The mysterious world of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, who work (for free) for life

Just in recent days there Queen Elizabeth he had to face a serious bereavement: Lady Farnham, lady-in-waiting for the sovereign for 44 years, died at the age of 90. A few weeks earlier Elisabetta had found herself crying another lady-in-waiting: Ann Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton, in his service since 1967. Painful losses for the sovereign. Because lady-in-waiting for her are not alone valuable handyman. I am also dear friends, and close confidants. They are the women who have accompanied her, silently, in the most important moments of her life. And even in the most painful ones. To the funeral of her beloved husband Filippo, the photos of the sovereign alone, locked in her grief, in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor went around the world. But to accompany her to church was one of her lady-in-waiting: Susan Hussey, in the service of the queen since she gave birth to Prince Andrew.

But what do they actually do these figures who seem to belong to another era and yet play such an important role in the queen’s life? Lady-in-waiting – who have existed for centuries in the UK – usually noblewomen, assist Elizabeth II in her institutional duties as well as in her personal affairs. I’m a sort of private assistants with an exquisite one sense of duty, honor and loyalty. Their practical activities are endless: they hold the queen’s purse when needed, they help her get dressed, they collect the gifts offered by the crowd during his public outings. They are responsible for her jewels and her wardrobe and also take charge of part of the immense amount of letters that The Queen receives from all over the world.

For their services these noblewomen – personally chosen by Her Majesty – do not receive any salary. The ladies of the company, in fact, work for free: at the most they can ask for reimbursement of expenses. Theirs is a job based solely on prestige and they are not expected to retire: they must faithfully serve the queen throughout their lives, with a rotation of two weeks each.

Elizabeth II up to a few months he had six ladies-in-waiting, now reduced to four. After the death of the Duchess of Grafton and Lady Farnham, they remained at the Queen’s side Lady Susan Hussey, Susan Rhodes, Lady Elizabeth Leeming e Mary Morrison. Women who have been at his service for decades and who have become his closest friends over the years. By becoming part of a very restricted «bubble of loyalists»That The Queen knows it can always count on. With them His Majesty, as revealed People, puts aside his solemn air. On the contrary, she becomes “chatty and even allows herself to laugh.”».