King Charles Defended by Friends After Highgrove Sees Mass Staff Walkout Over ‘Unrealistic’ Demands
King Charles’s Highgrove gardens have recently come under scrutiny after reports surfaced of 11 out of 12 gardeners resigning from their posts since 2022, citing being “overwhelmed and underpaid." Former aides claimed they were discouraged from raising issues of understaffing, while others were said to have faced blunt criticism for not meeting the King’s exacting standards on details such as plant tags or the presentation of flower beds. However, now, friends of the King have spoken out, offering a very different version of events.
The initial claims, reported by The Sunday Times, revealed that the gardeners, who were paid the minimum wage, had experienced burnout and felt underappreciated. Some staffers described working conditions as physically exhausting. One even alleged they were dismissed after a mere failure to identify a flower correctly, with the King allegedly saying, “Don’t put that man in front of me again.”
Yet insiders close to Charles insist these accounts paint an incomplete and unfair picture. Several friends, speaking anonymously to The Daily Mail, said the King’s reputation for precision stems from genuine passion, not hostility. “His attention to detail is unmatched,” a source said, adding that high expectations were understandable given Charles’s decades-long commitment to sustainable gardening and environmental stewardship. Alluding to the incident in question, one defended the King as having not been 'beastly to the man.' Rather, they argued that the monarch was irritated as the gardener concerned had personally asked for an unskilled friend of his to be hired. “The fact is, he was ambushed over a matter, and it was this that he was cross about.” Commenting also on the ragwort removal controversy, the source added, "It is an invasive and noxious weed and hardly seems unreasonable to request its removal.”
Some even suggested the King’s current challenges may partly reflect the absence of a once-critical aide, Michael Fawcett, Charles’ former valet and trusted assistant. Fawcett, who left the royal fold in 2021 amid a cash-for-honors scandal, was known to handle internal conflicts before they reached the King. “Michael would never have allowed the complaints from the gardeners to reach Charles’s ears,” a former associate told The Mail. “He would have handled them himself.”
However, as per the New York Post, despite the complaints from former gardeners, data shows that the King’s Foundation, which now oversees Highgrove’s operations, recorded only one formal grievance out of nearly 500 staff in the last year. Among those defending the King is Jack Stooks, a former senior gardener at Highgrove who left after two decades, citing physical strain and health issues rather than personal grievances. “I never had an issue with the King or with his family,” Stooks shared. “I don’t think this should be aimed quite at him. He’s employed by the Foundation, and, yes, he’s part of the Foundation, but they are running the garden.”
Highgrove Estate is currently the private residence of the King and Queen Camilla in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Charles had acquired it when the Duchy of Cornwall purchased the estate from Maurice Macmillan, son of former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. The property houses nine bedrooms, a swimming pool, and an impressive steel-lined panic room for emergencies.