Buckingham Palace has officially redefined itself for the King's new reign with a “renewed set of values” that promises to “stay curious” and “help shape a better world”.
The Royal House has published a new set of written values that will guide the institution in the coming years.
The annual report stated the following about this: “The new government has given the Royal House the opportunity to define a new expression of purpose, supported by a renewed set of values.”
These five values are: “Trade with care”; “Make an impact”; “Be successful together”; “Stay curious”; and “Lead by example”.
They were decided following an “extensive programme of work” during the 2023-24 financial year, involving “employees at all levels within the Royal Household”, the Sovereign Grant report said.
The Royal Household's stated purpose is now to “support the Sovereign in serving the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth to help shape a better world”.
The report contains minor adjustments to the description of the palace and the plans.
It retains the pledge to place “strong emphasis on value for money” but removes a clause from last year's report that promised “accountability for the use of public funds and resources”.
In a section on the role of the Royal Family in supporting the King, the 2023-2024 report also deleted a line from 2022-2023 that said: “The different generations of the Royal Family help make the work of the monarchy relevant and accessible to people at every stage of life.”
The move is in line with the king's much-discussed preference for a “lean-back” monarchy. He has opted to have only working members of the royal family present on the balcony for Trooping the Colour, including his three Welsh children, but not his nieces Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall, nephew Peter Phillips or the Sussexes.
It is the first time that the annual report, presented to parliament, has made significant changes to the monarchy's aims and performance since the final years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
In 2022, the same section of the Sovereign Grant report that introduced the role of the monarch was rewritten to remove the duties that the then Queen was “required to fulfil”.
The edit, the first of its kind in at least a decade, removed a list of 13 specific events previously said to be necessary under “constitutional convention,” including the State Opening of Parliament.
The updated version placed greater emphasis on the support of the wider royal family, with a looser definition of the Queen's role as 'encompassing'[ing] a range of parliamentary and diplomatic tasks”.
This year's report retains most of these changes.
“The role of the Royal House has always been to provide exceptional support and service to the Sovereign and the members of the Royal Family, in their service to the nation,” the document said.
The latest report explains the palace's work to develop a “diverse team of well-led, trained, motivated and adaptable professionals”: “Over the past year, the priority has been the continued transition resulting from the change of power and the focus on the broader objectives of management to ensure the Royal House is a modern, inclusive, purpose-driven and values-led organisation.”
This year, the palace introduced an “inclusion and diversity strategy,” which included “surveys, focus groups, leadership development and training sessions for all staff.”
