Gardeners quitting King's Highgrove amid demands

Independent

3 days ago

Gardeners are leaving their jobs at the King's Highgrove Gardens amid low pay and Charles's demands, according to a report.
The King oversees the gardens at his Gloucestershire retreat, which he has transformed and nurtured over the past 45 years, and, according to The Sunday Times, has lost 11 of 12 gardeners since 2022.
The newspaper reported that Charles visits the gardens regularly and, after walking the series of interlinked gardens, sends notes to garden staff who are expected to act on his requests before his next visit.
According to the report, the King asked that staff move a single ragwort from the perimeter of his swimming pool, and said gardeners' failure to cultivate his delphiniums had caused him great disappointment.
The newspaper said staff have complained of poor conditions, including pay as low as minimum wage.
It has been reported that Charles knew of staff shortages at Highgrove, and after the invasion of Ukraine wrote a note proposing war refugees could be recruited to help.
Near the Cotswolds town of Tetbury, the nine-bedroom house and estate was set to become William's when the King acceded to the throne in September 2022 as it is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
But Charles now rents the house from the Duchy, for a reported £340,000-a-year, and continues to use it as a country residence, where he spends time with the Queen and he rested there after time in hospital for side effects of his cancer treatment earlier this year.
The Sunday Times reported that of the 11 gardeners who have left, two were heads of gardens and one had served the King for many years.
Another failed his probation after it emerged he had a lack of knowledge about a particular flower, the newspaper said.
The King reportedly said of him 'don't put that man in front of me again'.
Charles's charity The King's Foundation, which is the custodian of Highgrove Gardens, runs education workshops on site for traditional and endangered crafts such as millinery, embroidery and woodworking.
It also oversees public access to Highgrove through its ticketed garden tours, which attract more than 40,000 visitors every year.
The Sunday Times reported that in late 2023 one member of staff at Highgrove complained about the gardens' management, saying the team was overwhelmed, under-resourced and struggling to fulfil the King's requests.
In turn, The King's Foundation commissioned an external investigation and, according to the report, it found evidence of 'staff shortages' and 'poor' management practices and said that remuneration was an 'issue for recruitment and retention'.
It recommended 'management training for all managers', 'mental health support and counselling' and a pay review, the Sunday Times said.
Staff at the gardens have received pay rises each year since 2022 totalling between 15% and 19% cumulatively, it is understood.
The newspaper also reported that in August 2023, a senior gardener complained that he was 'shouted at' by Constantine Innemee, then the Highgrove director for The King's Foundation.
According to the Sunday Times, The King's Foundation requested an investigation and did not uphold the complaint about Mr Innemee.
A King's Foundation spokeswoman said: '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.
'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.
'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.'