(NewsNation) — Multiple gardeners working for King Charles at one of his royal residences have left their positions over low pay and poor working conditions, according to reports.
Since March 2022, 11 of 12 full-time gardeners have left their duties at Highgrove House, with half of them having earned the minimum wage for the U.K. at one point, according to The Sunday Times.
The current minimum wage in the U.K. is £12.21, or approximately $16.50, for individuals aged 21 and older, according to the U.K. government.
40,000 people visit Highgrove House every year
According to The Sunday Times, the gardeners regularly spoke about poor working conditions at the gardens, with one staffer filing a grievance in 2023 alleging that the gardening team was overwhelmed and struggled to fulfill King Charles’ needs and were injured trying to meet them.
“There is little management of HMTK (His Majesty the King’s) expectations, and I know I would not be allowed to say we are understaffed,” the staffer said in the complaint, according to the Times.
Around 40,000 people a year visit the gardens at Highgrove, which Charles’ King’s Foundation now runs.
King Charles bought Highgrove before wedding to Princess Diana
King Charles still regularly frequents Highgrove House, which he moved into in 1980, ahead of his 1981 wedding to then-Lady Diana Spencer, according to People.
Through an external investigation, Charles’ foundation found evidence of poor management and work shortages, the Sunday Times reports.
In a statement to People, a spokesperson for The King’s Foundation said they take the safety of their staff “extremely seriously” and that it’s received “very high satisfaction rates” in their yearly survey.
“Our staff turnover is well below the national average, as is the number of formal grievances raised. For the gardening team at Highgrove specifically, we regularly review guidance from the Professional Gardeners Guild for pay benchmarking.”