King Charles had an awkward encounter with a member of the public during one of his recent outings in Suffolk. The King and Queen headed to Newmarket on Wednesday, where they visited the Jockey Club Rooms and toured the nearby National Stud, before going on a walkabout to meet and greet the public.
More than 1,000 people flocked to Newmarket’s town centre to see the royal couple and speak with them. But there was an awkward moment when one of them asked the King about the Royal Family’s cost.
In video footage that’s emerged online, the King can be seen giving a surprising, two-word response to them.
The video by The National showed the monarch greeting members of the public, when at some point one of them asked him: “Why does your family cost us half a billion pounds a year, Charles?”
Charles appeared to pause for a second before looking and telling the man: “Ah, yes,” and moving away.
As the King was moving away, the same person appeared to ask him another question, this time being: “Why do you only pay your gardeners minimum wage?”
The questions refer to two reports, one of which was published last year by the anti-monarchist group Republic and claimed that the Firm’s “true cost” to the public is more than £500 million a year.
The second one referred to a report by the Sunday Times, which claimed most of the full-time gardeners who worked at Highgrove, the King’s private estate, in 2022 have now left due to low wages.
The clip then showed another clip of the King meeting people, with some members of the public saying “You are my King” and “God bless you, Your Majesty”.
However, another woman asked the monarch, “Do you think it’s fair we pay £27 million a year from the Duchy of Lancaster?”
While the King did stop for a second to hear the woman, his reply was not audible.