Annie MacDonald née Mitchell (1832–1897), was a British courtier. She was a ''Dresser'' (

lady's maid 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. Description Traditionally, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who wa ...

) to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

between 1862 and 1897.

Life

She was born near

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

in Scotland. She married the butler John McDonald (d. 1865) in 1863. Initially a washer woman of prince Albert, she was employed by the queen in 1862. She was the Principal Dresser and as such outranked and supervised the Second and Third Dresser and the Wardrobe Maids, all part of the Department of the

Mistress of the Robes The mistress of the robes was the senior lady in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, who would, by appointment, attend on the Queen (whether queen regnant or a queen consort). Queens dowager retained their own mistresses of the robes. In ...

. She was responsible for the organization of the queen's chamber staff, handling the contacts with tradespeople and artists, making orders and paying them and answering beggar letters. She was a personal friend of queen Victoria and replaced

Marianne Skerrett Marianne Skerrett (20 June 1793 – 29 July 1887) was a British courtier. She was a ''Dresser'' (lady's maid) to Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1862.Helen Rappaport: Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion', 2003 Biography She was born in Lon ...

as the queen's confidante when Skerrett retired in 1862. As such she had an important position in the royal household, as the queen was generally closer to her chamber staff than to her ladies-in-waiting, to whom she normally had a less personal attitude. When Victoria died, she was noted to say, that she hoped to be reunited with John Brown and Annie MacDonald. She received the Queen Victoria Version of the

Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal The Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal is a Civil awards and decorations, civil decoration awarded by the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch to servants of their Royal Households of the United Kingdom, royal household fo ...

in 1892 'for faithful services to the Queen during 38 years'.

Legacy

She is known and often mentioned in Victoria's letters, Queen Victoria's journals and Queen Victoria's Highland Journals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Annie 1832 births 1897 deaths Queen Victoria Women of the Victorian era 19th-century Scottish women Court of Queen Victoria