Offices
The principal office of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, where most of their staff work, is in Clarence House and other parts of St James’s Palace in central London. The cost of maintaining the fabric of the buildings, as well as a proportion of the costs of utilities and fixed-line telephones, is met from Sovereign Grant funding. There are also offices for official staff at Their Royal Highnesses’ residences of Highgrove and Birkhall to assist The Prince with his continuing work. Some costs incurred at Highgrove and Birkhall are, therefore, charged to the ‘Official duties and charitable activities’ expenditure category.
Staff and Office Organisation
The Principal Private Secretary
The Principal Private Secretary is the senior member of The Prince of Wales’s and The Duchess of Cornwall’s Household and is responsible for all aspects of running the Household and for overseeing His Royal Highness’s charitable and other interests.
The Private Secretaries’ Office
The Private Secretary is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Private Secretaries’ Office. He and the other Private and Assistant Private Secretaries facilitate and support The Prince of Wales’s and The Duchess of Cornwall’s official duties, engagements and charitable activities. They are responsible for Their Royal Highnesses’ diaries, arrange briefing sessions, receptions and other functions, administer correspondence, and co-ordinate research and briefing to support their work. Each Private Secretary is responsible for specific areas and for liaising with certain of The Prince’s and The Duchess’s organisations. They also ensure that His Royal Highness is kept informed about topical issues, provide him with background information for his correspondence and meetings, and prepare drafts for speeches and articles. The Private Secretaries are supported by researchers, personal assistants and administrative staff, and work closely with their colleagues in other households.
The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry receive a large number of letters each year. In 2016-17, for example, they received 39,783 letters and cards. People from all over the world write to Their Royal Highnesses, although the majority of the letters are from the UK.
Letters cover a wide range of subjects and are often prompted by current issues and debates. Their Royal Highnesses see a wide selection of the correspondence and reply to many of the letters they receive. The Prince personally wrote 1,330 letters in 2016-17. The Duchess of Cornwall personally wrote 1,077. Their Royal Highnesses ensure that letters not answered by themselves or their Private Secretaries are replied to by the Correspondence Section on their behalf. In addition, The Prince and The Duchess receive many requests from a wide range of charities and other organisations for donations or items for auction. Requests for donations and items to auction are handled by the Charities Office. While it is not possible to respond to all the many requests for items to auction, His Royal Highness donates items such as lithographs of his watercolours, signed books and tours of the garden at Highgrove. Each year, these items raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity.
Human Resources
The Human Resources Department, which sits within the responsibilities of the Principal Private Secretary, provides a team of staff and a highly productive working environment, which allows the staff to maximize their contribution to Their Royal Highnesses’ official and private lives at all times. It is responsible for all aspects of The Household staffing, including structure, search and selection, inward and outbound secondments, remuneration and benefits, training and development, internal communications, all employee health and wellbeing and employee relations matters. As well as shaping and delivering work-related training experiences, the department also supports all staff with career development opportunities across the Household and the institution.
The Treasurer’s Office
The Treasurer’s Office is responsible for Finance and Archives and Inventory. The Office is also responsible for information systems across the Household. The Treasurer is the Executive Director of The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation with oversight and responsibility for the Foundation’s activities, including its trading subsidiaries. In addition, the Treasurer monitors the financial affairs and activities of The Prince’s Charities. As Executive Director, he is responsible for the Charities Office which has a primary role to facilitate collaboration within and between The Prince’s Charities, and to act as the key liaison between different stakeholder groups. The Charities Office provides support and advice to the charities covering corporate governance, due diligence, donations policy and fund raising, planning, finance and communications. The costs of the Charities Office are met by The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation.
The Treasurer is also responsible for publishing, contractual and legal matters. The Finance Department exercises financial control through a combination of annual budgets, reforecasts, monthly management accounts and a series of accounting systems and procedures, particularly for the authorization of expenditure. It is also responsible for achieving best value for money and works with the Master’s Department on procurement. The majority of the Household’s information technology systems are provided and supported by the Information Systems Management section at Buckingham Palace, with the Household’s cost met by The Prince of Wales.
Three Archivists are responsible for managing all the papers and files relating to the public life of The Prince of Wales since the late 1960s. The Keeper of the Archives also manages requests for The Prince and The Duchess to become patron or president of organizations, as well as requests relating to existing patronages and presidencies. One inventory controller and two assistants are responsible for the recording and safekeeping of gifts and assets owned by Their Royal Highnesses.
Communications
As Heir to The Throne, there is extensive public and media interest in the activities of The Prince of Wales, as well as in his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall. The Clarence House Communications Office helps to facilitate a better understanding of The Prince of Wales’s and The Duchess of Cornwall’s work and activities. The Communications Office handles all media enquiries and proactive communications, including features, documentaries and events, for The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and liaises closely with Royal Communications colleagues in respect of general issues to do with the Monarchy.
www.princeofwales.gov.uk is a popular information resource for the media, researchers and the public from the UK and overseas. In addition to the latest news about Their Royal Highnesses’ engagements, the site provides information about their work and charitable activities, as well as recent speeches and articles, biographical details, and extensive pictures.
Master of the Household’s Department
The Master of the Household is responsible for the programme of engagements for The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, the Equerry’s Office, Their Royal Highnesses’ residences, offices and gardens, personal staff, receptions and all entertaining. The Master of the Household, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police, is also responsible for security and is jointly responsible for confidentiality. The Equerry’s Office manages Their Royal Highnesses’ diaries on a daily basis and plans the longer-term programme. The Equerry’s Office also manages the logistical and transport arrangements for official visits at home and abroad. There are usually several overseas visits a year. The Equerry is a serving military officer seconded from the Armed Forces to the Household for a period of approximately two years.
Each year, The Prince and The Duchess receive thousands of invitations from a wide range of public and private sector organisations. Each is given careful consideration by Their Royal Highnesses and their staff. The Equerry liaises with the Private Secretaries, the Press Office and key organisations to ensure that each year in their visits The Prince and The Duchess cover a broad range of interests and meet a wide cross-section of people in as many parts of the country as possible. The Equerry also provides a point of contact for military and defence issues. The Prince of Wales maintains close links with the Armed Forces, not just in Britain but also in the Commonwealth.
The Prince of Wales conducts Investitures at Buckingham Palace (eleven in 2016-17) and attends state functions on behalf of The Queen. The Equerry’s Office is responsible for the arrangements for these engagements.
Official entertaining is an important part of The Prince of Wales’s and The Duchess of Cornwall’s role. These occasions range from receiving official guests and foreign dignitaries to giving dinners and concerts to thank those involved with The Prince’s and The Duchess’s charities.
The Master of the Household’s Department also includes Orderlies (who maintain office equipment and are responsible for office supplies, stationery and office cars) and Receptionists, and it has responsibility for health and safety.
The Master of the Household’s Department is also jointly responsible for other Royal Residences, including Highgrove. Last year, over 39,500 people toured the garden at Highgrove, taking the total number of visits since the garden was opened to the public in 1992 to 459,039. Visitors were also able to buy items from the Highgrove shop, which donates all its profits to the Foundation. In addition, those attending summer official receptions normally look around the garden. Committed to conserving Britain’s natural heritage, The Prince uses the garden as a conservation area for endangered varieties of plants, flowers and trees, and hopes that those who visit enjoy seeing the benefits of natural land management and organic gardening.
Annual visits
The Prince and The Duchess make a number of visits to Scotland and Wales every year. The cost of these longer annual visits, which principally relates to receptions and dinners, amounted to £28,887 in 2016-17, and is included in ‘official entertaining’ expenditure.
Working at The Household
The Household of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall employs people across a broad spectrum of disciplines and skill sets that assist Their Royal Highnesses in fulfilling their prominent role in public life. As an employer, the Household prides itself on being committed to its staff and encouraging individuals to grow and thrive within the organisation.
The Household has welcomed summer internships, work experience placements and school visits, in order to provide a greater understanding of working life within this energetic organisation.
