Keeping up with the Windsors: Norland nannies earn £120,000

IT SEEMS that not even the rich and famous can escape the cost of living squeeze, with the price of Norland nannies rising to as much as £120,000 a year.

Beloved by the Royal family, the services of those trained at Britain’s most exclusive nanny agency have always been limited to the wealthiest members of society.

But the 130-year-old agency has raised its prices by 5 per cent over the past year in the face of rampant inflation and soaring demand for childcare, meaning the nannies now earn between £42,000 and £70,000 a year in Britain.

Prices are now a tenth higher than they were in 2017, having risen fastest in the Home Counties and the South East.

The biggest increase in advertised salaries was for “Norlanders” hired for work overseas, who now earn between £50,000 and £120,000 a year, with prices up a fifth over the past year alone.

The increases were driven by surging demand, particularly in America, as well as in reaction to higher prices generally.

The nannies, who are trained in all areas of childcare as well as defensive driving and Aga cookery, are recognisable from their traditional brown uniforms, complete with “brown crested felt hat”. A £175 bespoke “Norland tweed” jacket is an essential item among a list of 17 compulsory elements of clothing.

Aspiring nannies pay close to £50,000 for a three-year degree course, with specialist training modules equipping them for life in the employment of wealthy and high-profile clients.

These include an extreme “skid pan” driving course, designed for evading paparazzi, as well as martial arts selfdefence classes, Aga cooker training, baby massage and social media sensitivity training.

Students are also given lessons in etiquette from Debrett’s of London, the record keepers and “authority on modern manners”. Those who have graduated from the school include Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, who helps to look after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children.

Ms Borrallo was hired for Prince George, the Cambridges’ eldest child, in 2013, when he was just a few months old. She lives with the family at Kensington Palace, and travels with them on royal tours and private holidays.

Last year, Princess Beatrice and her property developer husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi also hired a Norlander, three weeks before their daughter Sienna, their first child, was born.

The average salary for nannies in Britain is less than £30,000. Growth in average salaries for all nannies across the UK has risen 7.6 per cent since 2017 to £28,860, up from £26,814.