investors can use to help their clients think rationally about the market.One particularly notable strategy they describe is telling the clients to think like shoppers at a mall, who usually buy things when there are crazy sales. Although the analogy isn't perfect, they note that when stocks fall, people generally pull out of the market. "Your clients, by contrast, probably plan to hold their stocks for at least a decade and often far longer," the duo writes. "Today's worries will be long forgotten by the time they need to sell, and any short-term market decline should be viewed not as a cause for worry, but rather as a chance to buy at cheaper prices."<a href="https://www.dbresearch.com/">The median 401(k) balance is kind of misleading</a> (Deutsche Bank)In a recent note to clients, Deutsche Bank's chief international economist, Torsten Sløk, pointed out that the median balance in 401(k) accounts, $18,000, is significantly lower than actual retirement savings for US households. To illustrate that, he shared a chart showing the median 401(k) balance for people in their 50s, broken down by salary, as of 2014.Those older workers, who are closer to actually retiring, are in somewhat better shape than the younger workers dragging down the overall median balance. Sløk also noted that workers hold an average of 12 jobs from ages 18 to 48, with half of these jobs before their 25th birthday, according to BLS data. This suggests, writes Sløk, that people may have as many as six 401(k) accounts."That being said," he added, "retirement savings are too low in almost all OECD countries, including the US."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Deutsche Bank</div></div></div><a href="http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20160428/BLOG16/160429928/an-open-letter-to-a-broken-industry">Make the financial advisory industry great again</a> (InvestmentNews)"People are disillusioned [with the financial advisory industry], and they think we win even if our clients lose. The sad irony is that people don't trust us, yet we live in a world where they need our help more than ever," writes Joe Duran, CEO and founding partner of United Capital, in an op-ed for InvestmentNews.As such, Duran proposes a few things that will "get us all on the right track," including getting comfortable with telling people the uncomfortable truths, helping clients with what really matters, and simplifying.<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-29/royal-bank-names-jefferies-s-armstrong-to-lead-u-s-wealth-unit">RBC picks up Jefferies Group's Armstrong to head its US wealth management team</a> (Bloomberg)Royal Bank of Canada announced that Jefferies Group's Michael Armstrong will lead its US wealth-management business, reports Doug Alexander. Armstrong, who has been the global head of wealth management at Jefferies since 2014, will start later this year.RBC is Canada's largest lender by assets. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drones-for-wedding-photography-2016-2">Drones are the next wedding trend</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lxeTdkeDoUlFT_WfJLHUCeaq_L8Uy4kv" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "royal org chart" and got 7 results

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