King Charles is planning a 'major shakeup' within royal household

King Charles is thought to be planning a big change within the royal household, as he and Queen Camilla 'disapprove' of too many staff members doing similar jobs.

• King Charles and Queen Camilla are planning to cut up to 20 percent of royal household jobs, focusing on middle-management.
• Queen Camilla will have a key role in overseeing the changes.
• In other royal news, a piece of royal history is up for sale, and it has a dubious past Princess Anne would rather forget.

Even before he took the throne, there were rumours swirling that when he became King, Charles was planning for a 'slimmed-down monarchy.'

His Coronation reflected this, with his ceremony breaking tradition by being shorter and less expensive than that of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth. 

Now it's been reported that his plans for change extend to royal household staff within Buckingham Palace as well as members of the royal family, with the King and Queen expected to make some big changes to jobs.

According to The Mail on Sunday, King Charles and Queen Camilla don't like the fact that too many people seem to do similar jobs, and are planning to cut up to 20 percent of jobs in middle management.

A source told the paper, "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 from top to bottom but have less people."

"For instance, there are chefs for them and chefs for the staff. Why, they ask, can't there be one lot of kitchen staff for everyone?"

It's thought that Queen Camilla will have a key role in overseeing these staffing changes, with the source adding that she “cannot abide too many people doing the same jobs. Senior housekeeper, executive housekeepers, and juniors.” The issue has been raised with Vice Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, the Master of the Household. 

The cuts will reportedly impact dozens of employees across Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral.

Another source told The Evening Standard, “It is not about cuts. It is about getting the best value for money from those on the payroll. Sometimes less is more.” 

Just under 500 permanent workers were employed by the monarchy at the end of March across the royal households. This means that, if the figures reported are correct, around 100 people could potentially lose their jobs.

King Charles' sister, Princess Anne, slammed his plans for a slimmed-down monarchy back in May, saying, "I think the 'slimmed-down' was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment," she laughed and then added, "I mean it doesn't sound like a good idea from where I'm standing, I have to say, I'm not quite sure what else, you know, we can do."