Lowest-paid royal staff given 6pc pay rise as thank you from King

THE KING has agreed a 6 per cent pay rise for his lowest-paid staff as a reward for working on the Coronation.

The 74-year-old monarch has also agreed to £600 bonuses for employees such as cleaners and footmen.

The bonus is coming directly out of the Privy Purse, the taxed funds provided by the Duchy of Lancaster to cover the King’s official duties and private expenses, with no taxpayers’ money being used, it is reported.

“Everyone is delighted,” a source told The Sun.

“They enjoy working for the King and it helps to get a king-sized pay rise.

Many faced pay freezes during the pandemic, when the royal properties were closed to tourists.

“This is a reward and a thank-you to the lowest-paid workers – many of whom do their job out of a sense of duty to the sovereign and Crown rather than for the money.”

This is the second time since the King’s accession last September that he has increased staff pay. Many had feared he would embark on a cost-cutting exercise after around 100 employees at his former official residence, Clarence House, received redundancy notices within days of the late Queen’s death.

Some members of staff who had worked there for decades received notification they could lose their jobs just as they were working round the clock to smooth the King’s elevation to the throne. It has since emerged that the King is keeping Clarence House as a family home and dividing his working days between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

Last November, he agreed a £600 bonus for hundreds of staff earning less than £30,000 a year to pay their winter heating bills, while those earning between £30,000 and £40,000 received £400 extra and those on £40,000 to £45,000 got £350.

Single people living in accommodation provided by the Royal household received £200.

It came after the late Queen gave staff a 5 per cent rise last summer to see them through the cost of living crisis after royal wages had been frozen for two years.