Mistress of the Robes
The Mistress of the Robes is the senior lady of the British Royal Household. Formerly (as the name implies) responsible for the Queen's clothes and jewellery, 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 the past, when 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 fifty years' reign. Queens dowager have their own Mistresses of the Robes, and in the eighteenth century the Princess of Wales had one too. In modern times, the Mistress of the Robes is almost always a Duchess.
Queen Mary I, 1553-1558
- 1553–1558: Susan Tonge[1]
Queen Elizabeth I, 1558-1603
- 1559/1562–1603: Dorothy, Lady Stafford[1]
Queen Anne, 1704-1714
- 1704-1710: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough[2]
- 1710-1714: Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset[3]
Caroline, Princess of Wales, later Queen Caroline, 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]
Augusta, Princess of Wales, 1736-1763
- 1736-1745: Lady Archibald Hamilton[6]
- 1745-1747: Vacant[6]
- 1747-1763: Grace Sackville, Countess of Middlesex[6]
Queen Charlotte, 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]
Caroline, Princess of Wales, 1795-1820
- 1795-1819: Anne Townshend, Marchioness Townshend
Queen Adelaide, 1830-1837
- 1830-1837: Catherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds[6]
Queen Victoria, 1837-1901
- 1837-1841: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland[7]
- 1841-1846: Charlotte Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch[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[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)
- 1895-1901: Louisa Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[22]
Queen Alexandra, 1901-1925
- 1901-1912: Louisa Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry[23]
- 1913-1925: Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland[24]
Queen Mary, 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)
Queen Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 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
Queen Elizabeth II, 1953-present
- 1953-1967: Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire[29]
- 1967-present: Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton[30]
References
- a b 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
- a b c d e f g h 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, 8 March 1901, p.1
- 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
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Mistress of the Robes". Image Credit.
