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Why British Royal Staff Staged An In House Protest At Queen Elizabeth II’s Main Residence

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Royal staff staged a rare protest against planned job cuts outside one of Queen Elizabeth II’s main residences, Windsor Castle, their trade union said on Wednesday.

The Public and Commercial Service (PCS) Union tweeted a photograph of visitor wardens employed by the royal household “protesting about cuts to their pensions and jobs” in front of a main gate of the castle on Tuesday.

The PCS said royal staff faced “200 compulsory redundancies” and cuts to their pension contributions.

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It said union members employed at the castle by the Royal Collection Trust, part of the Royal Household, had staged a silent protest.

The photograph showed six wardens in uniform standing with a life-size cut-out of King Henry VIII.

“King Henry cut off heads … now they want to axe our jobs and cut our pensions,” read a message on a placard.

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The union said 92 people had accepted voluntary redundancy and 200 more faced “the prospect of compulsory redundancy on much worse terms.”

It said lower-paid staff at three royal residences – Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Holyrood Castle – had their employer’s pension contributions cut from 15 per cent to 8 per cent.