The Palace had been building King Charles’s reputation as a benevolent figure who not only cares about important issues but also takes action for it.
However, the image of an avuncular Charles was shattered after the monarch’s Highgrove Garden saw 11 out of 12 employees quit their jobs citing toxic work environment.
Former staffers revealed in The Sunday Times report that they were underpaid, understaffed and were treated poorly by the management.
Following an investigation by The King’s Foundation, the monarch’s charity organisation that now runs Highgrove, released a statement refuting the claims, via The Telegraph.
“At The King’s Foundation, we take staff welfare extremely seriously and strive to be an exemplary employer. We are proud to regularly report very high satisfaction rates in our annual staff survey,” the statement began.
“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,” it continued.
“Highgrove has also seen many positive developments since The King’s Foundation became the charitable custodian of the gardens. Since 2022, the operating profit has more than doubled, a new education facility teaching traditional heritage skills to hundreds of students has been established, and visitor numbers continue to reach over 40,000 annually.”
