Mistress of the Robes
Sarah Churchill Duchess
The Mistress of the Robes is the senior lady in the royal household of the United Kingdom.
United Kingdom
Tasks
Formerly (as the name implies) responsible for the queen's clothes and jewelry, the post now has the responsibility for arranging the rota of attendance of the ladies-in-waiting on the queen, along with various duties at state ceremonies.
In modern times, the Mistress of the Robes is almost always a duchess.
History
During the 17th and 18th centuries role often overlapped with or was retitled as First Lady of the Bedchamber.
In the past, whenever the queen was a queen regnant rather than a queen consort, the Mistress of the Robes was a political appointment, changing with the government. However, this has not been the case since the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, and Queen Elizabeth II has only had two Mistresses of the Robes in more than sixty years' reign. Queens dowager have their own Mistresses of the Robes, and in the 18th century Princesses of Wales had one too.
Mistress of the Robes to Mary I, 1553–1558
- 1553–1558: Susan Clarencieux[1]
Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth I, 1558–1603
- 1559/1562–1603: Dorothy, Lady Stafford[1]
Mistress of the Robes to Anne of Denmark, 1603–1619
- 1603–1619: Audrey (Etheldreda), Lady Walsingham
Mistresses of the Robes to Anne, 1704–1714
- 1704–1710: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough[2]
- 1710–1714: Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset[3]
Mistresses of the Robes to Caroline of Ansbach, 1714–1737
- 1714–1717: Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans[4]
- 1717–1723: Vacant?
- 1723–1731: Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset[5]
- 1731–1735: Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (Dowager Countess of Suffolk from 1733)[6]
- 1735–1737: Vacant[6]
Mistresses of the Robes to Augusta of Saxe-Gotha 1736–1763
- 1736–1745: Lady Archibald Hamilton[6]
- 1745–1747: Vacant[6]
- 1747–1763: Grace Sackville, Countess of Middlesex[6]
Mistress of the Robes to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1761–1818
- 1761–1793: Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven (Dowager Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven from 1778)[6]
- 1793–1818: Elizabeth Thynne, Marchioness of Bath (Dowager Marchioness of Bath from 1796)[6]
Mistress of the Robes to Caroline of Brunswick 1795–1820
- 1795–1808: Anne Townshend, Marchioness Townshend
- 1808-1817: Catherine Douglas, Baroness Glenbervie
Mistress of the Robes to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, 1830–1837
- 1830–1837: Catherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds[6]
Mistress of the Robes to Victoria, 1837–1901
- 1837–1841: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[7]
- 1841–1846: Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[8]
- 1846–1852: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[9]
- 1852–1853: Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl[10]
- 1853–1858: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[11]
- 1858–1859: Louisa Montagu, Duchess of Manchester[12]
- 1859–1861: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[13]
- 1861–1868: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington[14]
- 1868–1870: Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll[15]
- 1870–1874: Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[16]
- 1874–1880: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington[17]
- 1880–1883: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Bedford[18]
- 1883–1885: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe[19]
- 1885–1886: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[20]
- 1886: Vacant
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Bedford
- 1886–1892: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[21]
- 1892–1895: Vacant
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, and Anne Murray, Dowager Duchess of Atholl (jointly)
- 1894: Vacant
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim
- 1895–1901: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[22]
Mistress of the Robes to Alexandra of Denmark, 1901–1925
- 1901–1912: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[23]
- 1913–1925: Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland[24]
Mistress of the Robes to Mary of Teck, 1910–1953
- 1910–1916: Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire[25]
- 1916–1921: Eileen Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[26]
- 1921–1953: Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (Dowager Duchess of Devonshire from 1938)
Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1937–2002
- 1937–1964: Helen Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (Dowager Duchess of Northumberland from 1946)[27]
- 1964–1990: Kathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn (Dowager Duchess of Abercorn from 1979)[28]
- 1990–2002: Vacant
Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth II, 1953–present
- 1953–1967: Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (Dowager Duchess of Devonshire from 1950)[29]
- 1967–present: Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton (Dowager Duchess of Grafton from 2011)[30]
See also
- Chief Court Mistress, Dutch, German, Scandinavian and Russian equivalent
- Camarera mayor de Palacio, Spanish equivalent
- Première dame d'honneur, French equivalent
- Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine, French equivalent
References
- 1 2 G. A. Bergenroth, P. De Gayangos, and others, Calendar of letters, despatches, and state papers, relating to the negotiations between England and Spain, 13 vols., (1862–1954); M. A. S. Hume, Calendar of letters and state papers, relating to English affairs, preserved in the archives of Simancas, 4 vols., (1892–9)
- ↑ Cokayne et al., The Complete Peerage, volume VIII, p.496
- ↑ Cokayne et al., The Complete Peerage, volume I, p.212
- ↑ Wier, Alison, Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, The Bodley Head, 1999, p.265
- ↑ Cokayne et al., The Complete Peerage, volume XII/2, p.589
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Institute of Historical Research
- ↑ The London Gazette, 29 August 1837, p.15
- ↑ The London Gazette, 10 September 1841, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 10 July 1846, p.5
- ↑ The London Gazette, 16 March 1852, p.2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 18 January 1853, p.5
- ↑ The London Gazette, 5 March 1858, p.2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 24 June 1859, p.3
- ↑ The London Gazette, 26 April 1861, p.2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 22 December 1868, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 25 January 1870, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 3 March 1874, p.6
- ↑ The London Gazette, 7 May 1880, p.5
- ↑ The London Gazette, 12 January 1883, p.6
- ↑ The London Gazette, 27 June 1885, p.6
- ↑ The London Gazette, 3 September 1886, p.4
- ↑ The London Gazette, 16 July 1895, p.24
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27292. p. 1648. 8 March 1901.
- ↑ The London Gazette, 28 October 1913, p.2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 21 June 1910, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 14 November 1916, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 5 March 1937, p.2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 17 April 1964, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 20 January 1953, p.1
- ↑ The London Gazette, 3 January 1967, p.1
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