Reports that up to 100 staff at King Charles III’s former residence could lose their jobs have drawn criticism of the British monarchy within days of his accession to the throne.
The Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday that dozens of staff at Clarence House, Charles’ former official residence, were given notice that their jobs were on the line.
The report said the notices came in the midst of a busy period of transition as Charles and Queen Consort Camilla move to Buckingham Palace after Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday last week.
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The Public and Commercial Services Union called the royals’ decision to inform staff of job cuts during a period of mourning “nothing short of heartless.”
“While some changes across the households were to be expected, as roles across the royal family change, the scale and speed at which this has been announced is callous in the extreme,” union general secretary Mark Serwotka, said.
Britain is in a national period of mourning until Monday, when the queen’s state funeral is to be held.
Clarence House said in a statement that following Charles’ accession, operations of his and Camilla’s household “have ceased” and “as required by law, a consultation process has begun.”
“Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest possible number of staff,” the statement said.
The Guardian said one unnamed member of Charles’ staff told the newspaper that “everyone is absolutely livid. People were visibly shaken by it.”
The criticism added to negative media reports on the 73-year-old monarch after two videos showing him on Tuesday visibly irritated by a leaky pen and a pen holder went viral on social media in the past few days.
In one video, Charles was seen losing his temper at a leaking pen while he was signing a visitors’ book in front of cameras in Northern Ireland, where he was visiting on the latest leg of his royal tour of the UK’s four nations.
Charles was heard saying: “Oh god I hate this!” and muttering “I can’t bear this bloody thing. Every stinking time.”
The video came after another pen-related incident on Saturday, when the new monarch was seen gesturing in irritation at his staff when a pen holder got in his way as he signed a document during his accession ceremony.
Charles has been under intense media scrutiny and has had a grueling schedule since his mother’s death in Scotland on Thursday last week. He and Camilla flew from Scotland to London for his accession ceremony and a visit to parliament to address legislators, before flying back to Scotland where he walked behind the queen’s coffin.
He then flew to Northern Ireland on Tuesday and returned to London the same night, in time for the procession of the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday.
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