Royal charity axe for 400 workers in Palace cuts The temporary workers, many of them students, had contracts with the Royal Collection Trust terminated and were paid in lieu of notice – usually a week’s wages.

Jobs cut as residences stay shut

ALMOST 400 staff hired to work at the royal palaces when they open to visitors for the summer have been laid off before even starting as the residences remain shut.

They have been

offered the same job

next summer if they

still want it.

Buckingham Palace,

Windsor Castle and the

Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh will

not be welcoming

paying visitors as

lockdown continues.

The Trust, chaired by

Prince Charles, has had

to postpone major

investment projects

and tighten its belt as

revenue plummets.

Last year, it contributed £14.3million to the Royal Household, to boost the £82.4million revenue the Queen received from the Sovereign Grant.

It paid a £7million facilities fee for the right to open the royal residences to the public, much of which will now be lost.

The Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel, announced a pay and recruitment freeze this summer in an email to staff.

He said: “It remains unclear when measures such as social distancing will come to an end. We must therefore assume it could still be many weeks, if not months, before we are able to return to business as usual. There are undoubtedly very difficult times ahead.”

Many staff have been asked to work from home but so far the household has not furloughed or made wider redundancies.

Earl Peel added: “The Royal Household is not immune to the impact of the pandemic on our financial position.

“All but essential expenditure has been suspended. A recruitment freeze has been implemented and no new posts will be appointed unless a very clear business case exists. This year’s annual pay review has also been paused.”

The Queen, 94, has been undertaking official duties from home in lockdown, including a phone call with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Monday. He said: “We talked about the state of the world.”