Buckingham Palace reveals new set of royal values – including ‘stay curious’
Buckingham Palace has officially redefined itself for the King’s new reign with a “refreshed set of values” promising to “stay curious” and “help shape a better world”.
The Royal Household has published a new set of written values, designed to guide the institution in the years to come.
Recording them in its annual report, it said: “The new reign has given the royal household the opportunity to define a new expression of purpose underpinned by a refreshed set of values.”
Those five values are: “Act with Care”; “Make an Impact”; “Succeed Together”; “Stay Curious”; and “Lead by Example”.
They were decided after an “extensive programme of work” during the financial year 2023-24, “involving employees at all levels across the Royal Household”, the Sovereign Grant report states.
The stated purpose of the Royal Household is now to “support the sovereign in serving the UK and Commonwealth to help shape a better world”.
The report has made small further tweaks to the description of the palace and its plans.
It retains a pledge to place “strong emphasis on value for money” but removes a clause from last year’s report which promised “accountability in the use of public funds and resources”.
In a section about the Royal family’s role in supporting the King, the 2023-4 report has also deleted a line from 2022-3 which said that: “The different generations of the Royal family help to make the work of the monarchy relevant and accessible to people at every stage of life.”
The tweak is in line with the King’s much-publicised preference for a “slimmed-down” monarchy. He has chosen to have only working members of the Royal family with him on the balcony for Trooping the Colour, including the three Wales children but not his nieces Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall, nephew Peter Phillips, or the Sussexes.
This year’s palace balcony line-up for Trooping the Colour showed the King’s commitment to a slimmed-down Royal family – Neil Mockford/GC Images
It is the first time the annual report, which is presented to Parliament, has made significant alterations to the purpose and performance of the monarchy since the latter years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
In 2022, the same section of the Sovereign Grant report, which introduces the role of the monarch, was rewritten to remove duties the then Queen “must fulfil”.
The edit, the first of its kind in at least a decade, took out a 13-point list of specific events that were previously said to be necessary by “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 “encompass[ing] a range of parliamentary and diplomatic duties”.
This year’s report retains most of those changes.
“The role of the Royal Household has always been to provide exceptional support and service to the sovereign and members of the Royal family, in their service to the nation,” it states.
Explaining the palace’s work to develop a “diverse team of well-led, trained, motivated and adaptable professionals”, the latest report says: “Over the past year the priority has been the ongoing transition as a result of change of reign and focusing on management’s wider aims of ensuring that the Royal Household is a modern, inclusive, purpose and values led organisation.”
This year, the palace has brought in an “inclusion and diversity strategy” which has involved “surveys, focus groups, leadership development and all-staff training sessions”.
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