8 of the Strangest Jobs That Exist Only for the Royal Family

There are plenty of people working in Buckingham Palace. According to Forbes, the Queen’s staff includes more than 1,000 people. Most of them have ordinary jobs — housekeeping, security, food serving, etc. However, there are also people whose jobs may surprise and amaze ordinary people.

Our Bright Side team wants to share with you a list of the most unusual jobs in the Royal Family.

1. Warden of the Swans and Marker of the Swans

Initially, there was only one person who cared for the Queen’s swans who was called Keeper of the Swans. However, later this position was split into 2 different ones — Warden of the Swans and Marker of the Swans. The role of the warden and the marker is to regularly do the health check-ups of the birds and to conduct the annual census on the Thames called swan upping. Plus, rescue and conservation tasks are also handled by these people.

2. The Royal Shoe-Wearer

Most people have probably experienced pain while wearing a new pair of shoes. But unlike ordinary people, Her Majesty has a perfect solution to this problem — she has her own shoe-wearer who breaks her shoes before she wears them to events. A shoe-wearer is responsible to ensure that the Queen will feel comfortable in her new shoes and that she will be good to go.

3. Master of the Queen’s Music

Master of the Queen’s Music is responsible for composing music for important royal events. This may include coronations, birthdays, anniversaries, marriages, and even funerals. Initially, people who took this position worked as royal musicians for their lifetime but now composers can only serve 10 years to allow other talented musicians to take this role.

4. Royal Astronomer

In the royal household, there is also a person who literally takes a “star” role. This is a Royal Astronomer who is responsible for advising the Queen on astronomical and related scientific matters. This post was created in the 17th century when a lot of scientific discoveries were made. However, today this role is mostly an honorary title.

5. Royal Horological Conservator

It is not an easy job to switch the time during spring and autumn when you have around 400 clocks in your royal collection. Hence Her Majesty has a special person who changes the royal clocks — a horological conservator. With several hundred clocks in the collection, including clock towers, it takes around 16 hours to adjust them all. However, this job is not only about screwing up clock hands and it requires knowledge and expertise since the conservator is also responsible for taking care of the clocks, many of which are much older than the Queen herself.

6. Grand Carver

There is one thing you shouldn’t expect the Queen to do herself — that is to slice meat. This job is carried out by a special person called a Grand Carver. This tradition dates back to older centuries — the monarchs never carved the meat by themselves. What is also interesting about this job is that not everyone can apply for this position. This job is hereditary because it is believed that the gift of evenly slicing poultry is a genetic one.

7. Keeper of the Queen’s Stamps

The British monarchy has one of the most impressive stamp collections from all over Europe. But there is a special person who travels across the globe to add unique stamps to this collection. The position is called the Keeper of the Queen’s Stamps. Although the Queen is not a huge fan of stamps, she thinks that the collection she got from her father should be preserved.

8. Frames Conservator

In Buckingham Palace, there is not only a huge collection of clocks and stamps but also priceless artwork with frames. The Royal collection has around 8,000 paintings, many of which have corresponding frames, that need to be taken care of. So as you may have guessed already, there is a special person called a Frames Conservator who constantly evaluates the conditions of the frames and who is engaged in their conservation and restoration.

Imagine that you’ve been offered a job at Buckingham Palace, which of the roles above would you choose?

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