Duchess of Cambridge's secretarial team salary raises eyebrows

A job vacancy within the Duchess of Cambridge's secretarial team has been shared and the salary has raised eyebrows.

A job advert posted this week on LinkedIn by The Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, revealed Kensington Palace is searching for a personal assistant to the assistant private secretary to the Duchess.

The role requires applicants to awareness or interest in the royal's work and activities and unsurprisingly the ability to exercise tact and discretion and maintain confidentiality at all times.

"The Household of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge supports the official and charitable work of Their Royal Highnesses," a description of the role reads.

“This is an exciting opportunity to join our PA team in support of the assistant private secretary to HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.

“This role will provide wide-ranging administrative and operational support to the assistant private secretary.”

Read more: The Duchess of Cambridge just wore the summer's easiest style

Experience needed includes: "Previous secretarial and administrative experience, including drafting of business correspondence and diary management" as well as: "excellent IT skills, including Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, and keyboard skills (60 wpm accurate typing)."

Responsibilities listed on the advert include managing the secretary’s diary, arranging meetings, monitoring correspondence and supporting the events and visits team.

The successful applicant would also be in charge of organising travel arrangements, taking minutes at meetings and providing administrative support, so it is a hugely varied role.

However, before you crack out your CV to apply, you might want to know about the wage packet.

While the LinkedIn advert doesn’t specify a salary, a link to the role on Royal Vacancies reveals the salary to be £27,500, which appears to be less than some might expect for a role working for the royal family.

And is certainly less than the average full-time UK salary, which according to the ONS, was £31,285 for the tax year ending 5 April 2021.

Watch: Kate becomes patron of charity supporting mental health of mothers

A post MyLondon shared to Twitter about the role and its salary has got people talking, with many pointing out that the salary does seem on the low side considering the job is for the royal family.

"Only £27K to be Kate’s personal assistant?" one user wrote. "That’s an absolute rip off, considering the cost of living in London. But I’m sure there’s someone out there who will be happy with it."

"You’d think personal assistants for a royal would have a crazy salary but nope," another user tweeted.

"They want all that experience but they don’t want to pay a reasonable salary for it?" another posed.

"That pay is ridiculous," yet another user commented.

Read more: Duchess of Cambridge tackles depression and anxiety in mums with new role

Meanwhile other users agreed adding: "Lol £27,500 in London to work for an actual duchess. Has Kate considered buying own-brand food if she's that skint?"

"LOL they got a gibalionzilion pounds can they not pay a bit more than that," yet another comment read.

Read more: Duchess of Cambridge fans go wild for royal's latest day look: 'A true style icon'

Some, however, pointed out that the salary was equivalent to those of similar experience in the civil service.

"It's a low wage but not surprising. Royal household wages are bench marked against equivalent roles/grades in the Civil Service & a PA/diary manager is usually at the EO/HEO grade," one user wrote. "Just highlights what crap pay the lower grades of the Civil Service get."

Despite some debate about the salary, over 430 candidates have already applied on LinkedIn.

If you're keen to throw your CV into the royal hat, you can apply here.