Kate Middleton and Prince William's royal baby isn't due until July, but the first-time parents are already looking for a housekeeper to handle the everyday tasks of maintaining a home while they tend to the baby.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have placed an internal advertisement at Buckingham Palace looking for a royal servant to help with their growing family, reports the U.K.'s Sunday Express.
The ad calls for someone "To provide a high standard of housekeeping for TRH [their royal highnesses] The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge."
Main duties include:
- Ensuring all areas of the residence are cleaned and maintained to a high standard at all times
- Caring for and maintaining TRH personal clothing
- Cleaning silver-ware and glassware and in-house laundry
- Run errands
- Prepare basic meals when required
- Care for and exercise dogs
- Likely be expected to help the duke and duchess as they move into their newly renovated apartment at the Kensington Palace property this year
- Required to work overtime
- A current valid UK driving licence is “essential"
- Attention to detail, together with a flexible and pro-active approach is essential
- A “willingness to learn”
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- The ability to work on their own, and as part of a multi-disciplined team.
- “Discretion, loyalty and reliability are paramount”
“Most people employed as housekeepers expect to do a bit of cooking on the side, but walking dogs and driving too?" questions the insider. "And there’s also going to be a baby to factor into the equation. It’s unprecedented.”
The couple already employs one assistant, a Fijian-born corporal described as a "Man Friday" who was hired by the couple last year and assists with everything from chauffeuring the royals to organizing Prince William's clothing, according to the Express.
In 2011 private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton placed an internal ad seeking a housekeeper for the couple but one was never hired because the newlyweds were spending most of their time in a rented farmhouse in Wales.
“The post of housekeeper/dresser is being put on hold because we don’t think there is a requirement for it, given that the couple are living a farmhouse lifestyle,” Lowther-Pinkerton later stated. “There will be no major posts created until we’ve had time to suck it and see.”
The couple have always preferred to keep their entourage small, and the Palace insists Middleton has no plans to employ a dresser or lady-in-waiting.
The couple even do all of their own cooking and shopping, for the most part.
There have even been numerous photos of Middleton grocery shopping at local grocery stores. Note to new employee: bananas, chicken, milk, potatoes, oranges, cereal, Haagen-Dazs ice cream and lettuce all make the royal couple's grocery list.
But with a new baby approaching, it looks like it's time for the couple to prepare by hiring another staff member to help out around the house.
"The change of heart adds further weight to the theory that Prince William is poised to give up his military career to become a full-time working royal," reports the Express.
In an interview to mark last year’s Diamond Jubilee ,he said: “I’m still trying to decide. It’s a really difficult one because I really enjoy my time in the Air Force. But the pressures of my other life are building. And fighting them off or balancing the two of them has proven quite difficult.”
SEE ALSO: The Palace Reveals Kate Middleton's Due Date >
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