King Charles’ ‘slimmed down monarchy’ could be a nod to this other famous royal

On 27 August, as members of the Royal Family are enjoying their holiday at Balmoral Castle, it was reported that King Charles would be putting a ‘major shakeup’ in place. Indeed, the new monarch is eager to make an impact and shift the monarchy in a different direction.

This is no easy job as he succeeds the longest reigning monarch ever, Queen Elizabeth II, and is in the middle of many scandals regarding close members of his family. Earlier in the month, it was shared that during their stay at Balmoral, members of the royal family would be discussing the future of the monarchy as well as other pressing issues.

Now, as August comes to an end, The Telegraph writes that King Charles wants to ‘axe 20 per cent of his middle-management staff.’

An idea that could have more history than it looks...

King Charles’ desire for a modern monarchy

Since climbing onto the throne on 8 September 2022 following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III has expressed a desire to move the monarchy forward. As the successor of a very popular monarch, King Charles faces huge challenges. As NBC News reports, the British monarchy can no longer rely on the ‘cute’ and ‘grandmotherly’ aura of Queen Elizabeth which kept her and the monarchy's popularities high.

Royal commentator and broadcaster Afua Hagan says:

When Queen Elizabeth II was alive, she was a queen, she was grandmotherly, it was very cute when she hung out with Paddington. We can get on board with that. But now, what are we doing? People are really thinking to themselves: Why do we need this unelected family at the head of our country?

However, King Charles is inherently more modern than Queen Elizabeth ever was. Indeed, as Prince of Wales he championed environmental causes before it was popular and he believes in a smaller version of the monarchy, having Royal Family members work more for a cheaper cost.

Read more:

⋙ Prince William and Kate: What will the monarchy look like when they become King and Queen?

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King Charles follows in Prince Philip’s footsteps

However, King Charles’ desire for a smaller and cheaper monarchy is not completely devoid of history. Indeed, before him, his father Prince Philip, wasn’t a strong believer in having a lot of people hover around the Royal Family.

Royal expert, Hugo Vickers, writes in Mail Online:

Prince Philip was certainly conscious of how many people it took to run the larger royal residences and said so.

More than that, Vickers tells the story behind Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth's repeated stays at Wood Farm instead of Sandringham House. According to the expert, Sandringham House required too much staff to run and for a few days, Prince Philip thought it excessive. That would explain why he chose to retire at Wood Farm.

Prince Philip’s distaste for excessive personnel may have planted a seed in King Charles’ mind as it is announced that he wants to thin down the staff working in the Royal Houses. According to an unnamed source, King Charles and the Queen Consort strongly believe that not two people should do the same job.

The source explains:

There is a real feeling that the staffing at all the palaces is too heavy. There are far too many assistants to assistants. The King and Queen would prefer to pay people proper wages top to bottom but have less people.

It is believed that King Charles III is well aware of the cost of the monarchy and, for the monarch who is in a challenging position regarding the legitimacy of his job, having clear perspective cannot be a bad idea.

Read more:Princess Anne reveals her surprising opinion on King Charles' plans for monarchy in rare interview

Sources:

Mail Online: When Prince Philip saw a busload of servants arrive to run Sandringham for just one guest - him! - he was horrified. No wonder King Charles wants to cut the Royal Household by a fifth, says HUGO VICKERS

Independent: King Charles planning ‘major shakeup’ to Royal Household staff

NBC News: King Charles set to be crowned, but is he a monarch for modern Britain?