The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-11-06
A Lady in Waiting Tells Of the Odd
Manners Of Queen VIC
toria.
rhe Social Prestige and Salary
To Be Gained From That
Position.
Maids Of Honor to the Empress of Aus
tria-Twe American Women Who
Attend q Queen.
written for THE HELENA INDEPENDENT

I loK n hAAiNA t~NDN "N' '
x-T-rHE CHANGES WHICH HAVE RE
NJ Gently taken place in the household
el9 of Queen Victoria in connection will
advent to Office of the Gladstone admins
tration have led several of my friends who
happened 10 be acquainted with the fact
that I have spent q considerable portion OF
NV life at one Of the principal European
courts to make inquiries concerning she
duties of the mistress Of the robes, OF the
ladies in waiting, of the women OF she
bed chamber and of the maids OF honor.
am perfectly aware that an impress
sion prevails among many people III
this country that these positions, especially
those of bed chamber women and OF maids
of honor. are of a mental character. his
ia very far from being the case, and not
only are the offices in question well paid,
but they also confer great social prestige,
rank and precedence, and are held almost
exclusively by women of noble birth ana
ancient descent. Thus in England fhe
post of "mistress of the robss"-as she
chief of the feminine portion OF the
royal household 10 styled-is generally
held by a duchess, while three OF the
principal Indies of Queen Vietoris's
~bedchambes are duchssses ooweSer.
Each of these receives a salary OF
S. 500. Among her mEjesty's women OF 'ne
bed chamber are n couple OF peeresass OF
the realm, while the maids OF honor are all
Of them either daughters or eranddausht-
ers of peers. The pay of the bed amo
woman ia the same as that of the maids OF
honor. namely, 81, 500 per amman. Inns
10 likewise the average amount OF remunef-
alton paid by continental soverelons TO
those of their maids of honor and LADIES' IN
waiting whose Office is not o purely honor
airy nature.
Although the duties of the lady in wait
ing and maid Of honor are neither fatiRu-
ing NOR arduous. yet they are, nevertheless,
exceedingly wesrisome, and it is fortunate
that the so-cslled waits" or terms OF SER
vice are limited from Ave to three months
in the year. During that time they involve
the practical abandonment OF al! indie
nendence of speech. manner ana even
thoueht the absolute and complete abne-
cation of ones own individuality and the
mervinc thereof in that of the royal or i'm
perial mistress, II is necessary to become
their more or less modest reflection. to
laugh when they laugh. to assume an
air of profound melancholy when they
WA9n. 10 uhooS "Ao Aep
pen 10 strike their fancy, to despise and
condemn those whom they dislike, TO be
a]Ways in good temper, always patient and,
above all, never TO display any signs of
fatigue. Yes, with all this, one must pos
sess sufficient tact to avoid any appearances
of %sycophaney, and TO pretend lust enough
independence to inspire the royal parsonage
in question with q certain amount OF re-
spect for one's character. 1t Is, moreover.
necessary shat the ladies in waiting should
always be p epared to say just the right
thing at the right time and In the right
place.
breakfast in their own room and then have
To await the luminous to the queen. When
at length they are called into the royal
presence brief good mornings are uttered,
though in a kindly tone, the queen gen
orally addressing her attendants by their
Christian Names. The morning is spent in
reading aloud the newspapers to the queen,
in a carefully modulated voice. an oecupa-
ton which sometimes lasts two or three
hours. At two o'clock the queen lunches
alone with the members of her family, while
the gentlemen and ladies of the household
have q luncheon served apart. Between
three and four o'clock the ladies accom-
psny tho sovereign on her daily drive, and
on return there ID generally more reading,
arranging OF photographs, the finishing of
dainty bits of fancy work, of which the
royal fingers have wearied. ETC.. when her
majesty returns in order to dress for nine
O'Clock dinner, just before going in to
which the maid of honor on duty hands the
queen her bouquet.
Queen Victoria is somwhat capricious in
her likes and dislikes. 10 those of her la
dies in waiting to whom she becomes at
tached she Is exceedingly considerate and
even motherly. But occasionally she will
take q sudden and unreasonable distaste fol
100 &c o.n Thfo ~ hA 1ra nIthar NJ fhc
fact that she has become wearied OF the
unfortunate lady's face, or that her voice
no longer soothes, bat rather jars, the royaI
ears, or else that her majesty may have
heard some trit1ing but unklnd piece oil
gossip concerning her. In such cases as
it becomes the unpleasant duty of one of the
senior ladies in waiting to intimate to thu
unfortunate woman in question that she bal
ceased to please and that her resignation
is expected.
1t was especially in her younger days tia
the queen behaved charmingly to he
ladies. In private, and when perfectly 8
ease, she was accustomed to throw off al
form. to sing. to joke and to make merr.
with the maids of honor, and to tell anus.
ing anecdotes. Indeed, Lady Bloomfield
while maid of honor, was frequently calle'
upon to dance Scotch rsels with her maj
esty. In those days the queen usst
w t0ho llbCIC1p OFSh AA Ia HUE
srifinR things, and Lady Bloomiel,
tells of the queen having spent an on
tire evening in watching her spin rings OF
one of the drawing room tables. The queel
even supplied her with her own rings an
gave her the history of each. One, a SIN a.
enamel, with a tiny diamond In the center
which her majesty still wears to this day
was given to her IN her sixteenth birthds
by Prince Albert of ~Saxe-Coburg, who sub
sequently became her husband. Anothe
beautiful emerald serpent ring, which SD
still wears next TO her wedding ring, WI
given to her by her husband ON the oeoasio
OF her betrothal.
may add shat the maids OF honor of tn
queen, if they do not happen to be actual
the daughters of peers. receive by virtue o
their office the right to prefix the wor,
Honorable" before their Christian name
Thus, the queens maid of honor, Adeiin
LOTUS. who was married the other day. wa
known, not as miss" Adeline Lotus, bu
as the Honorable Adeline LOTUS.
The principal ladies of the queens be
Der write q great many of the queen
private letters, mako purchases for her, ca
on people to whom the Qusen wisneg I
show some attention, and above all collec
gossip for the delectation of her maiest,
For like all the members of her housI
there liz nothing that the queen is 80 fond {
as of the little tRttle of the London worlt
] see that | have stated that tho ladies {
Queen Victoria's household are we'll PAL,
While this is true. it must be borne in min
that they have, on the other hand, a 200
many expenses, for, although the queen
herself very fond of wearing her dregs,
until they become absolutely rusty ar
doWdy from old age and constant use. y.