A Maid of the Bedchamber (Danish: ''Kammerfrøken''; German: ''Kammerfräulein''; Russian: ''kamer-devitsa''; Swedish: ''kammarfröken'') was a court office for a
lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
in several European courts.
The office was that of
maid of honour
A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
Tudors and Stuarts
Traditi ...
of higher rank, or a senior maid of honour. While there was normally several maids of honour (Danish: ''Hoffrøken''; German: ''Hoffräulein''; Swedish: ''Hovfröken''), there was normally only one Maid of the Bedchamber. She was in rank between the maids of honour and the married ladies-in-waiting. As the German court model originally included only a
Chief Court Mistress
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.
Chief c ...
and a group of maids of honours, she was often second in rank of the ladies-in-waiting between them. The Maid of the Bedchamber was an office of high status selected from nobility. She had often been a maid of honour before she was promoted, because of birth or royal favor. Her tasks were essentially the same as the tasks of the maids of honour, though they were of higher status. In Sweden, the ''kammarfröken'' was the deputy of the ''
överhovmästarinna
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.
Chief c ...
'' whenever she was absent until the introduction of the office ''
statsfru
Statsfru ("Lady of the State") is an office at the Royal Court of Sweden. The title has been used for two different offices during the course of history. Originally created in 1774, the office was given to several individuals, and simply the titl ...
'' in 1774.
[Till Sveriges historia utgifna af D:r E. V. Montan. Gustaf Johan Ehrensvärds Dagboksanteckningar förda vid Gustaf III:s Hov. Dagboskateckningar förda vid Gustaf III:s hof av Friherre Gustav Johan Ehrensvärd. Utgifna af D:r E. V. MONTAN] As the maids of honour, a Maid of the Bedchamber retired from her office upon marriage.
See also
*
Dame d'atour
''Dame d'atour'' () was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The ''dame d'honneur'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. They were ranked between th ...
References
* Klaus Kjølsen: Det Kongelige Danske Hof 1660-2000: en forvaltningshistorisk oversigt, 2010
* Fabian Persson (1999). Servants of Fortune. The Swedish court between 1598 and 1721. Lund: Wallin & Dalholm. {{ISBN, 91-628-3340-5
* Nadine Akkerman & Birgit Houben, eds. ''The Politics of Female Households: Ladies-in-waiting across Early Modern Europe''. Leiden: Brill, 2013
Court titles
Royal households