Staff of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 1: Ending Sep 2022


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The way I've started to look at it is that we all employ someone from time to time to do jobs either we cannot do ourselves or do not have time for. We have quite a number of tall trees and hedges in our garden, so I employ a tree surgeon twice a year to prune them. Technically, I have the time to do it myself, could quite easily do it myself, but would rather pay someone else to do it for me.
I, like millions of other people employ/pay for a personal hairdresser to cut my hair once a month. A new company has set up in my local area who deep clean ovens and kitchens - I'm thinking on employing them once a year too!
A private car (usually a posh Mercedes or Lexus) and chauffeur comes to pick me up if I'm going out and want to drink from time to time (it's called a taxi/cab).
When you come to think of it, we all pay for someone to do something for us all the time and I see no difference to royalty doing so on a more regular basis! So the Guardian woman can put her views up her jumper for all I care!
 
Empress Jo said:
Today--Oct.10, Cdn time--I carried out my usual monthly check-in with The Guardian; I follow the old adage that it is wise to keep your friends close and your enemies closer--and ran across an article by Tanya Gold, rabid republican, in which she stated categorically that, and I quote--

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge now employ a butler, a valet, and a nanny. End of quote.

Tanya somehow managed to overlook Antonella.

My question is, is there any truth to her assertion? I do hope so; IMO, the Duke is about as high maintenance as they come, and with a baby, a huge new apartment, another house to decorate, Anmer Hall, up-coming events, God knows the Duchess could use the help.
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Why should they not have an appropriate level of staff for their household if they can afford it? The household is not funded from public funds, so it is of no concern of ours. If anything, in the purest sense, this is job creation, which can only be helpful at this stage of the economic recovery.
 
Jacknch. Agree. I too employ help, on a regular basis, in the garden and in snow removal. Do wish that more UK citizens would speak out and admit the same; this WK bashing is reaching never-before-seen levels of foolishness. WK are doing nothing that a reasonably well-heeled anyone would not do. I sense no extravagance.

@Muriel. Quite correct, sort of. The difficulty arises because it is Charles, I assume, who pays WKs staff--it IS his responsibility--but, in the eyes of British republicans, Charleses wealth, which derives from the Duchy of Cornwall, amounts to ill-gotten gains. In sum, Charles is a robber-baron, a thief, and by association, so are WK. And yet, by past royal standards, WK are leading a rather spartan life which is reflected in the size of their staff.
 
Empress Jo said:
@Muriel. Quite correct, sort of. The difficulty arises because it is Charles, I assume, who pays WKs staff--it IS his responsibility--but, in the eyes of British republicans, Charleses wealth, which derives from the Duchy of Cornwall, amounts to ill-gotten gains. In sum, Charles is a robber-baron, a thief, and by association, so are WK. And yet, by past royal standards, WK are leading a rather spartan life which is reflected in the size of their staff.
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You can never argue with ignorance. If those who criticise do not understand the set up of the Duchy, then there is little point in reasoning.
 
@Muriel. Sympathize with your point-of-view, but disagree. There is a clear need to refute the arguments of republicans, intelligently, and without unnecessary hostility.

Unhappily, I know very little about the workings of the Duchy of Cornwall, and hence, am not yet in a position to debate the claims of republicans.

This is so off-topic. I can only reiterate that from my long-distance lens, WK are inordinately thrifty, as royals go, and not just in matters of staff.
 
The duchy of Cornwall was set up in the 1300s to provide an income for the heir to the throne so it isn't some recent land grab by greedy royals to screw the people over.

I agree that Cambridges live frugally compared to other rich people such as footballer and actors.
 
Empress Jo said:
@Muriel. Sympathize with your point-of-view, but disagree. There is a clear need to refute the arguments of republicans, intelligently, and without unnecessary hostility.

Unhappily, I know very little about the workings of the Duchy of Cornwall, and hence, am not yet in a position to debate the claims of republicans.

This is so off-topic. I can only reiterate that from my long-distance lens, WK are inordinately thrifty, as royals go, and not just in matters of staff.
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I completely agree that the best way to refute is to put forward a cogent, well thought through argument. I also accept that my previous post on the topic was offhand and flippant.

That said, there are no complex arrangements in place in relation to the Duchy of Cornwall. simply put, it is a pot of money (cash, land holdings etc) that provides income for the Duke of Cornwall. The incumbent holder of the title has rights over the income, but cannot take any capital. The Duchy is run professionally. There are no public funds at all. It does not take an awful lot to work out that there is no great conspiracy at play here. Charles' lifestyle, and those of his family, are not funded publicly.
 
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Skippyboo. When do we go so off-topic that our posts are removed? Must say that the date you mentioned blew me away.

However, my concern re the Duchy is more modern. Are the finances transparent and above-board? And if not, why not? I am clueless in such matters, except to note that several other extremely rich and high-ranking families, the Westminsters and the Northumberlands spring to mind, seem to escape the scrutiny applied to the Windsors. Don't know why.

Do think that WK are getting an undeserved raw deal, re staff, re everything, esp in the DM.--Imagine my horror when I read--have forgotten where--that the Mail was the third most-read paper in the world, thanx to the internet. This makes this odious paper a force to be reckoned with.
 
Muriel, had no intention of ignoring your post; I happen to be a slow typist, so we missed each other. My reply to Skippyboo pretty much sums up my views.
 
Empress Jo said:
Skippyboo. When do we go so off-topic that our posts are removed? Must say that the date you mentioned blew me away.

However, my concern re the Duchy is more modern. Are the finances transparent and above-board? And if not, why not? I am clueless in such matters, except to note that several other extremely rich and high-ranking families, the Westminsters and the Northumberlands spring to mind, seem to escape the scrutiny applied to the Windsors. Don't know why.

Do think that WK are getting an undeserved raw deal, re staff, re everything, esp in the DM.--Imagine my horror when I read--have forgotten where--that the Mail was the third most-read paper in the world, thanx to the internet. This makes this odious paper a force to be reckoned with.
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Empress Jo said:
Muriel, had no intention of ignoring your post; I happen to be a slow typist, so we missed each other. My reply to Skippyboo pretty much sums up my views.
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The Price of Wales does make voluntary disclosures in relation to the financial affairs Duchy of Cornwall. Personally, I see no reason for any such disclosures. The income from the Duchy is the private income of the Prince. There are no public funds involved there. Everything is "above -board".
 
If interested about Duchy of Cornwall, it has a website www.duchyofcornwall.org. There is a section about finances.

I think the stories about Charles having a toothpaste squeezer guy and taking his own toilet seat give the impression of an extravagant lifestyle of royalty.
 
Skippyboo said:
If interested about Duchy of Cornwall, it has a website www.duchyofcornwall.org. There is a section about finances.

I think the stories about Charles having a toothpaste squeezer guy and taking his own toilet seat give the impression of an extravagant lifestyle of royalty.
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The story about the tooth pasted squeezer and traveling with his own toilet seat came from the fellow in charge of both..his valet. Who related the story in his book of not only the toothpaste squeezer, but of being sent by private jet to retrieve the $2 devise when it as inadvertently left behind. There is also the fact that while everyone else's staffing numbers have gone down, Charles' have gone way up with essential minions, such as a full time harpist.
 
Hard to dispute your examples, Skippyboo; they certainly made the news in Canada.

Thanx for the website; learning is always a pleasure.
 
The full story of Charles having his valet squeeze the toothpaste on his brush is that his (Charles') arm was in a cast at the time, and he was having difficulty squeezing the toothpaste with one arm out of commission. It isn't like he has a special valet who is Squeezer of Toothpaste.

The story of his taking his own toilet seat with him when he travels is probably true, but it's not out of the ordinary. In fact, any time the Queen visits a facility, they must provide accommodations with at least one new toilet seat, just in case.

I'm not so sure Charles' staff think of themselves as "minions".

I suppose all of this is way off-topic, anyway.... :)
 
I know off topic (sorry mods) but some of these PoW stories are frankly misleading. Take the full-timne harpist. She does not play the harp full time for the PoW. This was a revival of a tradition of having Welsh harpists, which was the first time the post has been occupied since it was last granted to John Thomas in 1871 by Queen Victoria.

The harp is an important national instrument in Wales, and although the role of Official Harpist was discontinued during the reign of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales restored the position in 2000 in order to foster and encourage young musical talent in Wales and the UK and to raise the profile of the harp as an instrument.

So it isn't personal to him - its for Wales.

The current harpist Hannah Stone has her own musical career but plays at the National Eisteddfod.

National Eisteddfod of Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
muriel said:
The Price of Wales does make voluntary disclosures in relation to the financial affairs Duchy of Cornwall. Personally, I see no reason for any such disclosures. The income from the Duchy is the private income of the Prince. There are no public funds involved there. Everything is "above -board".
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I think it should be added also that Charles also pays taxes on the income. I believe its voluntarily done.

I find it interesting in discussing the Duchy of Cornwall, Charles' household and his staff as we can start to see how things can somehow get turned around, upside down and exaggerated (such as the full time harpist).

William and Kate will have to have staff. Period. We've seen their court moved from St. James over to Kensington Palace. As time goes by, this couple not only will be having functions that require a chef, wait staff and definitely a full time nanny but also have little to no time to actually cook, clean and wash for themselves. I can imagine that Kate will want to do it herself when cooking for herself and Will but when you're hosting a dinner for 10 or 20 or 30, the cooking, cleaning and preparation it a monumental undertaking. Kate's job of managing a household is an occupation in itself and it used to be a requisite field of study for young aristocratic women who would eventually marry and have to manage a "pile". :D

It seems that they are slowly adding onto their staff as the need presents itself. The Duchy of Cornwall through the Prince of Wales financially backs these employments. As Will and Kate take on more and more responsibilities, they are going to need loyal and trustworthy people to back them up and it seems that what they have so far is working.
 
cinrit said:
The full story of Charles having his valet squeeze the toothpaste on his brush is that his (Charles') arm was in a cast at the time, and he was having difficulty squeezing the toothpaste with one arm out of commission. It isn't like he has a special valet who is Squeezer of Toothpaste.

The story of his taking his own toilet seat with him when he travels is probably true, but it's not out of the ordinary. In fact, any time the Queen visits a facility, they must provide accommodations with at least one new toilet seat, just in case.

I'm not so sure Charles' staff think of themselves as "minions".

I suppose all of this is way off-topic, anyway.... :)
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According to Stephen Barry the valet , he squeezed the toothpaste every day, not just when C broke his arm. He also had the delightful task of holding the bottle while C peed into it for some test. That strikes me as being overstaffed! ;-D
 
scooter said:
According to Stephen Barry the valet , he squeezed the toothpaste every day, not just when C broke his arm. He also had the delightful task of holding the bottle while C peed into it for some test. That strikes me as being overstaffed! ;-D
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Only if you believe the story
 
scooter said:
According to Stephen Barry the valet , he squeezed the toothpaste every day, not just when C broke his arm. He also had the delightful task of holding the bottle while C peed into it for some test. That strikes me as being overstaffed! ;-D
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From what I understand, Berry was very much Charles' right hand man and did a lot of everything for the Prince. IIRC, when Charles married, Diana felt that Berry was a little too close and felt that some of the things he did were rightfully hers such as laying out clothes etc. If I am not mistaken, he was one of the staff that Diana insisted on being let go.

Even the Queen, in the morning, has her lady in waiting that comes in with her breakfast and newspapers and most likely draws her bath.

Their close personal staff may seem to do menial tasks that most of us wouldn't consider having done for us, but they also do much, much more in keeping their days and things well organized. When sometimes a schedule for an entire day is planned almost right down to the minute, it would be almost impossible of a schedule to keep if it wasn't for their backup staff.
 
Osipi said:
From what I understand, Berry was very much Charles' right hand man and did a lot of everything for the Prince. IIRC, when Charles married, Diana felt that Berry was a little too close and felt that some of the things he did were rightfully hers such as laying out clothes etc. If I am not mistaken, he was one of the staff that Diana insisted on being let go.
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I always thought that laying out clothes is valet's job (if you have a valet).
 
Spheno said:
I always thought that laying out clothes is valet's job (if you have a valet).
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It usually is. The valet also takes care of the wardrobe and gets repairs done that need it, makes sure them 40+ year old shoes Charles has are in good shape and well polished. I would imagine too that he would go over the day's itinerary and match the clothes accordingly. He would know what time Charles needed to arise to get ready for the day, what time he needed to leave, when after a long day he'd need a hot toddy. All those little things. It really is a full time job.

I imagine these are the things that William's valet does along with various other things as the need arises.

I'll know more in a week or so. This topic got me interested enough to order Stephen Berry's "Royal Service, My 12 Years As Prince Charles' Valet". :D
 
scooter said:
According to Stephen Barry the valet , he squeezed the toothpaste every day, not just when C broke his arm. He also had the delightful task of holding the bottle while C peed into it for some test. That strikes me as being overstaffed! ;-D
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Which of Stephen Barry's book was that in? I don't remember reading that.
ETA: I just checked and I don't see it in either of Mr. Barry's books. If you do find it (which I doubt), please be kind enough to supply the page number. As we know, Mr. Barry died in 1986 and those particular stories didn't surface until after 1992. Of course, it is easy to put words in the mouth of a dead man.
 
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Thank you............that is a great comment................you gave me a huge laugh and my dog barked at me when I did. Some other people on other sights should read your comment and maybe then they would learn something. Great insight! Oh, I do agree with you totally agree with you 100%
 
The story about the tooth paste was written in the book also Prince Philip's male servant does the same for him even place his bedroom slippers in a certain way at his bed. Queen Victoria's babies nannies were not allowed to sit while feeding them;they had to stand. King Henry V111 had a special servant cleaned him after he was finish using the lavotory from his birth to his death. The Royal family of Russia and the aristocrats had their servants bath their faces even when they were grown men and women. This is no tale nor laughing matter it is the truth. The by-gone ages have many true stories to tell.
 
AdmirerUS said:
It was pretty canny to ask for Nanny Webb's help - even for 3 months. They were able to tap a known helper during the delicate period of Baptism, 1st Christmas when discretion and safety were at a premium. It gave them extra time to look for a longer term solution. And to vet that longer term solution. :p
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I'm not surprised that there will be a new nanny for the long Australian trip. If they choose one now then she and George can get to know each other before the trip.
 
:previous: Why do I think it is more likely to be two? There are 24 hours in a day and when they are on Tour the schedule includes both day and evening engagements.

If they had a late night, Nanny gets George up bathed, dressed and fed, then along comes Mum and Dad to spend some quality time then off they go. They may return for lunch but I doubt there would be much time to play and so will return in the late afternoon and spend more time with George then it's off to dress for dinner.

I am sure that after the evening's engagement they are going to want to check on George and somehow I don't think a dead to the world Nanny quite fits the situation. And these days being a Nanny is not a 24/7 job. They get to have a real life just like everyone else.
 
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