The garden is his favorite place, but King Charles seems to be having a spot of bother with his weeds these days.
According to a report in the Sunday Times, the King’s Foundation, which is responsible for running Charles’s world-famous gardens at Highgrove, has seen staff turnover resulting in 11 out of 12 gardeners, including two head gardeners, exiting the position since 2022.
The King’s Foundation, not King Charles himself, employs the staff at Highgrove and according to the newspaper, the staff exodus has been so great that the gardens are largely reliant on staff from Charles’s other estates. Meanwhile, an investigation was launched by the King’s Foundation into the ongoing complaints.
The investigation, according to the Sunday Times, found evidence of “staff shortages” and “poor” management practice and recommended “management training for all managers,” “mental health support and counseling,” and a pay review, as many junior staff have complained about being paid minimum wage. Yet, insiders say issues have persisted.
King Charles has been accused of making “impossible requests” with one worker allegedly being put in his place after he didn’t know about a particular flower. According to the report, the King apparently said: “Don’t put that man in front of me again.”
Charles, who is known for being as prolific a letter writer as he is a gardener, is said to bombard his staff at Highgrove with handwritten letters in his familiar spider-like scrawl. Some letters are critical, while others are said to be laden with praise.
King Charles is known for his attention to detail, particularly when it comes to his gardens. He has spent decades creating the gardens at Highgrove, which include a kitchen garden, the arboretum and the stumpery, which is decorated with ferns and wooden sculptures. As the gardens flourished, Charles began opening up Highgrove and founded his organic food business, Duchy Originals. In 2010, Charles opened the gardens to the public and by 2021, some 40,000 people visited each year.
He is said to be involved with every aspect of the garden, “supervising everything from the size of peaches to the shade of roses,” according to the report.
