Gender pay gap is thriving inside Buckingham Palace
Ring of steel for Harry and Meghan’s big day
THE Queen may have held Britain’s top job for 66 years but even in her household men are earning more than women.
Figures submitted by Buckingham Palace to the Government’s gender pay gap reporting service show a 12.39 per cent gap between the average hourly pay rate for women compared with men working in the monarch’s household.
Palace officials say the palace employs more men than women in the highest paid roles.
Indeed, on the snapshot date of April 5 2017, the top five jobs at the palace were all occupied by men and of those at a level equivalent to senior civil service grades, 10 were men and only three were women.
But palace officials say they are working to close the gender pay gap by ensuring equal pools of men and women go for all jobs, ensuring that equal numbers of men and women are prepared for promotion.
A palace spokesman said: “These figures A RING of steel will be thrown around Windsor to stop terrorists and anarchists targeting the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Hundreds of police officers – including elite armed units – will be on duty or on standby on Saturday May 19.
Checkpoints will be set up around the town to control traffic flow along with airport-style scanners to search spectators.
Steel barriers to foil vehicle attacks are being installed and drains will be checked for explosive devices. Advanced CCTV and automatic number plate recognition technology will help alert senior officers in a central control room to any potential terrorists or troublemakers. Police chiefs have also swapped intelligence with Scotland Yard’s “fixated threat assessment” team which monitors mentally disturbed people obsessed with the Royal Family. One of the biggest security headaches will be the half-hour, open carriage ride by the newly-weds along a two-mile procession route in front of a 100,000-strong crowd. Police expect spectators will swamp Windsor and it is likely parts of the Berkshire town will close before noon on safety grounds.
Trains may also be stopped from running to Windsor if overcrowding threatens to become a major problem.
The multimillion pound security operation is being co-ordinated by Thames Valley Police who were in charge during the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.
All leave has effectively been cancelled but Assistant Chief Constable Dave Hardcastle said officers would volunteer to be part of policing the royal wedding.
He said: “We are working with our partners, local businesses and the community to deliver a safe, secure and happy event for everyone.”