Working For The Royal Family Is Prestigious But Pay Isn’t Necessarily Better

Fans may not know it, but the royal family regularly posts job vacancies as old employees resign or new positions are being created. This is especially true after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle established their own royal household that is completely separate from that of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

However, the agency hired to recruit suitable candidates for the royal family job opening has rather strict requirements. To meet royal standards, they have no choice but to be picky to the point that it’s likened to finding that proverbial needle in a haystack.

“Finding the perfect member of staff for a household is finding the needle in the haystack and it is crucial to get it right first time,” Philippa Smith told Insider. Smith is the managing director at Silver Swan Recruitment Agency, the company tasked with staff recruitment for the royal family.

Applicants who successfully make the hurdle will be working at one of the royal households, which could be Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace or Clarence House. Part of the difficulty in finding the right candidate is that the requirements vary greatly for each royal house. “Every role in every house is different and each household has very different dynamics within the family and within the team of staff,” Smith explained.

To get it right the first time, Smith’s team has to study the dynamics and requirement of a particular household. Each candidate is then evaluated if they match the job and the environment not only in terms of skill set but also in terms of personality.

“It is therefore important that we spend time with our clients to understand their home, their family and their requirements and to spend time with our candidates to get to know their personalities as well as their previous experiences and skill sets,” Smith revealed how thorough the recruitment process can be.

While working for the royal family is definitely prestigious, the compensation package may not necessarily be better compared to working for the private sector. For instance, Buckingham Palace recently posted a position for a full-time Demi Chef de Partie, with an annual salary of around $27,743. For comparison, that compensation is $4,000 less than the average annual salary for the same position in London’s private sector.