Now that Camilla has leveled up from a Duchess to a Queen, she gets certain perks. You know, like a giant palace and a collection of several fancy/problematic crowns. But traditionally, queens also have ladies-in-waiting, aka a group of friends whose literal job is to chill with them.
Ladies-in-waiting traditionally accompany a queen on overseas trips, help manage her correspondence, and are just generally there for companionship. And while Queen Elizabeth had a whole fleet of ladies-in-waiting throughout her reign—many of whom had been close with her for more than 60 years—apparently Queen Camilla is ditching the outdated tradition and instead having six assistants who will be known as “queen’s companions,” according to reports from Today.
And they were spotted helping her out at the coronation! Which naturally everyone had thoughts about due to the fact that Camilla’s friends look…just like her.
The outlet noted that the six companions are Sarah Troughton; Fiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne; Lady Katharine Brooke; Baroness Carlyn Chisholm; Lady Sarah Kewick; and Jane von Westenholz (fun fact: Jane is the mom of the lady who introduced Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!). The companions will operate in a more informal role than the ladies-in-waiting and will do things like “supporting the Queen at official engagements,” reported Today.
At the beginning of November, the Daily Mail reported that Camilla “won’t take on an official lineup of ladies-in-waiting” and will instead call upon her regular staff—including her private secretaries. Along with the six companions, Camilla’s private secretary and deputy private secretary will also be in her, erm, entourage, according to Today.
“When she got married and set up her own office for the first time, she got two brilliant private secretaries, Amanda Macmanus and Joy Camm. But they were very much ‘two for the price of one,’” a source told the Daily Mail. “Not only did they arrange all her engagements and projects, but they also acted as ladies-in-waiting if needed, accompanying her on official duties, collecting bouquets of flowers and the like. No one stands on ceremony in her office, everyone mucks in.”
The insider added that “the Queen Consort will do things a little differently. She currently has two private secretaries who do some of those traditional duties anyway. And she has quite a lot of good and decent friends around her whom she can call on, as and when is necessary, to support her. I suspect she’ll dip into her close circle of friends, maybe geographically. She has a lot of chums in London and Scotland as well as in the country too. She thinks it’s more with the times.”
Welp. This has been an update.
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.