People who worked for King Charles before he acceded to to the throne have been told they face the threat of redundancy – while a thanksgiving service for the Queen was taking place.

Dozens of staff at Clarence House were served notice that their jobs are at risk now Charles’ office will move to monarchy HQ, Buckingham Palace.

Among those to receive the letter on Monday afternoon were private secretaries, the finance office, the communications team and other loyal household employees.

They had been working round the clock to smooth the process of the King’s accession.

‘Everybody is absolutely livid, including private secretaries and the senior team,’ a source told The Guardian.

‘All the staff have been working late every night since Thursday, to be met with this.’

They said that many had assumed their roles would be amalgamated into the new office.

Staff received the notification while the thanksgiving service for the Queen was taking place in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) condemned the decision to announce redundancies during the period of mourning as ‘nothing short of heartless’.

In the letter, the King’s top aide, his principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton said that the change in role for Charles and Camilla, now Queen Consort, meant that Clarence House will be ‘closed down’.

He said the former Prince of Wales’s personal interests and former activities will no longer be carried out.

A Clarence House spokesman said: ‘Following last week’s Accession, the operations of the Household of the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and, as required by law, a consultation process has begun.

‘Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest possible number of staff.’

Any staff being made redundant will be offered enhanced redundancy payments, and no staff will be affected for at least three months.

The Households of the Queen Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh were closed after their deaths.

It is understood legal advice taken by the household required the information to be shared with staff at the earliest opportunity, despite efforts to delay until after the Queen’s funeral.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘The decision of Clarence House to announce redundancies during a period of mourning is nothing short of heartless.

‘The self-same staff have been working tirelessly over this period in supporting the activities of the new King and ensuring continuity across the estates of the Prince of Wales.

‘While some changes across the households were to be expected, as roles across the royal family change, the scale and speed at which this has been announced is callous in the extreme.

‘Least of all because we do not know what staffing the incoming Prince of Wales and his family might need.

‘PCS will continue to work with the Royal Households to ensure that those staff have full job security.

‘We remain committed to supporting those colleagues across the wider royal family’s estates whose futures are thrown into turmoil by this announcement, at this already difficult time.’

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