The Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen or princess. The position is traditionally held by a female member of a noble family. They are ranked between the First Lady of the Bedchamber and the Women of the Bedchamber. They are also styled Gentlewoman of Her Majesty's Bedchamber.
The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts (Dutch: Dames du Palais; French: dames or Dame de Palais; German: Hofstaatsdame or Palastdame; Italian: Dame di Corte; Russian: Hofdame or Statsdame; Spanish: dueña de honor; Swedish: statsfru).
In the Middle Ages, Margaret of France, Queen of England is noted to have had seven ladies of the bedchamber: the three married ones were called Domina and the four unmarried ones were known as maids of honour. Their task was simply to act as the companions (see lady's companion) and personal attendants to the royal woman.
In a description from 1728, the task of the Ladies of the Bedchamber was to act as the go-between for the queen and the Women of the Bedchamber, who had the task to wait upon the queen by helping her wash, dress and undress, and so forth. A Woman of the Bedchamber worked independently from a Lady of the Bedchamber and did not take orders from her. However, if a Lady of the Bedchamber was present, a Woman of the Bedchamber would always defer to her. If a Lady of the Bedchamber was present when a Woman of the Bedchamber arrived to dress the queen, for example, she would not dress the queen herself, but instead give the garments to the Lady of the Bedchamber, who in turn helped the queen put it on. The procedure was the same in other issues.
The post of a Lady of the Bedchamber was considered prestigious, and the appointments have therefore been subjected to controversies. Queen Anne appointed Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough to this position; the Duchess was widely considered an influential royal favourite. In 1839, concerns that Queen Victoria was determined to surround herself with wives of Whig politicians led to the Bedchamber crisis, preventing the installation of a Tory government under Robert Peel.
List of Ladies of the Bedchamber to the Queens of England
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the British Royal Household.
1558–1565: Katherine Ashley (née Champernowne), Lady Ashley1559–1569: Catherine Carey, Lady Knollys1568–1599: Elizabeth Staffordc. 1625: Elizabeth Conquest (née Thimbelby), daughter of Sir Richard Thimelby of Irnham, married Sir Richard Conquest of Houghton Conquest1626: Lucy Hay, Countess of CarlisleSusan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh1663–1667: Katherine Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield1663–1673: Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine1663–1681: Barbara Howard, Countess of Suffolk1663–1688: Mary Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham1663–1688: Jane Granville, Countess of BathLadies of the Bedchamber to Mary II of England, 1689–1694
Mary Sackville, Countess of Dorset (1669–1691)1702: Duchess of Ormond1702: Marchioness of Hartington1702: Countess of Burlington1702: Countess of Scarbrough1702: Lady Spencer1702: Duchess of Somerset1702: Lady Hyde1702: Lady Frescheville1702: Lady H. Godolphin1702: Countess of Abingdon1702: Lady C. Boeverwart1704–1714: Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham1704–1712: Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland1704–1714: Anne Venables-Bertie, Countess of Abingdon1712: Lady K. Hyde1712: Countess of Abingdon1714–1717: Louisa Berkeley, Countess of Berkeley1714–1717 & 1726: Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans1714–1717: Henrietta Paulet, Duchess of Bolton1714–1717: Mary Montagu, Duchess of Montagu1714–1724: Mary Cowper, Countess Cowper1714–1726: Adelaide Talbot, Duchess of Shrewsbury1714–1737: Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset1717-1717: Elizabeth Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke1718–1721: Barbara Herbert, Countess of Pembroke1718–1724: Henrietta d'Auverquerque, Countess of Grantham1718–1737: Elizabeth Hervey, Countess of Bristol1718–1720: Anne Scott, Countess of Deloraine1722-1722: Jane Capell, Countess of Essex1724–1737: Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford1724–1737: Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond1725–1737: Anne van Keppel, Countess of Albemarle1725–1737: Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret1725–1737: Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (extra)1727–1737: Henrietta Louisa Fermor?–1737: Dorothy Boyle, Countess of Cork (extra)1736-1736: Annie Howard, Countess of Effingham1736–1764: Anne Ingram, Viscountess Irvine1736–1739 & 1742–1759: Charlotte Byng, Viscountess Torrington1737–1772: Lady Charlotte Edwyn1743–1772: Frances Lumley-Saunderson, Countess of Scarbrough1743–1772: Maria Howe, Viscountess Howe1745–1772: Elizabeth Berkeley, Countess Berkeley1745-1758: Charlotte Howe, Viscountess Howe1761–1768: Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke1761–1770: Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Northumberland (Duchess of Northumberland from 1766)1761–1784: Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Hamilton (Duchess of Argyll from 1770)1761–1791: Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Effingham1761–1793: Elizabeth Thynne, Viscountess Weymouth (Marchioness of Bath from 1789)1761–1794: Alicia Wyndham, Countess of Egremont1768–1782: Isabella Seymour, Countess of Hertford1770–1801: Mary Darcy, Countess of Holderness1783–1818: Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery1784–1818: Elizabeth Harcourt, Countess Harcourt1791–1818: Elizabeth Townshend, Viscountess Sydney1793–1807: Elizabeth Brudenell, Countess of Cardigan1794–1818: Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington1801–1818: Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield1807–1813: Henrietta Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield1813–1818: Anne Dundas, Viscountess Melville1830–1837: Emily Nugent, Marchioness of Westmeath1830–1837: Arabella Bourke, Countess of Mayo1830–1849: Marianne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington1830–1834: Anna Loftus, Marchioness of Ely (extra 1834-1837)1830–1837: Emma Brownlow, Countess Brownlow1830–1837: Lady Harriet Clinton1833–1836: Harriet Howe, Countess Howe1836–1837: Harriet Baker-Holroyd, Countess of Sheffield1837–1838: Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne1837–1838: Louisa Lambton, Countess of Durham1837–1841: Maria Phipps, Marchioness of Normanby1837–1841: Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford1837–1842: Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton, then Governess (Lady Superintendent) of the Royal Children 1842–1850.1837–1842: Frances Noel, Countess of Gainsborough1837–1851: Emma Portman, Baroness Portman1837–1854: Anne Caulfield, Countess of Charlemont1838–1840: Blanche Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire1839-1839: Elizabeth Campbell, Marchioness of Breadalbane1839–1842: Mary Montagu, Countess of Sandwich1840–1854 & 1863–1865: Carolina Edgcumbe, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe1841–1845: Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore1841–1867: Frances Jocelyn, Viscountess Jocelyn (extra 1867-1880)1842-1842: Susan Broun-Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie1842–1843: Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk1842–1855: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning1843–1858: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington1845–1864: Elizabeth Cuffe, Countess of Desart1851–1889: Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely1854–1897: Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl1854–1900: Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill1855–1863: Maria Bosville-Macdonald, Baroness Macdonald1858–1878: Jane Alexander, Countess of Caledon1864–1890: Elizabeth Cavendish, Baroness Waterpark1865–1895: Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe1867–1872: Eliza Agar-Ellis, Viscountess Clifden1872–1874: Blanche Bourke, Countess of Mayo1873–1901: Eliza Hay, Countess of Erroll1874–1885: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby1878–1901: Ismania FitzRoy, Baroness Southampton1885–1901: Emily Russell, Baroness Ampthill1889–1901: Cecilia Dawnay, Viscountess Downe1890–1901: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim1895–1901: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton1897–1901: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of RoxburgheLadies of the Bedchamber to Alexandra of Denmark, 1901–1925
1900–1910: Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby1901–1910: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim1901–1925: Louisa Acheson, Countess of Gosford1901–1905: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton1901–1911: Cecilia Harbord, Baroness Suffield1901–1907: Alice Douglas, Countess of Morton (Extra Lady of the Bedchamber 1901-?)1901–1912: Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield (Extra Lady of the Bedchamber 1901-?)1901–1905: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne (extra)1905–1910: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne1905–1910: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury (extra)1907–1910: Cecily Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury1910–1914: Winifred Hardinge, Baroness Hardinge of Penshurst (extra)1910–1925: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne (extra)1910– 1925: Cecily Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury (extra)1910–1925: Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby (extra)1911–1925: Cecilia Carington, Marchioness of Lincolnshire (Countess Carrington 1911-1912)1901–1902: Ida Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford1901–1910: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie1902–1910: Mary Cochrane-Baillie, Baroness Lamington1905–1906: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury (extra)1905–1936: Ida Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford (extra)1906–1913: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury1910–1916: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie (extra)1910–1917: Mary Cochrane-Baillie, Baroness Lamington(extra)1911–1916: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough1911–1936: Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Countess of Minto1911–1953: Margaret Russell, Baroness Ampthill1913–1924: Emily Fortescue, Countess Fortescue1913–1953: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesburye (extra)1916–1924: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough (extra)1916–1953: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie1924–1929: Emily Fortescue, Countess Fortescue (extra)1924–1936: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough1936–1940: Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Countess of Minto (extra)1936–1952: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough (extra)1937–1947: Mary Wilson, Baroness Nunburnholme1937–1972: Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer1937–1941: Dorothy Wood, Viscountess Halifax1937–1994: Patricia Smith, Viscountess Hambleden1941–1945: Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech1945–1967: Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech1947–1979: Katharine Lumley, Countess of Scarbrough1973–2002: Elizabeth Beckett, Baroness Grimthorpe1994–2002: Elizabeth Lumley, Countess of Scarbrough1953–1966: Fortune FitzRoy, Countess of Euston (now the Dowager Duchess of Grafton)1953–1973: Elizabeth Coke, née Yorke, Countess of Leicester, wife of Thomas Coke, 5th Earl of Leicester1960–1966: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny (extra)1966–1987: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny1967–1971: Esmé Baring, née Harmsworth, Countess of Cromer (temporary) wife of Rowland Baring1967: Sonia Fairfax, Lady Fairfax of Cameron (temporary) (widow of Thomas Fairfax, 13th Lord Fairfax of Cameron)1971–1993: Esmé Baring, née Harmsworth, Countess of Cromer (extra)1973–present: Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie1987–2005: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny (extra)1987–present: Diana Marion, Baroness Farnham1987–present: Richenda Elton, née Gurney, Baroness Elton (wife of Baron Elton)
