Queen Camilla will has two Ladies in Attendance at the coronation: Her sister, Annabel Elliot, and her longtime friend (and current Queen's companion), Lady Lansdowne, are by her side on the big day. For the coronation, the two ladies wore matching white gowns.
And while Queen Elizabeth had a whole fleet of ladies-in-waiting throughout her reign—many of whom had been close with her for more than 60 years—apparently Queen Camilla is ditching the outdated tradition and instead having six assistants who will be known as “queen's companions,” according to reports from Today.
The ladies-in-waiting are there to make sure the Queen is able to carry out her royal duties as well as ensure she can wear her vestments and crown properly – similar to a bridesmaid at a wedding.
Ladies-in-waiting performed intimate duties such as putting on and removing the queen's clothing and bathing her. They were expected to put her needs above those of their own husbands and children. They spent most of the day with the queen and provided her with companionship and entertainment in her private chambers.
One is Annabel Elliott, the Queen's sister, and the other is Lady Lansdowne (also known as Fiona Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne), both of whom perform the royal role of a Queen's Companion.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are undoubtedly very much in love, with public appearances always seeing them laughing and joking together, but reports say the couple does not share a bed. There's no trouble in paradise, though. It's customary for royal couples to sleep in different bedrooms.
Her first six companions are the Marchioness of Lansdowne (who is serving as one of today's ladies in attendance), Jane von Westenholz, Lady Katharine Brooke, Sarah Troughton, Lady Sarah Keswick, and Baroness Chisholm.
Ladies in waiting are not paid a salary but performed their honoured role out of personal loyalty to the Queen, Hello! Reports . Traditionally ladies in waiting are noblewomen in their own right and come from wealthy aristocratic families, meaning they are able to take the unpaid role as a lifelong position.
After the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III, it was announced that the King would be retaining the late Queen's ladies-in-waiting, with their titles changing to "Ladies of the Household". They will help with hosting events at Buckingham Palace.
They fulfil their roles out of personal loyalty to the Queen, with companionship one of their most important duties. Notably, they come from wealthy families and as such are able to work without pay.
A family friend says “there wasn't any animosity,” and Harry himself said of Camilla in 2005 (the same year Charles and Camilla were married) that he and William “love her to bits” and that she was “not the wicked stepmother.”
65) The Princess Royal has 11 Ladies-in-Waiting, one of whom accompanies her on official engagements. Two of them have worked for HRH for over 50 years, three for over forty years, and five of them for over thirty years.
Not many people know that Kate Middleton has her own lady-in-waiting who helps tend to the Duchess' every want and need. So, who is Kate's right-hand woman and what exactly does she do as part of her job?
Ladies-in-waiting were usually women from the most privileged backgrounds who took the position for the prestige of associating with royalty, or for the enhanced marriage prospects available to those who spent time at court, but lady's companions usually took up their occupation because they needed to earn a living and ...
The one concise rule is that all members of the Royal Family are required to bow or curtsy to King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Essentially, ladies-in-waiting are the inner circle of their serving royal. Put simply, they're a group of friends whose job is to hang out with the Queen. They each have their own duties, from helping to dress and wash the royal of choice to styling and accompanying them to social events.
Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom.
Elizabeth disliked eating in public. Food would be sent to her privy chamber and the ladies would wait on her in privacy, carving the meat, and pouring the wine. A favoured one would also sleep in the Queen's bedchamber – to sleep alone was completely unheard of, even for a monarch.
Technically, they're still known as Ladies of the Bedchamber, but the role has changed quite a bit since Middle Ages-era royals started calling on their subjects to tend to their bedroom-related needs. (Though they still choose only the best, which is to say mainly aristocrats.)
A Lady of Waiting was not allowed to marry without the prior consent of the Queen. Indeed Queen Elizabeth was expected to help to find suitable husbands for her Maids of Honour. How was a Elizabethan Lady in Waiting selected?
They should act, speak, and dress according to the prestige the title deserves. Applicants for Lady-In-Waiting contestants must be female, between the ages of 15 and 18 years old.
As for what the queen kept in her bag, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith says the items weren't all that different from what normal women carry with them: a mirror, lipstick, mint lozenges and reading glasses. As for the rest of the royal family, they have their own dress code rules they have to follow.
The Queen has eight ladies in waiting: one Lady of the Bedchamber and seven Women of the Bedchamber. These positions are unpaid and personally selected by the Queen to be close companions, accompany her during state visits, and carry essential items like combs, gloves, and tissues.
Major Ollie Plunket, of The Rifles, has been appointed Camilla's equerry. It is believed his role is to look after her diary and accompany her at official events.
“William has made it clear that Camilla is the wife of his father, but not a step-grandmother to his children,” royal biographer Angela Levin claimed in her 2022 book, Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort. “William and Harry were 23 and 20, respectively, when Camilla officially became their stepmother in 2005.