Queen Elizabeth Heartbreak: Royal Family Receives Crushing News Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family have received another heartbreaking news that could affect their royal staff.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the whole monarchy is now facing another economic crisis that is also expected to cripple Queen Elizabeth II's finances.
According to ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson, due to recent events, the royal family could be forced to implement a "pay freeze."
"It could mean that some staff working for the Royal Collection Trust staff could face pay freezes. Buckingham Palace has been quite open about it, unusually so I thought," Ship explained.
He seconded the statement made by Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel, who acknowledge the financial crisis that the roya family is about to endure.
Despite having more sources of income, the royal family members cannot stop the pandemic from smacking their budgets.
Meanwhile, Robinson agreed and claimed that neither Queen Elizabeth II nor the other members are exempted from the health and economic challenges everyone is experiencing.
The pay freeze among the royal staff has already been predicted after Her Majesty ordered the closure of Buckingham Palace and other royal residences from the tourists to safeguard them from the virus.
Through the Royal Collection Trust, the monarchy announced that the Palace and the other royal residences will be closed for visitors on tour.
"The safety and wellbeing of our visitors and staff are our priority. Because of the operational challenges of social distancing, unfortunately, we have had to take the decision not to open the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace to the public this summer, and Frogmore House and Clarence House will not open in August 2020," the royal family's non-profit group said in a statement.
Aside from the pay freeze, the monarchy also decided to close all the summer job openings from July to October, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed.
"The roles were for around 380 temporary summer staff on three-month contracts. They were recruited earlier this year for the Buckingham Palace opening, which now isn't going ahead," a spokesperson for the Royal Collection told People. "They have all been given the option to carry over the offer for next summer."
Even Queen Elizabeth II's net worth has been affected by the health catastrophe. Though her net worth this year hit £350 million (as computed by the Sunday Times' Rich List), Her Majesty is anticipated to see a massive decrease of £20 million in her wealth.
Royal Staff And Finances
To control their finances and protect Queen Elizabeth II from the virus, the current number of working staff for the Queen is now down to 24 compared to the usual 1000 servants.
That number has been decreasing since 2015, but no one expected that they would cut down the numbers even more so they could reduce the expenses simultaneously.
Aside from the royal staff's pay, the repairs of each palace had also been a burden to the point that Queen Elizabeth II almost moved out from the Buckingham Palace years ago.
