COVID Crisis: Buckingham Palace Employees Stare At Job Loss As ‘Royal Trust’ Sees Dip In Earnings

Buckingham Palace, the London residence of Queen Elizabeth II and the administrative capital of the Royal Household, has come under the cloud of COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of its employees facing the prospects of a job loss spurred by a steep fall in the Royal Trust's earnings this year.

The fear of job cuts also gains credence amid speculation that the Queen may not return to the administrative headquarters following her summer vacation in Balmoral.

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Confirming the same, a Palace source said, "The Queen is planning to spend the summer in Balmoral as usual, but after that it's thought she will probably return to Windsor Castle. What that means for staff in London is anyone's guess. A lot of people fear they'll lose their jobs," as reported in The Telegraph.

Adding to the wows of Palace staff is a drastic decline in the footfall of tourists to the Royal residence, which has lost £65 million owing to the coronavirus pandemic resulting in freezing of payments for the personnel at work.

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This year alone, Royal Collection Trust (RCT), which gets its revenue from the tourists visiting palace, has seen its earnings fall to £13 million due to the lockdown and restriction on people's movement spurred by the COVID crisis.

As per an internal memo, seen by The Telegraph, the Royal household 'may not be fully operational until 2021' and this has far-reaching implications on the royal household.

The memo also pointed out that "the contribution RCT makes to overall finances will be considerably reduced" which at present covers around a fifth of the Royal family's total spending.