Overworked and underappreciated: gardeners resign en masse from King Charles III’s estate
Highgrove staff shrinking
The gardens of King Charles III at the Highgrove estate have been left without gardeners. Due to excessive demands on staff combined with meagre salaries, 11 out of 12 employees have submitted their resignations. This comes despite the fact that the estate generated over $8 million in revenue last financial year — more than any other royal residence.
The situation has been worsened by a generally toxic work atmosphere. Among the 11 who resigned were the head gardener and his deputy. All of them left during 2024. The wave of resignations began when a long-serving employee, who had worked for the King for decades, finally buckled under pressure and resigned.
Complaints about working conditions at Highgrove, which Charles purchased in 1980, had already surfaced three years ago. In 2022, three workers were paid the bare minimum wage of $11.98 an hour, while two others received $12.78 an hour.
At the end of 2023, one gardener filed a complaint stating that the staff was overburdened and understaffed while trying to meet the King’s unrealistic expectations. As a result, some gardeners suffered physical injuries, and morale was extremely low. The King himself appears to be unaware of the true workload required to fulfil his instructions and routinely issues numerous new orders during his morning walkarounds.
In addition, King Charles III reportedly sends staff memoranda with detailed instructions and even returned reports marked in red ink if he spotted typos. He also insisted on being addressed strictly as «Your Majesty» instead of «Sir.» Notably, royal protocol requires «Your Majesty» only upon the first greeting — after that, «Sir» is customary.
After the mass resignations, the position of Head Gardener was abolished and replaced with a «Lead Gardener.» The role went to Konstantin «Costa» Innerme, a trusted royal advisor who also serves as the executive director of Highgrove. His name was also mentioned in complaints from former staff, who said he directed employees to follow the King’s orders regardless of how labour-intensive or unreasonable they seemed.
«If the monarch wished a plant to be moved from point A to point B, but the gardener believed it would die in the process, Innerme would insist on it anyway,» said one former employee.
Despite the King’s Foundation commissioning the independent HR consultancy WorkNest to investigate the complaints, the estate remains understaffed and wages have not improved. If nothing changes, the King may soon be planting trees not just ceremonially, according to The Sunday Times.
Photo: Instagram @highgrovegarden, @theroyalfamily
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