THE QUEEN'S HOUSEHOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 243, 13 October 1936, Page 12

THE QUEEN'S HOUSEHOLD.

FIVE LADIES-IN-WAITING,

When Queen Mary takes up residence at Marlborough House this autumn she will have four fewer ladies-in-waiting. Formerly there were nine in the Queen s household; now there are five. Queen Mary has appointed two Ladies of the Bedchamber—the Dowager Lady Airlie and' the Dowager Lady Amptliill and three Women of the BedchamberLady Cynthia Colville, Lady Victoria Forester, and the Hon. Jean Bruce. Although indiscriminately known as "ladies-in-waiting," they fulfil vel T ferent functions in Court life. Full ladies, as they are known at Court, do. not reside with the Queen. They live at home, going to the Koyal residence every day during their period in office —usually a fortnight at a. time and attend the Queen on her more important public engagements. One of their duties is to make presentations. Women of the Bedchamber act as companions to the Queen. One is always in residence, and her duties include reading aloud and dealing with correspondence. These ladies, too, attend the Queen in public. The position of Mistress of the Robes in Queen Mary's household has undergone a change. It is still held by the Duchess of Devonshire, but is now entirely a personal appointment made by the Queen. The office was nominally political so long as the Queen was a Queen Consort, and it then required the approval of the existing Ministry. One room at Marlborough House is a room of memories. This is the apartment which was King George's private office when he lived there as Prince of Wales. It is now equipped with the furniture and books from the room similarly used by the late King at Buckingham Palace.