Personal attendant on a British queen or princess From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer.[1] A lady of the bedchamber would give instructions to the women of the bedchamber on what their queen wished them to do, or may carry out those duties herself.
The Countess of Airlie returns to Buckingham Palace in a carriage in 2008, having attended the State Opening of Parliament in her capacity as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II (a position she had held since 1973).
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In the Middle Ages, Margaret of France is noted to have had seven ladies of the bedchamber: the three married ones were called dominæ and the four unmarried ones were known as maids of honour.[2] Their task was simply to act as the companions (see lady's companion) and personal attendants to the royal woman.
In a description from 1728, the task of the ladies of the bedchamber was to act as the go-between for the queen and the women of the bedchamber, who had the task to wait upon the queen by helping her wash, dress and undress, and so forth.[3] A woman of the bedchamber worked independently from a lady of the bedchamber and did not take orders from her. However, if a lady of the bedchamber was present, a woman of the bedchamber would always defer to her.[3] If a lady of the bedchamber was present when a woman of the bedchamber arrived to dress the queen, for example, she would not dress the queen herself, but instead give the garments to the lady of the bedchamber, who in turn helped the queen put it on. The procedure was the same in other issues.[3]
The post of a lady of the bedchamber was considered prestigious, and the appointments have therefore been subjected to controversies. Queen Anne appointed Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, to this position; the Duchess was widely considered an influential royal favourite. In 1839, concerns that Queen Victoria was determined to surround herself with wives of Whig politicians led to the Bedchamber crisis, preventing the installation of a Tory government under Robert Peel.
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the English royal household. In Tudor England, the lady of the Bedchamber was often called Lady of the Privy Chamber.
Henrietta Maria was Queen Consort to Charles I of England. Queen Henrietta Maria had a French Household when she first arrived in England in 1625, and it was not until her French entourage was sent home in 1626-1627 that her English Household was fully installed.[4]
1626: Elizabeth Conquest (née Thimbelby), daughter of Sir Richard Thimelby of Irnham, married Sir Richard Conquest of Houghton Conquest
Wolfson, S. J. (2013). "The Female Bedchamber of Queen Henrietta Maria: Politics, Familial Networks and Policy, 1626–40". In The Politics of Female Households. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004258396_014
Wolfson, S. J. (2013). "The Female Bedchamber of Queen Henrietta Maria: Politics, Familial Networks and Policy, 1626–40". In The Politics of Female Households. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004258396_014
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