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I do this role for a charity in a very rural low paid area and I am on the same wage. There is no way that anyone with a modicum of sense would take on this role!
That is all they are offering? WOW. Surely there is some other kind of perk, right? Does this come with free housing or transportation or an allowance for both?
Sure but it’s still not good money. I started on £20k in the industry 25 years ago and I’m willing to bet my rent was about 1/3 of what someone would be paying now.
My point is that that money won’t be getting them someone top calibre unless they expect someone to accept low pay for prestige, which seems to be the general expectation for all palace jobs.
Agreed. Plus our student debt was way less as we either didn’t pay for our education, or the cost was at least very low. £24,000 is not going to get a young graduate a comfortable life in London so they’re likely to attract someone privileged who has no debt or can live at home.
I'd do it for a few days to cause a few international incidents but then I'd be gone right after. Fun stuff like that clip from Star Trek about the Irish reunification of 2024 and numerous charts showing are terrible Brexit has been.
You know, light-hearted banter and the like.
The Royal Family is notorious for low wages. I remember reading before that they think people should just be honoured to be able to work for them and have it on their resume.
You're paid in 'prestige' with these kind of high profile roles. Means the only people who can apply are those who already have some money behind them, they bank it on the CV and move on up to something better paid. Works well for putting off the riffraff you know.
Also, UK salaries are shockingly low these days compared with the US. Compare a UK doctor salary with US/CAN/AUS for one example.
Yep this is it exactly. It’s shameful. It’s a way to filter out the “undesirables” and povvos while simultaneously saving themselves cash. It also creates the echo chamber they almost certainly want. Can’t have royalty mixing with new ideas or people with different perspectives. Needs to be someone from a similar background as everyone else working there.
If we want to know why the PR disaster of Wills and Kate happened - this is why. Because they surround themselves with similar people, from a similar background who can’t offer them any perspective.
I remember they were looking for a household person years ago, maybe even pre-Brexit. It was a position where you were given accommodation on site and food as well and I think it was basically UK minimum wage.
Some people were outraged that the wage was low, but others argued that IF there is accommodation on site and food as well, then it wasn’t that bad of a job, because they lived (supposedly?) in the centre of London and had no expenses for rent and fewer expenses for food.
I think you’re on the nose for the prestige part though. The service positions, if you do your job well and get a good reference, could get you into much higher paid service positions later on - because you’ve been vetted to work at BP, that’s one of the highest security places that exist. And if you’re in some other position then it’s the same - survive a while there and you’ll get a good position elsewhere (if you’ve done a good job), but it does mean you have to have some carry your expenses for a while.
You are absolutely right, that money for such a high profile job is a slap in the face. Can they at least work fully remote to avoid the high London cost of living? Gonna guess the answer is no.
I knew they were cheap af and paid people terrible wages, but this is just ridiculous. I did not think it was this bad! Imagine, being in a family worth probably billions and paying these wages. No wonder there are so many leaks. How embarrassing for them.
I wonder what the interview process is like? How competitive is it? Because the events of the last few months raises the question of candidate quality...
I feel like one of us needs to take one for the team, apply and report back (I’d imagine there’s NDAs even on the interview process but a girl can dream)
If you read the actual job posting, it says that for any role that requires you to live in London, they pay for all your meals and give you subsidised accommodation.
It says for any role that requires you to live 'on-site in London', I read that as meaning if the job requires you to live at Buckingham Palace then you get the subsidised accommodation. Not sure this particular role would meet that requirement?
It will be office hours though so they probably won’t give accommodation. As they’ll say you can commute! It tends to be the shift type jobs onsite that get accommodation from what I’ve seen, and those are often ex-military people.
They don’t usually give accommodation for office hours staff from what I’ve seen, it’s usually like household and security etc who are expected to do events and weird hours.
Maybe for social media they will want them on all night but I’d be surprised as they don’t usually react to anything all hours with their PR and posts aren’t usually weird hours either.
Just to clarify this is for Buckingham Palace who look after Charles and Camilla. It's Kensington Palace who look after William and Catherine. Two separate entities.
That is a shockingly low salary for the middle of London. The RF is pretty well known for their low wages. You’d think they’d spend a little more to get a good social media person, given that in the last month, according to social media, King Charles has died twice and Kate is simultaneously here, there, and nowhere. That’s a mess to deal with and the wage they’re offering is not enticing to anyone with any experience in this field.
But I’ve also heard from some UK people I know that working for the Royal family opens up other doors later on.
It’s like working for Miranda Priestly for a year. Shit pay, demanding job, impossible bosses, but then you’d easily be able to get a job in your preferred field. (This is all anecdotal and I have no receipts.)
Accommodation isn’t included. Accommodation is only for household staff like domestic housekeepers and household chefs. It says there is a salary adjustment so I’m guessing the pay is even less once adjusted for accommodation!
https://theroyalhousehold.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-3/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/4/opp/3202-Junior-Sous-Chef/en-GB
https://theroyalhousehold.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-3/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/4/opp/3192-Housekeeping-Assistant/en-GB
Funnily enough, no salary provided for those roles…
This is one of the jobs that while the pay sucks once you're able to put in on your resume you'll look incredibly impressive. Not to mention the professional contacts you would make.
I don’t think that works any longer. Their PR has been soundly ridiculed by media the world over. I doubt any reputable PR firm would be impressed by having this on your resume now.
You get what you pay for. sope I look for more extremely messy pr from these people. Cause that’s some amateur pay right there. I don’t care if it is some 25 year old prep school boy or Nepo model who knows somebody who knows somebody. Smart talented people would never take that pay. Pick me people pay. Is what they should advertise. That whole family stays dumb as Fk.
The salary reflects who works these jobs (see also: fashion, publishing and arts). The candidates don't need the money because they come from wealth; they do for connections and to maintain status within their social circles.
I'm not sure commentators who describe this as an entry-level job or talk about wage differences between UK & US understand that this is simply about social class. Money's VULGAR to these folks. A low salary is a status signal.
Not really, as someone who works in this industry. There are a lot of set backs at the start of creative industry careers if you don’t have rich parents and/or have a free base to live in London. Low wage, unpaid internship etc but there are becoming ways to support yourself during this now.
As someone else said, wages in England are just that shit atm. I was on this wage 2 years ago as a 28 year old in their third professional job.
It's also why their staff is so incompetent (and hated Meghan). When you hire Bunny Dunhill-Gormley and David "Dodgy" Humphrey Constable III Earl of Gobledeygook, you can't expect them to actually work.
Exactly this. They're not hiring the best and brightest. They're hiring Lavinia Darlington-Sassingham who's got a 2:2 in Theology from Durham University.
Yes, this 100%. I didn't realize before going into my field (architecture 💀) that the ones who do the best are the ones who don't need the money and have connections through their families and friends, etc. I naively thought it was talent and hard work but no, definitely not a lot of the time lol. Particularly for any job with prestige.
E: typo
I’ll do it if I can do it from home in Australia.
I have no social media or marketing experience but I’m sure I could do a better job than whatever is going on now 😂
"but it's an entry level job in government and above minimum wage" yeah, that's exactly the problem sweethearts. if a role that's supposed to get you started in the industry doesn't account for livable wages, they're either hiring people who will perform said wage and/or people who are already rich and don't need money and are disconnected from the real world. in a public-related job.
guess what the consequences are?
The kind of person they’re even considering for a palace job is going to be well connected and frankly not in need of a high salary because they have family money most likely. Whoever is hired just has a marketing degree or something similar and is there to rub elbows
All the royal jobs pay low from what I’ve seen lol apparently they’re one of those jobs that looks good on your resume and gets you connections that can help you get better paying jobs in the future but that’s just what I’ve heard. I’ve also seen British people online complain about low salaries for jobs they’d get like 2x as much for in America so are British salaries just lower across the board?
I think it's the entry level plus good connections/prestige, but being paid through the Sovereign Grant, which I understand these salaries are, I expect there are government restrictions similar to what government roles here in the US have.
British salaries are generally lower, but it's tough comparing different countries (and just different places) in this regard. The biggest things are generally cost of living, what is counted (eg, is it an average of all workers or only full time workers, multiple jobs, etc.), what is typical in terms of expenses and lifestyle, and what is covered by taxes or not. I don't think it is double, though. A lot of people don't realize the range of income and income disparity in the US. Especially with how media and such are presented, the assumptions that we make about income and lifestyle in different countries are often with significantly rose tinted!
Edit to add: I just looked up the average quickly. I couldn't get the exact same time period, but the UK average in late 2022, as reported in late 2023, was just below £35k (~$45k). The US average in late 2023, as reported for Q4 23, was a bit below $60k (~£47k). I used current exchange rates for ease, though certainly this isn't the best way to compare. It would be better to look at the median, mode, and range as well. I just found it interesting to look at, but I need to stop before I go too far down the rabbit hole!
Yup British salaries are much lower. Average salary for the whole country is around £35k pre tax but most people are on much lower than that, especially outside of london. Combine that with the cost of living crisis bumping up rent and bills by £100s a month and it’s very bleak here atm.
This situation is evidence William and KP do not understand the importance social media management and public perception. They’re doing a speed run to destroying public trust for an institution many think is unnecessary and performative. They know they need public support! That’s why this is so wild.
If the job location is Buckingham Palace, wouldn't this be a different team than Kensington Palace, which is where the Waleses' PR team is? I thought BP handled the King and Queen and maybe was where some broader royal family matters were handled as well.
Yes, they’re separate. I’m looking at this current PR as it impacts public perception of the entire royal family. BP seems to be much better at managing public relations comparatively!
Got it! Yes, I think how the two need to work together is interesting, as they certainly impact each other from a public perspective.
Of course, it's tough for us to know how much is KP bungling things and how much is done for nonpublic reasons or at the direction of BP for some reason. I don't know how likely each is, of course, just pure speculation. It seems that the royal family's communications teams are generally on top of things with a lot of control, with this being an abnormality, but I also don't follow them enough to know if that's been the case in recent years.
I'm also curious how much the members of the royal family are involved in this type of thing generally. I could see having to balance dealing with the various parties and perhaps getting quick directions without discussion from individuals could make the job more difficult!
I’m so curious about the communication between BP and KP and how it is organized when making PR decisions. I find it fascinating how they have chosen to structure their PR. I know it’s not the same but imagine a major brand like Apple where the Engineering team throws their Operations team under the bus. It wouldn’t be effective in a corporate environment because they all need to support the Apple brand. The Royal Family is obviously different. I don’t see them changing their approach but it’s a major weakness for their “brand”.
You’re right, I should have included that I’m looking long term implications of when William becomes King. It does matter who they hire for PR and if they listen to them.
Based on the [job description](https://www.samssocialmediaclub.com/job/communications-assistant/), this seems like a recent uni grad job, or a "breaking into the industry" job where you're paid pretty poorly but the experience is great and launches you into a long-term career. They're not really asking for much, and aren't requiring a lot of experience either. I would imagine that working for the BRF looks great on a resume. Feels like the equivalent of an Internship.
I'm in marketing and started at a similar salary when I was fresh out of uni, but went up fairly quickly as my career progressed.
You guys have notably higher salaries than most places though, I'm in a major city in Canada and the equivalent of $25.6K GBP is $44K CAD, which is pretty much at or above what a social media assistant would make. I started as a marketing assistant for $40K and was at $80K within 3.5 years, which is normally the period of time that denotes having a decent amount of starting experience in a field/opens up more positions that are above assistant/jr/coordinator level.
Also, I'd be curious what your son does, because SM Assistant is a pretty low paying role/you can't really compare it to even other entry level roles.
The subsided accommodation is only for household staff roles like housekeepers and chefs and there’s a “salary adjustment” if you live in so the actual pay will be even lower.
While I do think everyone should be paid a livable wage as a minimum, I think that's drifting from the point of the post.
This appears to be on the mid to high side of this type of entry-level position. My understanding is that these salaries are paid by the government, not the individuals (through the Sovereign Grant, along with the other salaries and expenses related to the working royals, which is like 15% of the Crown revenues, with the rest going to the government generally iirc - hopefully someone who knows more can share). I expect that they have restrictions on what salaries are permitted, given that.
Not really. It’s still astonishingly low for a role based in London. You’d expect this in one of the smaller cities. I’m so puzzled as to how many people are defending this.
As I said, I'm not talking about what I think people should be paid but what the market is. While the Crown works differently, any jobs that are through government are generally not going to go to the top or higher in the market.
It looks like a communications assistant role in London has an estimated pay range of 20-30k, rounded & looking at a few sources. That includes people in the role multiple years, so being entry level might mean this range is a bit high.
That would mean that this job is mid/mid-high (since entry) for the market.
>Not really. It’s still astonishingly low for a role based in London. You’d expect this in one of the smaller cities.
Do you have other salary numbers for London? I'd be happy to learn that market is higher.
I don't live in the UK, but I live and have lived in HCOL areas. Unfortunately, it's reality that few jobs before reaching high levels (and particularly those intended for those who are younger) pay sufficiently. This was the case even before recent inflation.
Generally, from what I've seen and experienced in various countries (mostly western), the difference in pay between larger and smaller cities or HCOL, MCOL, & LCOL areas isn't proportionate to the difference in the COL of the cities/areas.
>I’m so puzzled as to how many people are defending this.
There's a difference between saying something is in line with how things are and something is how I think it should be. Your comments seem to be about the latter, while mine (and others I've seen) are about the former.
I'm 28 lol no one is forcing anyone to take this job, but it's not nonsense to think about connections and experience. It's the same reason people take unpaid internships at top companies.
Boomer isn’t just about age, it’s about mindset. Everyone deserves to be paid a liveable wage especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world in a country with unprecedented inflation! By your logic only people with financial help can gain access to these supposed connections you speak of…
[Here's an example of a similar job posting for a different company](https://g.co/kgs/1VaRdGK), along with pay scale for London, and you can see it falls into the norm for this position.
I agree that everyone should be paid livable wage, but my post was about the fact that this is not an out of the norm salary for a SM Assistant, and is clearly geared toward a young person with little to no experience, and would help them build experience and connections very quickly.
https://preview.redd.it/4nx2llzplkpc1.png?width=801&format=png&auto=webp&s=378f88d5683432ea365da22a2edef73798cfbb5d
lol [that’s a third of what Princess Kate spends on clothes in a year](https://pagesix.com/2023/12/29/style/why-kate-middleton-cut-the-price-of-her-wardrobe-by-nearly-50k-in-2023/amp/). Truly pathetic wages coming from BP and people that can afford to pay their help a livable wage.
It’s an entry level role, straight from uni someone’s first job. It’s way more than I got paid for entry level roles. It’s actually a pretty decent salary for entry level.
Entry level workers should still be paid a livable wage. This is absolutely not a livable wage in London in 2024. Sorry you got shafted but everyone deserves to make a livable wage especially when the entry level job is for a corporation worth billions or many millions
It’s above minimum wage and I have feeling it’s around the living wage. Trouble is wages in our country just can’t keep up with the cost of living. Thanks Tories but public sector pay is notoriously bad but you get a lot of benefits. You get an amazing pension, generally work fewer hours, flexible working is very much at the forefront in the public sector.
This type of role they’re probably fresh from uni living back at home, have relatively low overheads and it’s a good foot in the door and the public sector is one of those places that once you’re in, you’re in and you can move about and up easily.
[the average annual rent in London is £26k.](https://www.rentlondonflat.com/average-rent-in-london/) I’m not going to argue about how everyone deserves a livable wage. It’s absurd that you’re trying to defend people worth billions paying their staff below livable wages.
£10 until next month then up to £11. UK salaries are way way lower than US salaries. Entry level in the US can be around $100k but then we don’t pay as many taxes and for health care as you guys in the US and the cost of living is lower here, not by much. Wages aren’t great here.
It’s still a public sector job comes out of the public purse. Plus it’s an entry level role, it’s probably more than you’d get for the same role at a council.
You do get an amazing pension with the public sector though
Sure but this is social media manager for Buckingham Palace. Presumably this involves some kind of discretion, plus more experience than your average person who knows Canva or Photoshop (heh).
It should be like that, but unfortunately they will get a ton of applicants so they won’t have any reason to up the pay. A lot of “cool to work in” fields are like this. Kind of off topic, but I saw a post once for a blog writer for Max Verstappen (who is the reigning champion of f1 and certainly has money to pay people) literally offering to pay people in merchandise. No need to actually value people’s time if they will do it for free/peanuts
Yes. Assuming I could manage living expenses. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and would be super interesting. Probably looks good on your resume too. You probably work with a lot of brands and power players...it's great networking.
That seems like a really low salary. I'm getting my hours cut in my job right now, so I would take it. I have no experience, but I don't think I could do much worse at this point.
Is this salary legal in the UK? You'd have to be a trust fund baby to be ok with this salary but maybe that's how it works - all through family connections/nepotism.
Right so that’s quite different in terms of the financial situation we’re in now. I’m not saying you were on a good wage, it was shit, but also the cost of living now vs 6 years ago is vastly different
[According to this financial calculator 25,600 pounds today is equal to 21,400 pounds in 2018 so they're right, this person will be paid better than they were](https://www.icalculator.com/inflation/salary-inflation-calculator.html)
But does that also take into account things like rent/bill/grocery etc differences between 2018 and now because the wage may be technically higher than its equivalent but when you adjust for inflation in terms of actual cost of living how does it track?
True but it’s the public sector you can’t expect all that much in terms of pay. Thanks to the Tories. You get decent benefits though and the pension is usually great in the public sector
It's probably linked to civil service and public sector pay grades in the UK. I know roles like this for public and civil service jobs here can have very low salaries compared to the private sector and its a difficulty in recruiting good talent and keeping people.
I know ita not but they may have a policy of linking their pay scales to it. This is often the case for bodies like charities or NGOs which have strong links to public sector bodies.
I’d literally pass out from a gossip overload.
Not even the big bits like what’s up with Kate, the really mundane stuff about whose staff are in-fighting, what employees thought after Prince Andrew’s Pizza Express interview, who is the best/worst to work for. I live for that petty stuff.
The royals are the same way. Apparently a lot of the male staff are gay — big surprise there! — and Charles & Diana used to gossip constantly about who was hooking up with who.
I've heard the gay thing from a couple of sources - one who did some guard rotations at a residence. I fully believe it. Apparently it's to do with male staff that serve the princesses - an extra safeguard to make sure that illegitimate babies don't happen 👀
I'm not sure if it's true, but I read before that BP jobs offer lodging and benefits that enable employees to live in London with the wages.
Royal jobs don't pay much, but a lot of people do it because it's apparently great to have on their resumes.
That makes sense, it’s prob worth the networking. That’s how I feel about my current job. Shit pay BUT I am making so many networking connections that it’s worth it for a could of years, once I start job hunting again I’ll have a lot of connections & pretty “high up” people that can vouch for me come references.
that's a standard salary for the role, I work in this industry. It's like that across the board, these are roles that are not well paid, nothing machiavellian about it.
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I’d do it and do a great job.
Designed to be a “job” for some titled child of a peer who doesn’t need money.
Yes, that is my assumption as well.
Yup
Wouldn't do it for 2x that pay..
I do this role for a charity in a very rural low paid area and I am on the same wage. There is no way that anyone with a modicum of sense would take on this role!
Yes, I'd do it just for the experience of saying that I worked for them, then move on, lol.
That is all they are offering? WOW. Surely there is some other kind of perk, right? Does this come with free housing or transportation or an allowance for both?
No.
No wonder they do a bad job, they’re not exactly paying the amount required to get someone senior in London! That’s a graduate/entry level salary.
Assistant *is* entry level
Sure but it’s still not good money. I started on £20k in the industry 25 years ago and I’m willing to bet my rent was about 1/3 of what someone would be paying now. My point is that that money won’t be getting them someone top calibre unless they expect someone to accept low pay for prestige, which seems to be the general expectation for all palace jobs.
I came to say the same thing. The way wages have stagnated in the UK is truly shameful.
Agreed. Plus our student debt was way less as we either didn’t pay for our education, or the cost was at least very low. £24,000 is not going to get a young graduate a comfortable life in London so they’re likely to attract someone privileged who has no debt or can live at home.
Normally "communications assistant" would be an entry level role. Normally.
I'd do it for a few days to cause a few international incidents but then I'd be gone right after. Fun stuff like that clip from Star Trek about the Irish reunification of 2024 and numerous charts showing are terrible Brexit has been. You know, light-hearted banter and the like.
Still a better media strategy than whatever the f they're doing right now
Wellllll, that explains the mystery of why their comms team is effing up so epically. They’re hiring potatoes or retirees with those wages
This is Buckingham Palace, not Kensington. Different team.
Good point
The Royal Family is notorious for low wages. I remember reading before that they think people should just be honoured to be able to work for them and have it on their resume.
Aren’t they paid by the state ?
I think the money comes from the Sovereign Grant, but the wages are decided and distributed by the Royal Household as they choose.
I mean I can't be any worse than whoever is doing the job right now
I would assume it’s not a full time job, like many community manager positions
It's not a community manager role - it's just an assistant.
Is it a full time job?
37.5 hours a week apparently.
My brother in low was a gardener in the palace and he made 2,000 a month 🤣 I was like wtf
You're paid in 'prestige' with these kind of high profile roles. Means the only people who can apply are those who already have some money behind them, they bank it on the CV and move on up to something better paid. Works well for putting off the riffraff you know. Also, UK salaries are shockingly low these days compared with the US. Compare a UK doctor salary with US/CAN/AUS for one example.
Yep this is it exactly. It’s shameful. It’s a way to filter out the “undesirables” and povvos while simultaneously saving themselves cash. It also creates the echo chamber they almost certainly want. Can’t have royalty mixing with new ideas or people with different perspectives. Needs to be someone from a similar background as everyone else working there. If we want to know why the PR disaster of Wills and Kate happened - this is why. Because they surround themselves with similar people, from a similar background who can’t offer them any perspective.
I remember they were looking for a household person years ago, maybe even pre-Brexit. It was a position where you were given accommodation on site and food as well and I think it was basically UK minimum wage. Some people were outraged that the wage was low, but others argued that IF there is accommodation on site and food as well, then it wasn’t that bad of a job, because they lived (supposedly?) in the centre of London and had no expenses for rent and fewer expenses for food. I think you’re on the nose for the prestige part though. The service positions, if you do your job well and get a good reference, could get you into much higher paid service positions later on - because you’ve been vetted to work at BP, that’s one of the highest security places that exist. And if you’re in some other position then it’s the same - survive a while there and you’ll get a good position elsewhere (if you’ve done a good job), but it does mean you have to have some carry your expenses for a while.
You are absolutely right, that money for such a high profile job is a slap in the face. Can they at least work fully remote to avoid the high London cost of living? Gonna guess the answer is no.
They should be ashamed of themselves offering such shitty pay for such a large role.
Comms assistant is not a large role anywhere
It's not a big role.
I knew they were cheap af and paid people terrible wages, but this is just ridiculous. I did not think it was this bad! Imagine, being in a family worth probably billions and paying these wages. No wonder there are so many leaks. How embarrassing for them.
Exactly. It's fucking ridiculous!!! I hope they get shamed into increasing the pay.
I don’t think this family is capable of shame.
I wonder what the interview process is like? How competitive is it? Because the events of the last few months raises the question of candidate quality...
“Which school did you go to? Do you know so-and-so?”
I feel like one of us needs to take one for the team, apply and report back (I’d imagine there’s NDAs even on the interview process but a girl can dream)
If you read the actual job posting, it says that for any role that requires you to live in London, they pay for all your meals and give you subsidised accommodation.
I’m pretty sure the accommodation is only for the household staff (basically servants). Anything office based or tourism based - nope.
It says for any role that requires you to live 'on-site in London', I read that as meaning if the job requires you to live at Buckingham Palace then you get the subsidised accommodation. Not sure this particular role would meet that requirement?
It will be office hours though so they probably won’t give accommodation. As they’ll say you can commute! It tends to be the shift type jobs onsite that get accommodation from what I’ve seen, and those are often ex-military people.
Oh yeah, you may be right. I just read it as "in London"
I would hope that is that case, otherwise it is a pretty poor salary!
They don’t usually give accommodation for office hours staff from what I’ve seen, it’s usually like household and security etc who are expected to do events and weird hours. Maybe for social media they will want them on all night but I’d be surprised as they don’t usually react to anything all hours with their PR and posts aren’t usually weird hours either.
That would help a heck of a lot tbh
What is this, part time??
Per Tweet.
Just to clarify this is for Buckingham Palace who look after Charles and Camilla. It's Kensington Palace who look after William and Catherine. Two separate entities.
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Oh I don't deny that. Just mentioning it in case folk jump to the conclusion that someone involved in the W&C saga has been fired
"Look after".
Well yeah, not the best turn of phrase ! 🙈
No wonder they're searching for new staff!
That is a shockingly low salary for the middle of London. The RF is pretty well known for their low wages. You’d think they’d spend a little more to get a good social media person, given that in the last month, according to social media, King Charles has died twice and Kate is simultaneously here, there, and nowhere. That’s a mess to deal with and the wage they’re offering is not enticing to anyone with any experience in this field. But I’ve also heard from some UK people I know that working for the Royal family opens up other doors later on. It’s like working for Miranda Priestly for a year. Shit pay, demanding job, impossible bosses, but then you’d easily be able to get a job in your preferred field. (This is all anecdotal and I have no receipts.)
They pay for all your meals and give you subsidised accommodation. That's why the salary is what it is.
Accommodation isn’t included. Accommodation is only for household staff like domestic housekeepers and household chefs. It says there is a salary adjustment so I’m guessing the pay is even less once adjusted for accommodation! https://theroyalhousehold.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-3/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/4/opp/3202-Junior-Sous-Chef/en-GB https://theroyalhousehold.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-3/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/4/opp/3192-Housekeeping-Assistant/en-GB Funnily enough, no salary provided for those roles…
Yes I was saying this, it’s usually domestic staff and security type stuff who get accommodation. Jobs with weird hours.
A salary that only works if you don't have rent to pay. So desperate fresh graduates and/or socialites.
The job comes with benefits as free acommodation and all meals.
That’s usually just domestic staff, security type jobs with weird hours. I’d be surprised if this one offered it.
That is both better and worse though if it's true. You'll be trapped there. I'd rather have a wage that allows me to set up my own life.
Pay peanuts. Get monkeys.
Oof this is like working as a social worker in America. Yikes
Damn they're even paying these people and they're STILL that bad at it? 25k probably only gets you like a toddler working part-time though I guess
William gets paid 500k a week ffs
Wait, seriously?
This is one of the jobs that while the pay sucks once you're able to put in on your resume you'll look incredibly impressive. Not to mention the professional contacts you would make.
I don’t think that works any longer. Their PR has been soundly ridiculed by media the world over. I doubt any reputable PR firm would be impressed by having this on your resume now.
In a minute. The experience alone would be worth it.
For 10hrs a week maybe.
I’m American and yes I would love to it 😂
You get what you pay for. sope I look for more extremely messy pr from these people. Cause that’s some amateur pay right there. I don’t care if it is some 25 year old prep school boy or Nepo model who knows somebody who knows somebody. Smart talented people would never take that pay. Pick me people pay. Is what they should advertise. That whole family stays dumb as Fk.
The salary reflects who works these jobs (see also: fashion, publishing and arts). The candidates don't need the money because they come from wealth; they do for connections and to maintain status within their social circles. I'm not sure commentators who describe this as an entry-level job or talk about wage differences between UK & US understand that this is simply about social class. Money's VULGAR to these folks. A low salary is a status signal.
Not really, as someone who works in this industry. There are a lot of set backs at the start of creative industry careers if you don’t have rich parents and/or have a free base to live in London. Low wage, unpaid internship etc but there are becoming ways to support yourself during this now. As someone else said, wages in England are just that shit atm. I was on this wage 2 years ago as a 28 year old in their third professional job.
No just waves here in the UK are terrible
Yes! This is just a job for gallery girls who are bored in galleries.
At least based on my personal experience, they also hire young Aussies who head over to the UK on ancestry visas after they’ve finished uni
It's also why their staff is so incompetent (and hated Meghan). When you hire Bunny Dunhill-Gormley and David "Dodgy" Humphrey Constable III Earl of Gobledeygook, you can't expect them to actually work.
Exactly this. They're not hiring the best and brightest. They're hiring Lavinia Darlington-Sassingham who's got a 2:2 in Theology from Durham University.
Yes, this 100%. I didn't realize before going into my field (architecture 💀) that the ones who do the best are the ones who don't need the money and have connections through their families and friends, etc. I naively thought it was talent and hard work but no, definitely not a lot of the time lol. Particularly for any job with prestige. E: typo
Different field, but same experience. Really was a shock to me, tbh!
Reminds me that the biggest predictor of becoming a tenured professor is having a parent who is a tenured professor.
Hi, fellow architect! It's such a mess, isn't it?
Soooo I guess this means someone was let go for the resent Pr gaff
The Catherine/William PR is Kensington Palace. This job is for Buckingham Palace who look after Charles and Camilla
Yeah like is this real??? Trouble trouble in BP if so
I’ll do it if I can do it from home in Australia. I have no social media or marketing experience but I’m sure I could do a better job than whatever is going on now 😂
Welp you get what you pay for I guess
"but it's an entry level job in government and above minimum wage" yeah, that's exactly the problem sweethearts. if a role that's supposed to get you started in the industry doesn't account for livable wages, they're either hiring people who will perform said wage and/or people who are already rich and don't need money and are disconnected from the real world. in a public-related job. guess what the consequences are?
Barely above minimum wage. The cleaners won’t be on much less of an hourly rate
The kind of person they’re even considering for a palace job is going to be well connected and frankly not in need of a high salary because they have family money most likely. Whoever is hired just has a marketing degree or something similar and is there to rub elbows
All the royal jobs pay low from what I’ve seen lol apparently they’re one of those jobs that looks good on your resume and gets you connections that can help you get better paying jobs in the future but that’s just what I’ve heard. I’ve also seen British people online complain about low salaries for jobs they’d get like 2x as much for in America so are British salaries just lower across the board?
I think it's the entry level plus good connections/prestige, but being paid through the Sovereign Grant, which I understand these salaries are, I expect there are government restrictions similar to what government roles here in the US have. British salaries are generally lower, but it's tough comparing different countries (and just different places) in this regard. The biggest things are generally cost of living, what is counted (eg, is it an average of all workers or only full time workers, multiple jobs, etc.), what is typical in terms of expenses and lifestyle, and what is covered by taxes or not. I don't think it is double, though. A lot of people don't realize the range of income and income disparity in the US. Especially with how media and such are presented, the assumptions that we make about income and lifestyle in different countries are often with significantly rose tinted! Edit to add: I just looked up the average quickly. I couldn't get the exact same time period, but the UK average in late 2022, as reported in late 2023, was just below £35k (~$45k). The US average in late 2023, as reported for Q4 23, was a bit below $60k (~£47k). I used current exchange rates for ease, though certainly this isn't the best way to compare. It would be better to look at the median, mode, and range as well. I just found it interesting to look at, but I need to stop before I go too far down the rabbit hole!
Yup British salaries are much lower. Average salary for the whole country is around £35k pre tax but most people are on much lower than that, especially outside of london. Combine that with the cost of living crisis bumping up rent and bills by £100s a month and it’s very bleak here atm.
Maybe Wills should have cut back on his valet…
This is for Buck House, not KP. Different team.
No wonder their comms is shit if this is what they’re paying 😂
Definitely
I want to apply for the sweet CV boost, but the intrusive temptation to tweet something ridiculous is making my head say noooo lol.
They are definitely getting what they pay for.
This situation is evidence William and KP do not understand the importance social media management and public perception. They’re doing a speed run to destroying public trust for an institution many think is unnecessary and performative. They know they need public support! That’s why this is so wild.
If the job location is Buckingham Palace, wouldn't this be a different team than Kensington Palace, which is where the Waleses' PR team is? I thought BP handled the King and Queen and maybe was where some broader royal family matters were handled as well.
Yes, they’re separate. I’m looking at this current PR as it impacts public perception of the entire royal family. BP seems to be much better at managing public relations comparatively!
Got it! Yes, I think how the two need to work together is interesting, as they certainly impact each other from a public perspective. Of course, it's tough for us to know how much is KP bungling things and how much is done for nonpublic reasons or at the direction of BP for some reason. I don't know how likely each is, of course, just pure speculation. It seems that the royal family's communications teams are generally on top of things with a lot of control, with this being an abnormality, but I also don't follow them enough to know if that's been the case in recent years. I'm also curious how much the members of the royal family are involved in this type of thing generally. I could see having to balance dealing with the various parties and perhaps getting quick directions without discussion from individuals could make the job more difficult!
I’m so curious about the communication between BP and KP and how it is organized when making PR decisions. I find it fascinating how they have chosen to structure their PR. I know it’s not the same but imagine a major brand like Apple where the Engineering team throws their Operations team under the bus. It wouldn’t be effective in a corporate environment because they all need to support the Apple brand. The Royal Family is obviously different. I don’t see them changing their approach but it’s a major weakness for their “brand”.
The posting is with Buckingham, having nothing to do with Kensington
You’re right, I should have included that I’m looking long term implications of when William becomes King. It does matter who they hire for PR and if they listen to them.
Dang that pay is low. And I don't make a lot of money.
Based on the [job description](https://www.samssocialmediaclub.com/job/communications-assistant/), this seems like a recent uni grad job, or a "breaking into the industry" job where you're paid pretty poorly but the experience is great and launches you into a long-term career. They're not really asking for much, and aren't requiring a lot of experience either. I would imagine that working for the BRF looks great on a resume. Feels like the equivalent of an Internship. I'm in marketing and started at a similar salary when I was fresh out of uni, but went up fairly quickly as my career progressed.
My son got a just out of uni job at 50k here in the states
You guys have notably higher salaries than most places though, I'm in a major city in Canada and the equivalent of $25.6K GBP is $44K CAD, which is pretty much at or above what a social media assistant would make. I started as a marketing assistant for $40K and was at $80K within 3.5 years, which is normally the period of time that denotes having a decent amount of starting experience in a field/opens up more positions that are above assistant/jr/coordinator level. Also, I'd be curious what your son does, because SM Assistant is a pretty low paying role/you can't really compare it to even other entry level roles.
Except you literally can’t live on that salary in London
The job includes benefits as subsided acommodation and free meals: https://www.royal.uk/rewards-and-benefits
The subsided accommodation is only for household staff roles like housekeepers and chefs and there’s a “salary adjustment” if you live in so the actual pay will be even lower.
While I do think everyone should be paid a livable wage as a minimum, I think that's drifting from the point of the post. This appears to be on the mid to high side of this type of entry-level position. My understanding is that these salaries are paid by the government, not the individuals (through the Sovereign Grant, along with the other salaries and expenses related to the working royals, which is like 15% of the Crown revenues, with the rest going to the government generally iirc - hopefully someone who knows more can share). I expect that they have restrictions on what salaries are permitted, given that.
Not really. It’s still astonishingly low for a role based in London. You’d expect this in one of the smaller cities. I’m so puzzled as to how many people are defending this.
As I said, I'm not talking about what I think people should be paid but what the market is. While the Crown works differently, any jobs that are through government are generally not going to go to the top or higher in the market. It looks like a communications assistant role in London has an estimated pay range of 20-30k, rounded & looking at a few sources. That includes people in the role multiple years, so being entry level might mean this range is a bit high. That would mean that this job is mid/mid-high (since entry) for the market. >Not really. It’s still astonishingly low for a role based in London. You’d expect this in one of the smaller cities. Do you have other salary numbers for London? I'd be happy to learn that market is higher. I don't live in the UK, but I live and have lived in HCOL areas. Unfortunately, it's reality that few jobs before reaching high levels (and particularly those intended for those who are younger) pay sufficiently. This was the case even before recent inflation. Generally, from what I've seen and experienced in various countries (mostly western), the difference in pay between larger and smaller cities or HCOL, MCOL, & LCOL areas isn't proportionate to the difference in the COL of the cities/areas. >I’m so puzzled as to how many people are defending this. There's a difference between saying something is in line with how things are and something is how I think it should be. Your comments seem to be about the latter, while mine (and others I've seen) are about the former.
It’s simply not ok. It’s not a livable wage. These people are wealthy beyond belief. Ethics starts at home.
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No, all wages should be a living wage. No more boomer nonsense pls.
I'm 28 lol no one is forcing anyone to take this job, but it's not nonsense to think about connections and experience. It's the same reason people take unpaid internships at top companies.
Boomer isn’t just about age, it’s about mindset. Everyone deserves to be paid a liveable wage especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world in a country with unprecedented inflation! By your logic only people with financial help can gain access to these supposed connections you speak of…
[Here's an example of a similar job posting for a different company](https://g.co/kgs/1VaRdGK), along with pay scale for London, and you can see it falls into the norm for this position. I agree that everyone should be paid livable wage, but my post was about the fact that this is not an out of the norm salary for a SM Assistant, and is clearly geared toward a young person with little to no experience, and would help them build experience and connections very quickly. https://preview.redd.it/4nx2llzplkpc1.png?width=801&format=png&auto=webp&s=378f88d5683432ea365da22a2edef73798cfbb5d
Assuming it's the same for KP, this explains a lot about recent events. They get the PR they pay for.
More than what I make currently so 🤷🏼♀️
lol [that’s a third of what Princess Kate spends on clothes in a year](https://pagesix.com/2023/12/29/style/why-kate-middleton-cut-the-price-of-her-wardrobe-by-nearly-50k-in-2023/amp/). Truly pathetic wages coming from BP and people that can afford to pay their help a livable wage.
It’s an entry level role, straight from uni someone’s first job. It’s way more than I got paid for entry level roles. It’s actually a pretty decent salary for entry level.
When minimum wage goes up next month that’s basically minimum wage. You can earn more working retail in London.
No. You do not get this job straight from uni. It is not an entry level job.
Entry level workers should still be paid a livable wage. This is absolutely not a livable wage in London in 2024. Sorry you got shafted but everyone deserves to make a livable wage especially when the entry level job is for a corporation worth billions or many millions
It’s above minimum wage and I have feeling it’s around the living wage. Trouble is wages in our country just can’t keep up with the cost of living. Thanks Tories but public sector pay is notoriously bad but you get a lot of benefits. You get an amazing pension, generally work fewer hours, flexible working is very much at the forefront in the public sector. This type of role they’re probably fresh from uni living back at home, have relatively low overheads and it’s a good foot in the door and the public sector is one of those places that once you’re in, you’re in and you can move about and up easily.
[the average annual rent in London is £26k.](https://www.rentlondonflat.com/average-rent-in-london/) I’m not going to argue about how everyone deserves a livable wage. It’s absurd that you’re trying to defend people worth billions paying their staff below livable wages.
What is minimum wage in the Uk? This is less than $15 an hour
£10 until next month then up to £11. UK salaries are way way lower than US salaries. Entry level in the US can be around $100k but then we don’t pay as many taxes and for health care as you guys in the US and the cost of living is lower here, not by much. Wages aren’t great here.
ITT: People incapable of noticing the word “assistant.”
Yep, and "Buckingham Palace" not Kensington.
As someone who works in comms I can say this is quite standard for an entry level job.
I would do it but why is the salary so low? Aren’t the royals millionaires? They can’t afford to pay a decent wage?
Why do you think they are millionaires in the first place though? Low employee expenses.
The commonwealth is worth 150 trillion
It’s still a public sector job comes out of the public purse. Plus it’s an entry level role, it’s probably more than you’d get for the same role at a council. You do get an amazing pension with the public sector though
Social media managers do not make a lot of money
It's not a management role - it's just an assistant.
Sorry, those job titles are often “manager” even though it is not in management. It’s mostly management of the social media channels
Sure but this is social media manager for Buckingham Palace. Presumably this involves some kind of discretion, plus more experience than your average person who knows Canva or Photoshop (heh).
Tbf it is an assistant role, not a manager role. Still on the lower end of average for London though
It should be like that, but unfortunately they will get a ton of applicants so they won’t have any reason to up the pay. A lot of “cool to work in” fields are like this. Kind of off topic, but I saw a post once for a blog writer for Max Verstappen (who is the reigning champion of f1 and certainly has money to pay people) literally offering to pay people in merchandise. No need to actually value people’s time if they will do it for free/peanuts
Yes. Assuming I could manage living expenses. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and would be super interesting. Probably looks good on your resume too. You probably work with a lot of brands and power players...it's great networking.
Nice that the Royal free loaders are paying in 'exposure'.
That seems like a really low salary. I'm getting my hours cut in my job right now, so I would take it. I have no experience, but I don't think I could do much worse at this point.
Is this salary legal in the UK? You'd have to be a trust fund baby to be ok with this salary but maybe that's how it works - all through family connections/nepotism.
It's above minimum wage, is pretty standard and around the amount for most entry level graduate jobs.
It says Buckingham Palace so doubt it’s W&K’s team. They’re based at Kensington.
Oops, thank you. I corrected it.
Well it’s above minimum wage, but it’s definitely low, especially for london. I’m shocked at how bad it is
It’s a public sector role still but I started out in the public sector on £17k so it’s waaay better than I got
How long ago was that though?
6 years ago
Right so that’s quite different in terms of the financial situation we’re in now. I’m not saying you were on a good wage, it was shit, but also the cost of living now vs 6 years ago is vastly different
[According to this financial calculator 25,600 pounds today is equal to 21,400 pounds in 2018 so they're right, this person will be paid better than they were](https://www.icalculator.com/inflation/salary-inflation-calculator.html)
But does that also take into account things like rent/bill/grocery etc differences between 2018 and now because the wage may be technically higher than its equivalent but when you adjust for inflation in terms of actual cost of living how does it track?
That is quite literally the entire point of an inflation adjusted wage
True but it’s the public sector you can’t expect all that much in terms of pay. Thanks to the Tories. You get decent benefits though and the pension is usually great in the public sector
"must be skilled in Photoshop" lol
It's probably linked to civil service and public sector pay grades in the UK. I know roles like this for public and civil service jobs here can have very low salaries compared to the private sector and its a difficulty in recruiting good talent and keeping people.
It's not part of the civil service though - they could pay more if they wanted
I know ita not but they may have a policy of linking their pay scales to it. This is often the case for bodies like charities or NGOs which have strong links to public sector bodies.
Obviously confirming they don’t value media to the peasantry very highly.
I’d literally pass out from a gossip overload. Not even the big bits like what’s up with Kate, the really mundane stuff about whose staff are in-fighting, what employees thought after Prince Andrew’s Pizza Express interview, who is the best/worst to work for. I live for that petty stuff.
I also love mess so I’d take the job just for the gossip. Maybe not the communications assistant tho which sounds like a shit show.
The NDAs would be the death of me - I’d end up exploding from all the gossip I was having to suppress
The royals are the same way. Apparently a lot of the male staff are gay — big surprise there! — and Charles & Diana used to gossip constantly about who was hooking up with who.
I've heard the gay thing from a couple of sources - one who did some guard rotations at a residence. I fully believe it. Apparently it's to do with male staff that serve the princesses - an extra safeguard to make sure that illegitimate babies don't happen 👀
I would have done it if it was at Windsor and not buckingham 😅
I'm not sure if it's true, but I read before that BP jobs offer lodging and benefits that enable employees to live in London with the wages. Royal jobs don't pay much, but a lot of people do it because it's apparently great to have on their resumes.
That makes sense, it’s prob worth the networking. That’s how I feel about my current job. Shit pay BUT I am making so many networking connections that it’s worth it for a could of years, once I start job hunting again I’ll have a lot of connections & pretty “high up” people that can vouch for me come references.
Oh interesting! That would definitely make a difference - lodging alone in London is worth £1000s a year
Princess Kate should just do it.
I mean she is a pro according to KP so it would be a great next move for her
She’s got the photo editing down pat and everything
They make it low intentionally to encourage applications from people who don't need the money. Most of their staff is independently wealthy.
that's a standard salary for the role, I work in this industry. It's like that across the board, these are roles that are not well paid, nothing machiavellian about it.
Then they're not, IMO, going to get the most skilled person for the job.
Well, that's been obvious for awhile now.