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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Paige Holland

Strict rule Kate Middleton has for all staff who work in the Cambridge family home

The Duchess of Cambridge has a strict rule that staff must obey when it comes to working for her family.

As working royals, it's hardly a surprise that Prince William and Kate rely on helpers to ensure the smooth running of their home, and naturally, when it comes to hiring staff they have extremely high standards.

However, there is one strict rule in particular that staff have to abide by if they want to call Kensington Palace 'the office'.

A job advert posted on the Royal Household’s official website, described the housekeeping role as an 'exciting opportunity' to work for the royal couple and to 'join a supportive and positive team'.

And there is zero-tolerance for gossiping as the couple specified that applicants had to be good at "maintaining confidentiality and exercising discretion".

The Cambridges have a small but loyal team of staff (PA)

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The ad read: "You will be a self-starter who also enjoys working collaboratively.

"You will be keen to take on new challenges as these arise and develop your own knowledge and skills.”

But anyone who wants to apply to be a housekeeper for the Queen has to pass a secret test first, to set the "special" cleaners from the bunch.

According to Tracey Waterman, the head of recruitment, the team sets a secret challenge to all interviewees to see how they react - and those that pass, get the job.

Staff must follow strict rules (Getty Images)

The premise behind it, she explains, is that she will place a dead fly somewhere around the room to see if the candidate notices it and how they dispose of it.

Speaking during Channel 5's documentary Sandringham: The Royals at Christmas, she said: "The difference between a housekeeper in a five-star hotel and in a royal Palace would be attention to detail.

"One of the tests I like to do, to see if a candidate has a potential eye for detail, is to place a dead fly, either in the fireplace or on the carpet.

"Once the dead fly is placed, I then bring the candidate into the room.

"I lead them into the room quite slowly, just giving them a chance to glance at the room, have a little look at what we’ve got inside the room.

"Bringing them to the fireplace, maybe highlighting that we’ve got a beautiful fireplace."

It’s this hint that Tracey hopes will make them aware of the dead fly.

But it’s not just about spotting the fly she says but what they do if they do notice it.

She adds: "It’s a great test, maybe out of 10 people half the candidates will notice the fly. One out of ten will actually bend down and pick it up, that’s the special housekeeper."

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