If you study the Royal Family long enough, you’ll notice something very surprising. Basically, royal rules and protocols are the most important thing to members of The Firm. That is, right until these royals decide to change the rules altogether!
This recently happened with Queen Consort Camilla. Her own throne is barely warm and Camila is enacting some major changes. This includes breaking a major tradition and doing away with the traditional role of “lady in waiting.” Instead, Camilla has replaced this role with an entirely new one.
But what was the old position all about? What has Camilla replaced it with, and what are her motivations? Keep reading to discover the answers!
What do ladies in waiting actually do?
Outside of the Royal Family, people mostly use the term “lady in waiting” as a bit of a metaphor. However, among royals, “lady in waiting” is a very specific title. And these ladies traditionally help the Queen with a wide variety of responsibilities.
As Cosmopolitan reports, these ladies “accompany the Queen on overseas trips, help manage her correspondence, and are just generally there for companionship.” It’s actually an interesting idea…it would be a bit like if you had a travel-heavy job and got to bring some of your best friends along to help you out.
Speaking of having friends, Cosmo reports that Queen Elizabeth “had a whole fleet of ladies-in-waiting throughout her reign.” However, for her new position, Camilla has narrowed her initial roster down to six ladies.
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What is the new position Camilla has created?
Camilla has broken with royal tradition by forsaking the traditional ladies in waiting. Instead, she created a new position for the women who will be helping her out. These women are known simply as “the Queen’s companions.”
What do these companions do? Generally speaking, they will still travel with the Queen and make appearances at official events. However, these companions have fewer responsibilities than the traditional ladies in waiting.
Specifically, as MSN reports, “none of the women will carry out administrational responsibilities or deal with official correspondence.” This alone is a major change from what ladies in waiting had to do for Queen Elizabeth.
Honestly, it sounds like a pretty sweet gig. All of the fun travel and none of the administrative responsibilities…what’s not to love?
Why would Camilla want to create this new position?
When you get right down to it, changing this position up entirely was a big move on Queen Camilla’s part. If she wanted to, she could have retained the original position and simply asked less of the ladies in waiting. Why, then, did she create a brand new position to begin with?
According to the BBC, it’s fair to call this decision a “modernizing move.” After all, this is a “feature of court life going back to the middle ages.” While tradition is obviously very important to the Royal Family, ending a largely symbolic position that stretches back centuries is a bold way to move Buckingham Palace into the 21st century.
There is also a chance that Camilla wants to reduce the possibilities of future drama. The BBC notes that “over the centuries,” the traditional ladies in waiting were “sometimes caught up in court intrigue.” With all the drama surrounding events such as “Megxit” and the bombshell accusations against Prince Andrew, we could definitely understand Camilla wanting to play things safe soon after receiving her crown.
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Who are the Queen’s companions?
As we noted before, Camilla has narrowed the list down to six women to serve as Queen’s companions. But just who are these lucky women?
One is Sarah Troughton, a personal friend of Camilla who previously served as lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent. Another is Jane von Westenholz, a fashion publicist who is a friend to both Camilla and Meghan Markle.
The third woman is Lady Sarah Keswick, another longtime friend of Camilla. The fourth is Fiona, a close friend and known to the world as the Marchioness of Lansdowne. The fifth and perhaps most politically connected member is Baroness Carlyn Chisholm, a former politician who is also a member of the House of Lords.
The sixth and final of these companions is Lady Katherine Brooke. She is something of a legacy appointment since her mother, Lady Susan Hussey, served for many decades as a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Here’s hoping she proves to be less controversial, though: as Sky News reports, Lady Hussey generated some major controversy this week while attending a reception hosted by Camilla. There, Hussey asked a visiting Black person where they “really came from.”
After that controversy, Hussey (who also has the distinction of being Prince William’s godmother) left her role at Buckingham Palace. We can only assume Camilla is crossing her fingers that Hussey’s daughter doesn’t make quite as many waves!