![Illustration depicting a Parisian lady's maid in the 1630s. The illustration is made in the turn of the 18th-19th century, by Georges-Jacques Gatine [fr] (1773-1848) Gatine Pariser Zofe.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Gatine_Pariser_Zofe.jpg/220px-Gatine_Pariser_Zofe.jpg)
A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on her female employer. The role of a lady's maid is similar to that of a gentleman's valet. [1]
A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on her female employer. The role of a lady's maid is similar to that of a gentleman's valet. [1]
Traditionally, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who was a retainer rather than a servant, but the rewards included room and board, travel and somewhat improved social status. In the servants' hall, a lady's maid took precedence akin to that of her mistress. In Britain, a lady's maid would be addressed by her surname by her employer, while she was addressed as "Miss" by junior servants or when visiting another servants' hall.
A lady's maid's specific duties included helping her mistress with her appearance, including make-up, hairdressing, clothing, jewellery, and shoes. A lady's maid would also remove stains from clothing; sew, mend, and alter garments as needed; bring her mistress breakfast in her room; and draw her mistress's bath. However, she would not be expected to dust and clean every small item, as that would be the job of a housemaid. [2]
Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France prior to the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She became dauphine of France in May 1770 at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen.
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom she attended. Although she may either have received a retainer or may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a secretary, courtier, or companion to her mistress than a servant.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865).
Marie-Jeanne [Rose] Bertin was a French fashion merchant. She was particularly noted for her work with Queen Marie Antoinette. Bertin was the first celebrated French fashion designer and is widely credited with having brought fashion and haute couture to the forefront of popular culture.
Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden was heir apparent of the Margraviate of Baden.
Jeanne Louise Henriette Campan was a French educator, writer and Lady's maid. In the service of Marie Antoinette before and during the French Revolution, she was afterwards headmistress of the first Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, appointed by Napoleon in 1807 to promote the education of girls.
Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, also known as Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia, was a German princess of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who became the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia.
Fredrika Charlotte "Lolotte" Forssberg (1766–1840) was a Swedish noble and lady-in-waiting, later countess Stenbock. She was one of the most talked about people of her time as the possible child of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden investigated her birth in the 1790s and tried to have her acknowledged as the daughter of her father. The truth is unconfirmed, though it is considered likely that she was the illegitimate daughter of the king.
Pauline de Tourzel was a French noblewoman, courtier and memoirist. She was the daughter of Louise Élisabeth de Croÿ.
Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princess de Lamballe was a member of the Savoy-Carignano cadet branch of the House of Savoy. She was married at the age of 17 to Louis Alexandre de Bourbon-Penthièvre, Prince de Lamballe, the heir to the greatest fortune in France. After her marriage, which lasted a year, she went to the French royal court and became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette. She was killed in the massacres of September 1792 during the French Revolution.
Yelizaveta Palmenbach (1761–1832) was an Imperial Russian pedagogue, the principal of the Smolny Institute in Saint Petersburg from 1797 to 1802, and a lady-in-waiting.
Count Fabian Reinhold von Fersen was a Swedish count, politician, officer and courtier. He was the son of Axel von Fersen the Elder and Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie and the brother of Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Hedvig Eleonora von Fersen and Sophie Piper.
Court Mistress or Chief Court Mistress is or was the title of the senior lady-in-waiting in the courts of Austria, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Imperial Russia, and the German princely and royal courts.
Première femme de Chambre was an office at the royal court of France.
Louise Emmanuelle de Châtillon, known as Princesse de Tarente (1763-1814) was a French noble, memoirist and court official. She served as lady-in-waiting to queen Marie Antoinette of France from 1782 to 1792. Her memoirs about her life during the French Revolution has been published.
Julie Louise Bibault de Misery née de Chemault (1732-1804) was a French court official. She was the Première femme de Chambre to the queen of France between 1765 and 1786.
Doña Maria Molina, was a French courtier. She served as premiere femme du chambre to the queen of France, Maria Theresa of Spain. She was also known as La Molina.
Malvina De la Gardie (1824–1901) was a Swedish court official. She served as överhovmästarinna to the queen of Sweden, Sophia of Nassau, from 1880 to 1890.
Marie Courcelles was a Scottish court official. She served as lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots.