Queen Elizabeth's chambermaid walk-out

Apr 12, 2010, 12:31 GMT

Britain's Queen Elizabeth's chambermaids are threatening to go on strike.

The monarch - who employs 36 chambermaids on a £12,000-a-year wage at Buckingham Palace - has reportedly upset her domestic staff so much over their expected duties, they are now threatening industrial action.

The staff, who signed contracts three years ago in which they agreed to help out at evening events with no extra pay, are furious about the current "climate of fear" which exists at the palace.

A source told the Daily Express newspaper: "We had no idea just how much extra evening work would be involved. It was a novelty, being asked to serve drinks to the great and the good, so we agreed thinking it would only be once or twice a month.

"We've been asked to do more and more, some of us working two or three nights a week, for nothing. We don't feel we can say no - there's a climate of fear."

One member of the queen's domestic staff has already resigned and more are expected to follow in coming weeks, following unease about the contractual changes.

The alterations to duties have seen maids replace footmen who had been paid significantly higher wages to staff after-hours functions.

The source continued: "We're asked to come in on evenings when we're not in work during the day but it just ends up feeling like we are always working. Our social and family lives are suffering. We are already on minimum wage, but the extra work makes it feel like slave wages - we'd be better off working in a hotel."