Queen Changing Rules at Buckingham Palace

LONDON —  Queen Elizabeth II has given her staff a new incentive for hard work. Their salaries will depend on it.

In one royal swoop, automatic pay raises for length of service were eliminated. Now salary increases will be based on performance, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said Tuesday.

All employees will continue to receive cost-of-living raises.

In an editorial in Tuesday’s editions, the Evening Standard newspaper approved the queen’s decision. It commented, “Perhaps she might consider applying the same system to her troupe of dependent relatives.”