It’s every person’s dream to have an amazing job working for the British royals. Although you’d expect to have to come from a long line of nobility or possess pure blood to even be allowed inside the palace walls, you can actually apply for most royal jobs via their job listings page. In the past, the family has hired positions that ranged from being Kate Middleton’s lady-in-waiting to being an intern to Prince Harry. Really!
Although the jobs sound like a dream come true, there might not be a guarantee that you’ll be hanging out with Prince William and Kate. “The chances of seeing the queen are zero to none,” Marc van der Linden, publisher of Royalty Magazine, said. “Buckingham Palace is a working palace; none of the royal family members live there.”
That’s right. William and Kate live at Kensington Palace and the Queen mostly resides at Winsford Palace.
And the jobs don’t exactly pay that well either, but having “royal dishwasher” still looks pretty good on a resume. Beyond housekeepers and butlers, the noble family also hires other positions that are a little quirky.
Royal Shoe-Wearer
Although she’s 91, the Queen still wears mostly heels, and because her entourage works hard to ensure she never looks tired, weak, or fragile, it’s important for her shoes to always be comfortable. That’s where the royal shoe-wearer comes in. This job requires someone to walk around in the Queen’s new shoes to break them in. Yep, someone gets paid for that. “[The shoes] have to be immediately comfortable … she does get someone to wear them,” the Queen’s dress designer Stewart Parvin said. “The Queen can never say ‘I’m uncomfortable, I can’t walk anymore.’ She has the right to have someone wear them in.” Sounds like a sweet gig to us!
Royal Social Media Officer
Buckingham Palace, as well as other royal residencies, all have official Twitter and Facebook accounts to announce news and other business. Earlier this year, the palace posted a job listing for a Digital Communications Officer to work on a maternity leave for $52,000 a year. Can you imagine getting paid to tweet for William and Kate?
The Grand Carver
She’s the queen — did you really expect her to cut her own steaks? But this self-explanatory job is so important, you can’t even apply for it. That’s right, you have to inherit the position through royal or noble blood. Currently, the Earl of Denbigh and Desmond has the job, but maybe they’ll think about opening it up to applicants in the future.
Royal Linen Keeper
The palace advertised this job back in 2016. According to the job listing, the position’s responsibilities were to ensure “the cloth matches the magnificence of the banqueting table.” We’re not sure what that means, but the position included a free room and meals at Buckingham Palace, which makes the measly pay ($30,000 a year) completely worth it.
Royal Vase Polisher
The palace is full of historic vases, and well, somebody has to polish them all. The palace advertised this job last year and said they were looking for someone to work 20 hours a week for only $13,000 a year. For that kind of pay, you must seriously love vases!
Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures
There are a ton of paintings of the Queen around the palace, and yep, it’s someone’s job to maintain that the paintings are looking their best and, we don’t know, are hanging properly? The current surveyor is Desmond Shawe-Taylor, who’s had the job since 2005.
Keeper of the Queen’s Stamps
Thanks to her father, King George V, the Queen has a massive stamp collection, and she employs someone to overlook and organise them. The current position is being held by Michael Sefi, who’s had the gig since 2003. But who knows? Maybe he’ll step down soon.
This post originally appeared on our sister site, Closer Weekly
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