Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced that they have met their internal targets for diversity within their staff, following accusations of racism within the royal family made by Meghan Markle three years ago.
Their household currently employs 66 individuals, with around 14% (approximately nine people) coming from ethnic minority backgrounds. Furthermore, 67% of the staff are female, while 33% are male, totaling around 44 and 22 employees respectively.
Buckingham Palace has also revealed its diversity figures and aims to have 14% of its staff come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2025.
As for King Charles III’s royal household, 11.4% of its employees are from ethnic minority backgrounds, with a mean pay gap of 3.9%, indicating that ethnic minority staff are paid less on average than white staff. Additionally, 53% of employees are female, with a gender pay gap of 2.2%, which is lower than the national average of 14.3%. Despite these improvements, there is still progress to be made in achieving pay equity.
The Buckingham Palace workforce is gradually becoming more diverse each year, though they have yet to meet all of their diversity goals.
The push to release these figures was prompted by Meghan Markle’s revelations during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she disclosed concerns about the skin color of her unborn child reportedly raised within the family.
In a royal biography called Endgame, King Charles III was mistakenly identified as the royal figure referenced by Meghan during the Oprah interview. The book also mentioned that Kate Middleton was present during that discussion, and Charles later reached out to Meghan to clarify that no malice was intended in the comments made.
Meghan shared with Oprah, “In those months when I was pregnant, there was a conversation about ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and concerns about the color of his skin.”
The Sovereign Grant Report, released on July 24, highlighted ongoing efforts to enhance diversity within the royal household, promoting an inclusive culture and fostering engagement across all teams.
The report also acknowledged that the royal household voluntarily disclosed its gender pay gap for 5 April 2024, and for the first time, shared its ethnic minority pay gap to showcase progress towards fostering a more inclusive workplace.