The Royal Household has long been a source of embarrassment and controversy, but a new book claims its latest line of cleaners have been making an inordinate amount of noise and making life miserable for people who live on the outskirts of the estate.
The book, The Biggest Secret, is being published by Penguin Random House, the publisher of The Queen’s Private Collection, a book of letters from the Queen to friends and family members.
“We’re just constantly making people feel as though they’re in the Royal Household and have to conform to their own personal standards,” author and journalist Elizabeth Boddington told the BBC.
Elizabeth Boddowns new book, Biggest Secrets, details how the Queen is cleaning up after herself.
But the royal household has long struggled to make its own standards.
In 2014, a BBC investigation found that cleaning staff at Buckingham Palace were “over-fussed” with their own work and were “worried about what would happen to their uniforms if they didn’t get the job done”.
That same year, a separate BBC investigation also found that staff in the royal library were under pressure to produce the Queen’s personal diary and correspondence, which is not only a privilege but also one that has been granted to her in recent years.
It is unclear what is driving the staff’s obsession with the work they do.
One source told the inquiry: “I think it’s because we all think we have to do everything right for the Royal Family.
There’s no way you could possibly be a good cleaner and still have to work for the Queen.”
And it makes you feel a little bit like you’re in a museum.””
It’s just so boring.
And it makes you feel a little bit like you’re in a museum.”
The royal household also has a history of using public servants as cleaners.
A 2015 investigation by The Guardian revealed that a number of cleaners working for the royal house’s children’s ward were paid less than the public sector.
According to the inquiry, staff were working on “a small number of children’s bedrooms” that did not have proper ventilation.
During the inquiry there were concerns that the royal cleaning staff could have been overpaid by as much as £200,000 a year.
This led to the government’s decision to award a £30,000 bonus to the cleaning staff.
So far, only a small number (3,000) of royal cleaning jobs have been awarded bonuses.
Despite the government paying the workers £10,000 to £15,000 per year, the Royal Cleaning Service is still facing problems.
In the past, the royal cleaners have struggled to maintain their own standards, with a series of complaints.
Last year, it was revealed that staff were being paid between £50 and £100 per hour less than their public sector colleagues, but it has not stopped some cleaners from complaining.
Former Royal Cleaner Claire Williams told the Royal Gazette newspaper: “It is frustrating for all of us to have to live with these levels of pay and it makes it impossible to do the job effectively.”
In October, the government announced a £2 million pay increase for cleaning staff, including the addition of extra duties for cleaning children’s rooms and the establishment of a special task force to investigate alleged misconduct.
Critics say the move is a “bait and switch” and will result in more staff being paid less, and the Royal Council of the Household has been accused of acting as a paymaster.
And despite the Royal Mail’s recent announcement of a £1 million pay rise for cleaning workers, some say it is still too little too late.
Some say the pay will be too little, while others argue that the government should be giving the cleaners more money to cover the increased costs of cleaning.
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