William has been challenged over his intervention on NHS policy. This week William suggested NHS staff are given "enforced career breaks" as a way of helping their mental health.

Graham Smith, speaking for campaign group Republic, questioned how William is qualified to comment on working life, and how he expects the career breaks to work.

A career break is an unpaid absence from a job for more than two months and usually lacks any obligation on the employer to allow the employee to return. Breaks can also impact employment rights.

Speaking for Republic, Graham Smith said:

"How the NHS is funded and staffed are contentious political issues. Even if this suggestion were credible, how can a politician sign up to it now William has proposed it?"

"If the government decided this was a good policy, would the opposition feel free to oppose it? This is why royals are expected to keep out of politics."

"William offers up simplistic solutions to complicated problems because he has no understanding of ordinary working life, or the huge pressures on NHS budgets."

"With NHS Trusts facing more cuts and staff shortages, how can they lose staff through enforced career breaks? Who will fill in for them during their absence and at what cost? And what impact would it have on staff to be told they must take a break, with all the uncertainty that entails?"

"It is particularly galling to hear this from William, when we give him a personal income of more than £23million from the Duchy of Cornwall in return for a few weeks of work a year."

"The annual cost of the monarchy is more than half a billion pounds, enough to pay for 18,000 new nurses."

"What the NHS needs is proper funding and staffing that allows nurses, doctors and support staff to get the help they need with their mental health and wellbeing. What no one needs is simplistic lectures from royals."

 

The full cost of the monarchy is detailed in Republic's Half a Billion Pound Royals report: www.republic.org.uk/halfbillionroyals

Details of the public ownership and costs of the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster are here: www.republic.org.uk/duchies