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Camila breaks one of the historical traditions of the monarchy: she will not have ladies-in-waiting

2022-11-28T14:09:04.789Z


The British queen consort has chosen six confidantes and close friends who will accompany her on a day-to-day basis and will perform very different functions from those of the old 'ladies in waiting'


Barely three months after her proclamation as queen consort, Camila has already broken one of the oldest traditions of the British monarchy: she will be the first queen in centuries without ladies-in-waiting.

It has been Buckingham Palace that has confirmed the change in a statement issued this weekend and that the British tabloid

Daily Mail

already advanced in October.

From this moment on, Camila will have the help of the so-called queen

's companions or Queen's companions,

a position that did not exist until now and that will replace that of lady-in-waiting or

ladies in waiting

(whose literal translation is "women at the wait") that have been part of the monarchy since the Middle Ages.

During Elizabeth II's lifetime, both she and her sister, Princess Margaret, were accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting, affectionately known as the

Head Girls,

on royal tours and official duties, acting as advisers and performing functions of secretaries.

A task that will not be seen again in the British monarchy, at least for the moment.

More information

Camila and Kate Middleton pay tribute to Elizabeth II at her first gala dinner as Queen and Princess of Wales

As Buckingham has announced, Camila has recruited six confidantes and close friends who will help her on a day-to-day basis.

Sarah Troughton has held the position of Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire since 2012, in addition to being a second cousin of Carlos III.

Lady Sarah Keswick has been a close friend of the kings for years.

Carlyn Chisholm sits in the House of Lords for the Conservative wing as a Life Member.

Fiona Shelburne, Marchioness of Lansdowne, is a professional interior designer and has run her own studio for over three decades.

Katherine Brooke is also a close friend of the kings, as well as being the daughter of one of Elizabeth II's former ladies-in-waiting during her reign.

She will accompany her mother in her palace, since she will continue to help the king under the title of lady of the house.

Jane von Westenholz has been friends with kings for decades.

“The queen consort did not want or need bridesmaids.

The companions will have a different role.

They will be there to provide support and company.

At the end of a very busy day, it's nice to have an old friend by your side," a source close to

The Sunday Times explained.

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With this change, the former ladies-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth II, who were still in the palace, will continue alongside the new kings, but in this case they will change their title and become known as ladies of the house.

Lady Susan Hussey, Lady Mary Morrison and Lady Annabel Whitehead will assist Charles III in organizing formal events at Buckingham Palace.

On the contrary, they will not be in charge of attending to the royal correspondence or planning the agenda, a function that they carried out until now under that role of ladies-in-waiting;

from now on they will only have to accompany Camila in official acts on a more occasional basis.

Although they will not receive a salary for it, they will receive allowances to cover their expenses.

In recent years, Elizabeth II was accompanied by a total of seven ladies-in-waiting.

However, her advanced age —similar to that of the sovereign— meant that, little by little, they left their post or died.

In fact, at the beginning of December 2021, Ann Fortune, Duchess of Grafton, her lady-in-waiting since no less than 1967 and who held the position of

Mistress of the Robes

, something like “mistress of the dresses” or "of the clothes".

According to

The Times

, this curious title has existed since the end of the 16th century, with the reign of Elizabeth I (who came to have at least thirty ladies), and originally implied that the person thus named was in charge of the queen's clothes and jewelery ;

Over time it evolved to involve being the head of the sovereign's ladies-in-waiting, managing her time and organizing the others at events related to the queen.

Also in December, a few weeks after Fortune, Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting since 1987 and her friend for decades, Diana Maxwell, Lady Farnham, died at the age of 90.

In 2022 two more of the former ladies of the late monarch have passed away.

Just a week ago, Lady Frances Campbell-Preston also died, at the age of 104, who spent 37 years with her queen mother.

The debut of the queen's companions will take place this Tuesday at Buckingham Palace, when the queen consort receives other royal women such as Rania of Jordan, Matilde of Belgium and Princess Mary of Denmark.

It will be a reception in the palace that will aim to give visibility to violence against women and girls.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-11-28

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