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Queen Elizabeth’s staff of a thousand men has an astronomer whom she consults on “scientific matters”, as well as a person to “wear” her shoes and even someone to taste her food for safety reasons.
The position of royal astronomer is however that which dates back to the sixteen hundred.
The current holder of the royal title of Astronomer Royal is astrophysicist Martin Rees, who has held the post since 1995.
Over the years, this role has been the source of a number of scientific discoveries, including the reappearance of Halley’s Comet.
In keeping with the 350-year tradition, he receives an annual salary of £ 100, which translates to £ 20,646.85 in 2020, according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator.
The first recipient of the title was John Flamsteed in June 1675 during the reign of King Charles II.
He “drew a chart of the sky with sufficient precision to be reliable for navigation” according to the Royal Museums Greenwich and ended up recording the first sightings of Uranus, who at the time was mistaken for a star.
At the time, the then reigning king decreed that the astronomer royal “would immediately apply with the most exact care and diligence to rectifying the tables of the movements of the heavens and the place of the fixed stars, to discover the longitude so desired of the places, to perfect the art of navigation.
