Lady of the Bedchamber
The Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of the person 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.
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.
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber (also styled Gentlewoman of Her Majesty's Bedchamber) in the British Royal Household. See also Ladies-in-Waiting, Women of the Bedchamber and Mistress of the Robes.
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth I, 1558–1603
- 1558–1565: Katherine Ashley (née Champernowne), Lady Ashley
- 1559–1569: Catherine Carey, Lady Knollys
- 1568–1599: Elizabeth Stafford
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Henrietta Maria of France, 1625–1649[1]
- c. 1625: Elizabeth Conquest (née Thimbelby), daughter of Sir Richard Thimelby of Irnham, married Sir Richard Conquest of Houghton Conquest
- 1626: Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Catherine of Braganza, 1662–1688
- 1663–1667: Katherine Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield
- 1663–1673: Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine
- 1663–1681: Barbara Howard, Countess of Suffolk
- 1663–1688: Mary Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham
- 1663–1688: Jane Granville, Countess of Bath
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Anne, 1704–1714
- 1704–1714: Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham
- 1704–1712: Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland
- 1704–1714: Anne Venables-Bertie, Countess of Abingdon
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Caroline of Ansbach, 1714–1737[2][3]
- 1714–1717: Louisa Berkeley, Countess of Berkeley
- 1714–1717 & 1726: Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans
- 1714–1717: Henrietta Paulet, Duchess of Bolton
- 1714–1717: Mary Montagu, Duchess of Montagu
- 1714–1724: Mary Cowper, Countess Cowper
- 1714–1726: Adelaide Talbot, Duchess of Shrewsbury
- 1714–1737: Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset
- 1717: Elizabeth Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke
- 1718–1721: Barbara Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
- 1718–1724: Henrietta d'Auverquerque, Countess of Grantham
- 1718–1737: Elizabeth Hervey, Countess of Bristol
- 1718–1720: Anne Scott, Countess of Deloraine
- 1722: Jane Capell, Countess of Essex
- 1724–1737: Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford
- 1724–1737: Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond
- 1725–1737: Anne van Keppel, Countess of Albemarle
- 1725–1737: Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret
- 1725–1737: Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (extra)
- ?–1737: Dorothy Boyle, Countess of Cork (extra)
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, 1736–1763[4]
- 1736: Annie Howard, Countess of Effingham
- 1736–1764: Anne Ingram, Viscountess Irvine
- 1736–1739 & 1742–1759: Charlotte Byng, Viscountess Torrington
- 1737–1772: Lady Charlotte Edwyn
- 1743–1772: Frances Lumley-Saunderson, Countess of Scarbrough
- 1743–1772: Maria Howe, Viscountess Howe
- 1745–1772: Elizabeth Berkeley, Countess Berkeley
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1761–1818[5]
- 1761–1768: Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke
- 1761–1770: 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 Effingham
- 1761–1793: Elizabeth Thynne, Viscountess Weymouth (Marchioness of Bath from 1789)
- 1761–1794: Alicia Wyndham, Countess of Egremont
- 1768–1782: Isabella Seymour, Countess of Hertford
- 1770–1801: Mary Darcy, Countess of Holderness
- 1783–1818: Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery
- 1784–1818: Elizabeth Harcourt, Countess Harcourt
- 1791–1818: Elizabeth Townshend, Viscountess Sydney
- 1793–1807: Elizabeth Brudenell, Countess of Cardigan
- 1794–1818: Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington
- 1801–1818: Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield
- 1807–1813: Henrietta Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield
- 1813–1818: Anne Dundas, Viscountess Melville
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, 1830–1837[6]
- 1830–1837: Emily Nugent, Marchioness of Westmeath
- 1830–1837: Arabella Bourke, Countess of Mayo
- 1830–1849: Marianne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington
- 1830–1834: Anna Loftus, Marchioness of Ely (extra 1834-1837)
- 1830–1837: Emma Brownlow, Countess Brownlow
- 1830–1837: Lady Harriet Clinton
- 1833–1836: Harriet Howe, Countess Howe
- 1836–1837: Harriet Baker-Holroyd, Countess of Sheffield
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Victoria, 1837–1901[7]
- 1837–1838: Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne
- 1837–1838: Louisa Lambton, Countess of Durham
- 1837–1841: Maria Phipps, Marchioness of Normanby
- 1837–1841: Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford
- 1837–1842: Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton, then Governess (Lady Superintendent) of the Royal Children 1842–1850.
- 1837–1842: Frances Noel, Countess of Gainsborough
- 1837–1851: Emma Portman, Baroness Portman
- 1837–1854: Anne Caulfield, Countess of Charlemont
- 1838–1840: Blanche Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
- 1839: Elizabeth Campbell, Marchioness of Breadalbane
- 1839–1842: Mary Montagu, Countess of Sandwich
- 1840–1854 & 1863–1865: Carolina Edgcumbe, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe
- 1841–1845: Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore
- 1841–1867: Frances Jocelyn, Viscountess Jocelyn (extra 1867-1880)
- 1842: Susan Broun-Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie
- 1842–1843: Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
- 1842–1855: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning
- 1843–1858: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
- 1845–1864: Elizabeth Cuffe, Countess of Desart
- 1851–1889: Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely
- 1854–1897: Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl
- 1854–1900: Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill
- 1855–1863: Maria Bosville-Macdonald, Baroness Macdonald
- 1858–1878: Jane Alexander, Countess of Caledon
- 1864–1890: Elizabeth Cavendish, Baroness Waterpark
- 1865–1895: Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe
- 1867–1872: Eliza Agar-Ellis, Viscountess Clifden
- 1872–1874: Blanche Bourke, Countess of Mayo
- 1873–1901: Eliza Hay, Countess of Erroll
- 1874–1885: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby
- 1878–1901: Ismania FitzRoy, Baroness Southampton
- 1885–1901: Emily Russell, Baroness Ampthill
- 1889–1901: Cecilia Dawnay, Viscountess Downe
- 1890–1901: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim
- 1895–1901: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton
- 1897–1901: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Alexandra of Denmark, 1901–1925
- 1900–1910: Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby
- 1901–1910: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim[8]
- 1901–1925: Louisa Acheson, Countess of Gosford[8]
- 1901–1905: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton[8]
- 1901–1911: Cecilia Harbord, Baroness Suffield[8]
- 1901–1907: Alice Douglas, Countess of Morton (Extra Lady of the Bedchamber 1901-?)[8]
- 1901–1912: Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield (Extra Lady of the Bedchamber 1901-?)[8]
- 1901–1905: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne (extra)
- 1905–1910: Maud Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne
- 1905–1910: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury (extra)
- 1907–1910: Cecily Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury
- 1910–1914: 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)
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Mary of Teck, 1901–1953
- 1901–1902: Ida Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford
- 1901–1910: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie
- 1902–1910: Mary Cochrane-Baillie, Baroness Lamington
- 1905–1906: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury (extra)
- 1905–1936: Ida Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford (extra)
- 1906–1913: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury
- 1910–1916: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie (extra)
- 1910–1917: Mary Cochrane-Baillie, Baroness Lamington(extra)
- 1911–1916: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough
- 1911–1936: Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Countess of Minto
- 1911–1953: Margaret Russell, Baroness Ampthill
- 1913–1924: Emily Fortescue, Countess Fortescue
- 1913–1953: Constance Ashley-Cooper, Countess of Shaftesburye (extra)
- 1916–1924: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough (extra)
- 1916–1953: Mabell Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie
- 1924–1929: Emily Fortescue, Countess Fortescue (extra)
- 1924–1936: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough
- 1936–1940: Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Countess of Minto (extra)
- 1936–1952: Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough (extra)
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1937–2002
- 1937–1947: Mary Wilson, Baroness Nunburnholme
- 1937–1972: Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer
- 1937–1941: Dorothy Wood, Viscountess Halifax
- 1937–1994: Patricia Smith, Viscountess Hambleden
- 1941–1945: Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech
- 1945–1967: Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech
- 1947–1979: Katharine Lumley, Countess of Scarbrough
- 1973–2002: Elizabeth Beckett, Baroness Grimthorpe
- 1994–2002: Elizabeth Lumley, Countess of Scarbrough
Ladies of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth II, 1953–present
- 1953–1966: Fortune FitzRoy, Countess of Euston (now the Dowager Duchess of Grafton)
- 1953–1973: Elizabeth Coke, née Yorke, Countess of Leicester
- 1960–1966: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny (extra)
- 1966–1987: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny
- 1967–1971: Esmé Baring, née Harmsworth, Countess of Cromer (temporary)
- 1967: Sonia Fairfax, Lady Fairfax of Cameron (temporary)
- 1971–1993: Esmé Baring, née Harmsworth, Countess of Cromer (extra)
- 1973–present: Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie
- 1987–2005: Patricia Nevill, Marchioness of Abergavenny (extra)
- 1987–present: Diana Marion, Baroness Farnham
- 1987–present: Richenda Elton, née Gurney, Baroness Elton
References
- ^ John Preston Neale, The Mansions Of England V1: Or Picturesque Delineations Of The Seats Of Noblemen And Gentlemen (1847)
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ Institute of Historical Research
- ^ a b c d e f "No. 27292". The London Gazette. 8 March 1901.
External links
Media related to Ladies of the Bedchamber at Wikimedia Commons
