Photo: Anthony Devlin/WPA Pool/Getty
Queen Camillais shifting tradition.
TheBBCreported the news on Sunday, explaining that the companion position will be more informal with reduced responsibilities compared to the lady-in-waiting posts. While ladies-in-waiting traditionally assisted with the Queen’s correspondence and administration, the companions will simply support Camilla at official engagements.
“Replacing the role of lady-in-waiting will end a feature of court life going back to the middle ages, with such close personal helpers of a Queen often coming from aristocratic families and, over the centuries, sometimes caught up in court intrigue,” the BBC said of the “slimmed-down” position.
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
Though the royal role is new, the women’s support for Camilla is not. Keswick sat courtside with the former Duchess of Cornwall at Wimbledon in 2011, while Troughton joined her at a Community First event in 2015. Baroness Chisholm was similarly spotted with Charles and Camilla at the Royal Ascot in 2021.
Matthew Horwood - WPA Pool/Getty
The BBC added that while the Queen’s companions will not be paid, their expenses will be covered.
Meanwhile,Queen Elizabeth’s former ladies-in-waiting will now be known as “ladies of the household” and help King Charles host events at Buckingham Palace.
The change comes almost three months into King Charles' reign, who immediately acceded his motherQueen Elizabethas monarch following her death on Sept. 8.Queen Elizabethleaned on her ladies-in-waiting from the very start — her coronation day in 1953.
Lady Pamela Hicks was alady-in-waitingfor the then-Princess Elizabeth on tour in Kenya when the news came that Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, had died on Feb. 6, 1952 — making Elizabeth, age 25, the new Queen.
Queen Elizabeth and Lady Pamela.
Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates onKate Middleton,Meghan Markleand more!
“I remember going and hugging her. And then thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s Queen’ — and going into a deep curtsy,” Hicks previously toldPEOPLERoyals.
source: people.com
