A palace insider said: "Everyone is really delighted ... Here's to the Queen." Photo / Getty Images
A palace insider said: "Everyone is really delighted ... Here's to the Queen." Photo / Getty Images
Ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen has given her staff a 5 per cent pay rise.
After a two-year pay freeze, Royal staffers are getting a wage increase to help them through the rising expenses of the cost-of-living crisis, the Daily Mail reports.
A Royal source said: "Staffwill get a minimum of 2.5 per cent pay rise, rising up to 5 per cent depending on their personal performance.
"But it's fair to say the majority will get 5 per cent.
"It is not being billed as a Jubilee bonus, it's in recognition of everyone's hard work over the past two years."
On the staff reaction to the pay rise, a palace insider said "Everyone is really delighted. With the cost of living crisis, we are struggling like everyone else and it helps to pay the bills. Here's to the Queen."
It is believed the wage increase comes as a token of thanks from the Queen over her staff’s handling of the Covid crisis and the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Photo / Getty Images
Data from the UK's Office for National Statistics shows that the pay rise is just higher than the rate of annual pay growth, which from December 2021 to February 2022 was 4 per cent.
However, with inflation nearly reaching 10 per cent, employees worldwide will struggle to reap the benefits of any pay increase below that rate.
The staff of the Royal Family may have been poorly paid for a while, but the position offered multiple perks including room and board.
Some employees said they tolerated lower pay "because they have immense pride in working for the monarchy".
Some employees said they tolerated lower pay "because they have immense pride in working for the monarchy". Photo / Getty Images
A survey conducted in April by the Chartered Management Institute revealed the annual pay settlements offered by British employers averages about 2.8 per cent.
The pay settlements offered in the private sector came in higher at 3.2 per cent compared to only 2.4 per cent in the public sector.
According to job comparison site Breakroom, many palace workers are still being paid £1.93 ($3.72) less than the national living wage.
In 2015, a Buckingham palace insider signalled that the Palace had begun to start paying staff a liveable wage. Another insider confirmed earlier this year, that most palace wages now achieve that goal.
However, the Daily Mail now reports that a recent pay rate review of the 503 advertised jobs at Buckingham Palace showed that a significant number of workers are still receiving the bare minimum wage.
Royal author Norman Baker said: "The Queen pays in a very tight-fisted way.
"It's been apparent to me for some time that when [job] adverts come up that they are not advertised at a generous salary."
Currently, the lowest full-time wage in Britain is £18,586 ($35,700), while the highest-paid earns £250,000 (NZ$480,800), according to the latest Sovereign Grant report.
