Mistress of the Robes
Encyclopedia
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 18th century the Princess of Wales
had one too. In modern times, the Mistress of the Robes is almost always a Duchess.
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary I
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth I
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne
Mistresses of the Robes to Queen Anne
Mistresses of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales, later Queen Caroline
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte
Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Adelaide
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Alexandra
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II
Royal Household
A Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....
. Formerly (as the name implies) responsible for the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
's clothes and jewellery, the post now has the responsibility for arranging the rota of attendance of the Ladies in Waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
on the Queen, along with various duties at State ceremonies. In the past, when the Queen was a Queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
rather than a queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens 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
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
in 1901, and Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
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 18th century the Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
had one too. In modern times, the Mistress of the Robes is almost always a Duchess.
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Mary IMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, 1553-1558
- 1553–1558: Susan ClarencieuxSusan ClarencieuxSusan Clarencieux was a favourite lady in waiting and longtime friend to Mary I of England, daughter of King Henry VIII.She was born Susan White, the daughter of Richard White of Hutton, Essex and Lady Margaret Strelley...
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth IElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, 1558-1603
- 1559/1562–1603: Dorothy, Lady StaffordDorothy StaffordDorothy Stafford, Lady Stafford was an English noblewoman, and an influential person at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England, to whom Dorothy served as Mistress of the Robes. Dorothy was the second wife of Sir William Stafford, widower of Mary Boleyn...
Mistress of the Robes to Queen AnneAnne of DenmarkAnne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
, 1603-1619
- 1603-1619: Audrey (Etheldreda), Lady Walsingham
Mistresses of the Robes to Queen AnneAnne of Great BritainAnne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
, 1704-1714
- 1704-1710: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of MarlboroughSarah Churchill, Duchess of MarlboroughSarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain.Sarah's friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, and leading public figures...
- 1710-1714: Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of SomersetElizabeth Seymour, Duchess of SomersetElizabeth Percy, Duchess of Somerset , major heiress, was born Lady Elizabeth Percy, the only surviving child of the 11th Earl of Northumberland and deemed Baroness Percy in her own right. She carried the earldom of Northumberland to her son Algernon...
Mistresses of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales, later Queen CarolineCaroline of AnsbachCaroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
, 1714-1737
- 1714-1717: Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St AlbansDiana Beauclerk, Duchess of St AlbansDiana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans was born Lady Diana de Vere, was a British courtier. She was Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales from 1714 to 1717....
- 1717-1723: Vacant?
- 1723-1731: Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset
- 1731-1735: Henrietta Howard, Countess of SuffolkHenrietta Howard, Countess of SuffolkHenrietta Howard was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain.She was the daughter of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet, a Norfolk landowner who was killed in a duel when Henrietta was aged eight...
(Dowager Countess of Suffolk from 1733) - 1735-1737: Vacant
Mistresses of the Robes to Augusta, Princess of Wales, 1736-1763
- 1736-1745: Lady Archibald Hamilton
- 1745-1747: Vacant
- 1747-1763: Grace Sackville, Countess of Middlesex
Mistress of the Robes to Queen CharlotteCharlotte of Mecklenburg-StrelitzCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...
, 1761-1818
- 1761-1793: Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven (Dowager Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven from 1778)
- 1793-1818: Elizabeth Thynne, Marchioness of Bath (Dowager Marchioness of Bath from 1796)
Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of WalesCaroline of BrunswickCaroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
, 1795-1820
- 1795-1819: Anne Townshend, Marchioness Townshend
Mistress of the Robes to Queen AdelaideAdelaide of Saxe-MeiningenPrincess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as spouse of William IV of the United Kingdom. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is named after her.-Early life:Adelaide was born on 13 August 1792 at Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany...
, 1830-1837
- 1830-1837: Catherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds
Mistress of the Robes to Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, 1837-1901
- 1837-1841: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard was born Lady Harriet Howard, daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, who was a daughter of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. On 18 May 1823 Harriet married Earl Gower, eldest son of the 2nd Marquess of Stafford, and...
- 1841-1846: Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
- 1846-1852: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard was born Lady Harriet Howard, daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, who was a daughter of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. On 18 May 1823 Harriet married Earl Gower, eldest son of the 2nd Marquess of Stafford, and...
- 1852-1853: Anne Murray, Duchess of AthollAnne Murray, Duchess of AthollAnne Murray, Duchess of Atholl , born Anne Home-Drummond and known as The Lady Glenlyon between 1839 and 1846, as The Duchess of Atholl between 1846 and 1864 and as The Dowager Duchess of Atholl between 1864 and 1897, was a Scottish courtier and close friend of Queen Victoria.Murray was born at...
- 1853-1858: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard was born Lady Harriet Howard, daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, who was a daughter of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. On 18 May 1823 Harriet married Earl Gower, eldest son of the 2nd Marquess of Stafford, and...
- 1858-1859: Louisa Montagu, Duchess of ManchesterLouisa Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireLouisa Frederica Augusta Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, formerly Louisa Montagu, Duchess of Manchester, née Luise Fredericke Auguste Gräfin von Alten , daughter of Karl Franz Viktor, Graf von Alten and his wife, Hermine de Schminke .On 22 July 1852 she was married at Hannover to...
- 1859-1861: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandHarriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard was born Lady Harriet Howard, daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, who was a daughter of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. On 18 May 1823 Harriet married Earl Gower, eldest son of the 2nd Marquess of Stafford, and...
- 1861-1868: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth, Duchess of Wellington was born Lady Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of the eighth Marquess of Tweeddale. One of her brothers was the ornithologist Viscount Walden, and another the Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay...
- 1868-1870: Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of ArgyllElizabeth Campbell, Duchess of ArgyllLady Elizabeth Georgiana Leveson-Gower CI VA was the eldest daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland by his wife Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard. She was married on the 31 July 1844 to George Douglas Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, the eldest son of the 7th Duke of Argyll...
- 1870-1874: Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandAnne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandAnne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland , 1st Countess of Cromartie in her own right and known as the Marchioness of Stafford from 1849 to 1861, was a British peeress....
- 1874-1880: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth, Duchess of Wellington was born Lady Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of the eighth Marquess of Tweeddale. One of her brothers was the ornithologist Viscount Walden, and another the Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay...
- 1880-1883: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of BedfordElizabeth Russell, Duchess of BedfordElizabeth, Duchess of Bedford was born as Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of the 5th Earl De La Warr and the Countess De La Warr....
- 1883-1885: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of RoxburgheAnne Innes-Ker, Duchess of RoxburgheAnne Emily Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe VA OBE was born Anne Emily Spencer-Churchill, and was the daughter of the seventh Duke of Marlborough, who served in Conservative governments as Lord President of the Council and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland...
- 1885-1886: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
- 1886: Vacant
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of BedfordElizabeth Russell, Duchess of BedfordElizabeth, Duchess of Bedford was born as Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of the 5th Earl De La Warr and the Countess De La Warr....
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Bedford
- 1886-1892: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
- 1892-1895: Vacant
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of RoxburgheAnne Innes-Ker, Duchess of RoxburgheAnne Emily Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe VA OBE was born Anne Emily Spencer-Churchill, and was the daughter of the seventh Duke of Marlborough, who served in Conservative governments as Lord President of the Council and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland...
, and Anne Murray, Dowager Duchess of AthollAnne Murray, Duchess of AthollAnne Murray, Duchess of Atholl , born Anne Home-Drummond and known as The Lady Glenlyon between 1839 and 1846, as The Duchess of Atholl between 1846 and 1864 and as The Dowager Duchess of Atholl between 1864 and 1897, was a Scottish courtier and close friend of Queen Victoria.Murray was born at...
(jointly)
- Acting Mistress of the Robes: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe
- 1895-1901: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
Mistress of the Robes to Queen AlexandraAlexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, 1901-1925
- 1901-1912: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
- 1913-1925: Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
Mistress of the Robes to Queen MaryMary of TeckMary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, 1910-1953
- 1910-1916: Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireEvelyn Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireEvelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire was born Lady Evelyn Emily Mary FitzMaurice, the daughter of the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne and his wife, Maud....
- 1916-1921: Eileen Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandEileen Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of SutherlandEileen Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland , born Lady Eileen Gwladys Butler and styled Marchioness of Stafford from 1912 to 1913, was a British courtier....
- 1921-1953: Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireEvelyn Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireEvelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire was born Lady Evelyn Emily Mary FitzMaurice, the daughter of the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne and his wife, Maud....
(Dowager Duchess of Devonshire from 1938)
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherElizabeth Bowes-LyonElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, 1937-2002
- 1937-1964: Helen Percy, Duchess of NorthumberlandHelen Percy, Duchess of NorthumberlandHelen Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, GCVO was born as Helen Magdalan Gordon-Lennox, the daughter of the Earl of March and Kinrara ....
(Dowager Duchess of Northumberland from 1946) - 1964-1990: Kathleen Hamilton, Duchess of AbercornKathleen Hamilton, Duchess of AbercornKathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, DCVO was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1964 to her death in 1990...
(Dowager Duchess of Abercorn from 1979) - 1990–2002: Vacant
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, 1953-present
- 1953-1967: Mary Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireMary Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireMary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO, CBE was born Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury...
(Dowager Duchess of Devonshire from 1950) - 1967-: Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of GraftonFortune FitzRoy, Duchess of GraftonAnn Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton GCVO is the widow of Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton...
(Dowager Duchess of Grafton from 2011)