Every Tudor queen had ladies-in-waiting \u2013 and they were never not there. As the queen\u2019s confidantes and her chaperones, their job was to accompany their mistress wherever she went and assist her in any way that she required, from helping her to dress in the morning, to chatting with strangers at a banquet, or dancing in revels. To be one of the queen\u2019s women was to be part of an exclusive set. There were only between 20 and 25 women in \u2018ordinary\u2019, daily, service at any given time. And though it was an honour to be chosen, it was not a soft option. They were on duty all day, every day, and could not leave without royal permission.<\/p>\n
Ladies-in-waiting<\/a> held one of three household ranks corresponding to social status: a few \u2018great ladies\u2019, several more \u2018ladies and gentlewomen\u2019, and a few \u2018chamberers\u2019, still of gentry status but responsible for the more menial tasks. To these were added \u2018maids of honour\u2019, six teenage girls under the supervision of the mother of the maids. Other noblewomen might pop in to visit or to provide temporary cover for an absence as \u2018extraordinary\u2019 ladies-in-waiting.<\/p>\n Vacancies were like gold dust. Every family wanted eyes and ears near the monarch. Foreign queens had their households selected for them before they arrived, but over time all of Henry VIII<\/a>\u2019s consorts could choose their own ladies subject to his approval. Competition was intense. Each queen prioritised family, friends, and those with previous experience who could help her settle into her new role. Getting into the queen\u2019s household was therefore a matter of connections and of keeping one\u2019s ear to the ground for whispers of change.<\/p>\n Once there, it could be a job for life. Though no woman is known to have served all six wives, several worked for five of the six, balancing their duties at court with their roles as wives, mothers, and estate managers at home. Others spent only a short time at court before leaving to get married. These women saw and heard everything, and that could make them dangerous.<\/p>\n As Henry\u2019s reign progressed \u2013 as queens died and were divorced, and as the fabric of religion and society was violently rewoven around them \u2013 ladies-in-waiting had to make choices about loyalty that simply hadn\u2019t existed before, and would never exist like this again.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Tudor court was a whirlpool of political intrigue and backstabbing, giant egos and extra-marital affairs. This vipers\u2019 nest could stretch a lady-in-waiting\u2019s loyalty to her queen to breaking point. Yet few had that loyalty tested to the same degree as Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk.<\/p>\n Elizabeth (c1497\u20131558) was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon<\/a>. As the daughter of one powerful nobleman, the Duke of Buckingham, and the young wife of another, Thomas Howard \u2013 soon to be Earl of Surrey \u2013 her status placed her among the higher rank of the \u2018ladies\u2019 rather than the \u2018gentlewomen\u2019 in the queen\u2019s household. Elizabeth probably joined the court in her late teens, following her marriage in 1512, and remained there while her husband fought on campaign in France and then on the Scottish border at the battle of Flodden<\/a> where English forces defeated Scottish king James IV.<\/p>\n She later wrote that she served the queen \u201c16 years together\u201d, but we know that she also spent time at the family homes in East Anglia and gave birth to at least four children. Elizabeth\u2019s court service became complicated as Henry VIII began to question the validity of his marriage. As it became clear that he sought to put Queen Catherine aside in favour of Anne Boleyn<\/a>, Elizabeth had to make a difficult choice.<\/p>\n Anne Boleyn was Elizabeth\u2019s niece by marriage. But Elizabeth felt that Catherine was a wronged wife, and she identified strongly with this: her own husband had also taken a mistress, described by Elizabeth as \u201cthat harlot\u201d.<\/p>\n Rather than follow her husband in support of Boleyn, Elizabeth spoke out in favour of Catherine, and covertly passed information to her. This got her banished from court at Boleyn\u2019s demand in 1531, and a year later her husband placed her under house arrest in Redbourn, Hertfordshire. Nevertheless, Elizabeth refused to give him a divorce or return to her marriage, writing to Thomas Cromwell<\/a> that her life \u201cwould be but short\u201d if she did. She remained at Redbourn for the rest of Henry\u2019s reign, isolated for her devotion to her mistress and her refusal to put up with her husband\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mar\u00eda de Salinas was Catherine of Aragon\u2019s longest-serving lady-in-waiting, and is remembered by us as the epitome of sisterhood. She came to England with Catherine in 1501, and legend has it that the queen died in her arms in 1536. In fact, new research shows that Mar\u00eda\u2019s life involved a little less loyalty and a lot more feistiness.<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda (c1490\u20131539) came from a family of Castilian courtiers. In Spain, royal service was a customary route to a good marriage, so Mar\u00eda probably didn\u2019t expect to be in England for long. She saw Princess Catherine marry the future Henry VIII\u2019s elder brother, Prince Arthur, and must have known what did \u2013 or didn\u2019t \u2013 happen on the wedding night. Five months after the wedding, Arthur was dead. Then began the dreadful period of limbo, when Catherine and her household became pawns in a financial battle between her father, Ferdinand of Aragon, and Henry VII<\/a> over Catherine\u2019s dowry.<\/p>\n Newly discovered letters written by Mar\u00eda to her family back home reveal that she was desperate to leave England, writing with characteristic sarcasm, \u201cthis is not a country to stop in unless necessary\u201d. Marriage was her only way out, and she needed her brother Juan to arrange it. Several matches fell through and Maria\u2019s letters throb with palpable anxiety, even defiance. \u201cDo what you will,\u201d she fumed, \u201cfor I will choose what is best for me.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1516, Catherine financed a marriage to William, Lord Willoughby. Mar\u00eda sold her Spanish inheritance and became an English noblewoman. She remained a lady-in-waiting and stayed at court after William\u2019s death in 1526, using her court contacts to fight a poisonous lawsuit for her daughter\u2019s inheritance. By this point she was indeed a staunch ally to the queen, and so she was banished from Catherine\u2019s service during the queen\u2019s divorce from Henry VIII.<\/p>\n When Mar\u00eda heard of Catherine\u2019s rapid decline, she wrote to the king\u2019s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, to ask permission to visit, but left for Kimbolton, the queen\u2019s final home, on New Year\u2019s Day 1536 without waiting for his reply. Once there, she talked her way into the castle and refused to leave. After the queen\u2019s death, Mar\u00eda retired to her estates in Lincolnshire. She was a stern landlord, milking her tenants for all the money that she could, and not surprisingly her house was targeted during the Pilgrimage of Grace<\/a> rebellion against Henry\u2019s rule later that year. The rest of her life was spent quietly, and she died in 1539. We do not know where she was buried.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was a long, extraordinary \u2013 and ultimately tragic \u2013 court career. Jane Parker, Viscountess Rochford served in the courts of five Tudor queens, playing a central role in the trial and execution of one, and losing her own life in the downfall of another.<\/p>\n Jane\u2019s first recorded appearance in Catherine of Aragon\u2019s household was at the Anglo-French summit known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold<\/a> in June 1520, and a few years later she married courtier George Boleyn. This meant she transferred seamlessly to her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn\u2019s service in the early 1530s. Jane\u2019s career faced its first stumbling block with Anne\u2019s arrest and execution in 1536, for Jane\u2019s husband George was arrested as well.<\/p>\n Jane promised to try to intercede for him. This, though, put her in the path of chief investigator, Thomas Cromwell, and it was probably he who extracted crucial evidence from her. The queen, Jane revealed, had said that the king \u201cwas not skilful in copulating with a woman\u201d, and George had questioned Princess Elizabeth<\/a>\u2019s paternity It was enough to lead to his execution.<\/p>\n Jane is often vilified for her role here, but she found herself in a hellishly difficult situation. If her husband was already condemned, she would need Cromwell\u2019s help for her future. She got it. After Anne and George\u2019s executions, Jane became part of Jane Seymour<\/a>\u2019s household, and after Seymour\u2019s death, served Anne of Cleves<\/a>. Jane went along with the king\u2019s decision to annul his fourth marriage, and gave evidence of an alleged conversation in which Queen Anne seemed to admit the marriage had not been consummated.<\/p>\n By the time Jane became part of the household of Henry VIII\u2019s fifth queen, Catherine Howard<\/a>, she was an experienced courtier. Yet this experience wasn\u2019t enough to prevent her from becoming embroiled in an affair that would end in her own death. Not long after entering Catherine\u2019s service, Jane apparently began acting as a go-between for the queen\u2019s dalliance with the courtier Thomas Culpeper. Jane must surely have known the grave danger in which her actions placed her.<\/p>\n And so it proved when, in 1541, she was arrested for her role in the alleged affair. She was terrified. Her evidence was contradictory; soon, she \u201cwent mad\u201d, in fear for her life. The king was determined to have her punished and promptly changed the law to allow execution of the insane. And so, on 13 February 1542, within the grounds of the Tower of London<\/a>, Jane became the first lady-in-waiting in history to be executed as a direct result of her service.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like so many ladies-in-waiting, Mary Howard (c1519\u2013c1555) secured her place at court thanks to family connections. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Stafford and a lady-in waiting to her first cousin Anne Boleyn (in fact, she made her debut carrying Anne\u2019s train at her creation as Marquess of Pembroke in 1532). And, like both her mother and her cousin, Mary was no stranger to controversy.<\/p>\n Even before she arrived in court, Mary\u2019s marriage was a matter of contention. In 1530 her mother wanted her to marry the young Earl of Derby. But Anne Boleyn interfered to procure an alliance for Mary with the king\u2019s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy<\/a>. Anne\u2019s intervention caused a family row at court. Mary\u2019s own views aren\u2019t recorded.<\/p>\n Intelligent and creative, Mary was part of a set that might be called the bright young things of the 1530s. With her friends Margaret Douglas<\/a>, the king\u2019s niece, and Mary Shelton, she kept a manuscript book into which she and her circle copied their favourite poems. They added pointed comments and cynical banter in the margins: evidence of the cultural awareness of ladies-in-waiting.<\/p>\n Mary was unexpectedly widowed at only 17, shortly after Anne Boleyn\u2019s execution<\/a>, and became embroiled in a battle to claim her jointure (money promised by the groom\u2019s family) from her father-in-law, the king. To avoid having to pay, Henry tried instead to marry her off to Thomas Seymour, brother of Henry\u2019s third wife, Jane. The match was agreed, the men poised to arrange the finances, but suddenly: nothing. Mary had vetoed the alliance and simply left court, successfully defying the king. She spent the rest of his reign living under her father\u2019s roof and exploring reformist religion, with occasional visits to court as a lady-in-waiting \u2018in extraordinary\u2019.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anne Basset fought hard to join a queen\u2019s household. Her stepfather, Arthur, Viscount Lisle, was the lieutenant of Calais, and the family\u2019s letter collection \u2013 the Lisle Letters \u2013 shows that they worked hard to maintain their connections in England. Getting one of the Basset girls into the court was a means to this end. The family\u2019s London agent reported every possible vacancy, spoke to family friends and those with influence, and directed Anne\u2019s mother to send gifts to certain ladies-in-waiting.<\/p>\n Finally, while eating quails sent by Lady Lisle in 1537, Jane Seymour declared that Anne (c1520\u2013c1558) and her sister should be sent over and she would choose one. Anne, the bolder, sparklier, \u201cfairer\u201d sister, was selected. There was a flurry of activity to get her ready to join the household before Queen Jane gave birth. Anne needed new clothes, and was told that as one of the six maids of honour, she would receive \u00a310 per year.<\/p>\n No sooner had she taken up her position than it was pulled from beneath her: Jane died only a month or so later. Anne was sent to friends and relatives until a new queen should arrive. The king had promised that she should \u201chave her place whensoever the time shall come\u201d. But Anne was impatient, quarrelling with her temporary guardian and with her mother in typical teenage fashion. A set of pearls that Lady Lisle had sent were \u201call rags\u201d, Anne complained behind her mother\u2019s back, and was told off and made to apologise.<\/p>\n She did resume her position on Anne of Cleves\u2019 arrival, and served both Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr<\/a> as a maid of honour as well.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Katherine Willoughby is best known for serving Katherine Parr in the 1540s \u2013 a position that pitched her into the heart of the battle between religious reformers and conservatives. Yet, as the daughter of Mar\u00eda de Salinas, Willoughby (1519\u201380) would have been familiar with the royal court long before that.<\/p>\n In 1533, Katherine married her guardian, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. It was a match that raised eyebrows: she was only 14 to his 49. It was nevertheless a happy union. Katherine helped her husband to suppress the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion in Lincolnshire in 1536, and the couple were in charge of meeting Anne of Cleves on her arrival in Kent in December 1539.<\/p>\n When Katherine Parr became queen in 1543, Katherine Willoughby quickly became part of her inner circle. Both had mothers who had been ladies-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, and both were close to Princess Mary<\/a>. Both, too, were of an evangelical religious persuasion, interested in new, reformist ideas. After being widowed in 1545, Katherine Willoughby\u2019s religious interests deepened, and she became a target for government ministers intent on bringing down the queen.<\/p>\n While being tortured on the rack in 1546, \u2018prophetess\u2019 Anne Askew was asked repeatedly whether she had had contact with the Duchess of Suffolk. Luckily for Katherine, Askew did not implicate her, but Katherine remained at loggerheads with conservatives like Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester. Outspoken and quick-tempered, she later named her dog \u2018Gardiner\u2019 so that she might publicly call him to heel.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/HM3HBNwebready-7a56e1d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"A")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n
Elizabeth Stafford: the wronged wife who made an enemy of Anne Boleyn<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
The Tudor court was a whirlpool of political intrigue and backstabbing, giant egos and extra-marital affairs. This vipers\u2019 nest could stretch a lady-in-waiting\u2019s loyalty to her queen to breaking point <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Mar\u00eda de Salinas: the staunch ally of Catherine of Aragon<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n
![\"Catherine](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/BAL712817webready-44a998b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Catherine")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Jane Parker: a shrewd political operator, until she overstepped the mark<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n
![\"Jane](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1216141679webready-aa04bad.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Jane")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Mary Howard: the bright spark who defied Henry VIII, and lived<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/BAL399209webready-a398ddc.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"A")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Anne Basset: the live wire with bad luck and a quick temper<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
Getting one of the Basset girls into the court was a means to this end. The family\u2019s London agent reported every possible vacancy, spoke to family friends and those with influence, and directed Anne\u2019s mother to send gifts to certain ladies-in-waiting <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Katherine Willoughby: the fiery reformer devoted to Henry VIII\u2019s final queen<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/2E46W2Hwebready-797005f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"An")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>