Ladies-in-waiting, goodbye: with Camilla arrive the “queen’s companions”

There queen consort Camilla is about to put an end to the historic tradition of ladies-in-waiting. Figures that have existed in the British monarchy since the Middle Ages. The wife of Charles III he will replace them with the “queen’s companions”, and as the BBC explains, it won’t just be a matter of a name change. The six women who will accompany her, unlike the ladies-in-waiting who assisted Elizabeth IIwill be much less present in his life. They will help her at public events but no longer have to deal with her personal mattersincluding mail management.

In short, the “queen’s companions” Camilla will have a much more secluded role than that of Queen Elizabeth’s “ladies in waiting”. Lady-in-waiting, usually noblewomen, assisted Elizabeth II in her institutional duties but also in her personal matters. Their practical activities were endless: they held the queen’s purse when needed, they helped her get dressed, they collected the gifts offered by the crowd during his public outings. They were responsible for her jewelry and her wardrobe and also took charge of some of the immense amount of letters that The Queen received from half the world. For their services these noblewomen – personally chosen by her Majesty – never received any salary. In fact, the ladies-in-waiting worked for free: at most they could ask for reimbursement of expenses. Theirs was a job based solely on prestige.

For the “queen’s companions” – who will assist Camilla only in public events – the economic treatment will be the same: no salary, just the coverage of expenses. The new figures they will make their public debut next week, when the wife of Charles III will host a reception for activists against domestic violence and violence against women. The names of the queen’s companions, including longtime friends of Camilla, are already known: the Marchioness of Lansdowne, Jane von Westenholz, Lady Katharine Brooke, Sarah Troughton, Lady Sarah Keswick and Baroness Chisholm. The queen consort has also appointed Major Ollie Plunket as her knight, a kind of personal assistant to her.

But what will happen to the former ladies-in-waiting, now over eighty, who have faithfully served Elizabeth II throughout their lives? According to the BBC, the elderly noblewomen, who will be renamed “Ladies of the House”, they will help King Charles III host events at Buckingham Palace.

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