What are, Ladies In Waiting and why, do they get to wear, tiaras/crowns? I don't understand that!!!?

Question

I've always seen, on TV when the Queen is at some fancy event and dressed up in her finery, these ladies who walk behind her called "Ladies In Waiting" and never understood, what their "purpose if you will, was. Can you, solve that for me out there?! Thanks!!

Answer 1

They are "well-born" ladies, i.e. ladies from noble or "good" families, who act as assistants to the Queen. They deal with correspondence, carry personal items for her on public occasions, and they "get to" wear tiaras because they are nobly born. These items are not exclusively for royals, they are items of jewellery and anyone can have/wear one. Originally they showed that the wearer was from a noble family, but these days many brides wear them simply because they are beautiful.

Answer 2

Sure. Waiting is the English word for serving. In a restaurant, a Waitress means someone who serves you, and looks after you. The Ladies in Waiting are in service to the Queen. They look after her and try to help whenever she needs assistance. For example, if she is at an all-day event, the Ladies in Waiting are there with kleenex in case she needs that, with a compact in case she needs that, with a bottle of water in case she needs that, withe spare stockings, hairspray etc.etc.etc.
They don't wear crowns. Sometimes they wear simple tiaras and they have no meaning whatsoever. Many women in the social elite wear tiaras. It is decoration, nothing more or less.
Today, the role of Lady in Waiting is largely symbolic, but in days gone by, the Queen's Ladies had to do lots more - such as make sure her bedding was carried from one castle to the next, take along her special tablewear etc. but this isn't needed today.
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Judy all theses answers are copy and paste. The present Queen appointed someone to be her lady in waiting. They even have ladies of the bedchamber. Most these ladies come from Aristocrat Families.

Answer 4

I believe Ladies In Waiting are women who take care of the Queen. They are their to assist her perhaps like a baby sitter looks after a child. They run her bath, lay out her clothes, fix her hair, bring her tea, meals/snacks, and accompany her to functions, to assist with the smallest details which might bring her discomfort.

Answer 5

Lady-in-waiting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations.

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a noble court, attending to a queen, a princess or other noblewoman. A lady-in-waiting is often a noblewoman of lower rank (i.e., a lesser noble) than the one she attends to, and is not considered a servant or other commoner. Their duties varied from monarchy to monarchy. In Tudor England they were divided into four separate caste systems - great ladies, ladies of the privy chamber, Maids of Honour and chamberers. The ladies of the privy chamber were the ones who were closest to the queen, but most of the other women were the maids of honour. Female relatives were often appointed because they could be trusted confidantes to the queen; Lady Margaret Lee was a Lady of the Privy Chamber to Queen Anne Boleyn, just as Lady Elizabeth Seymour-Cromwell was to Queen Jane Seymour. The duties of ladies-in-waiting at the Tudor court were to act as royal companions, and to accompany the Queen wherever she went. Tudor queens often had a large degree of say in who became
their ladies-in-waiting. Sometimes Ladies-in-Waiting would be a lady's older sister who never got married and came to keep her sister company.

This attitude was very different to ladies-in-waiting to French queens under the later Bourbon dynasty. Ladies-in-waiting often acted as glorified but distant companions to the Spanish and Polish wives of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Under France's last Bourbon queen, Marie-Antoinette several of her favourite ladies-in-waiting - namely Yolande, duchesse de Polignac acquired huge influence and wealth for themselves. In later years, the ladies-in-waiting became discreet companions to the royal ladies of Europe, a practice which continues to this day[citation needed].

In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Lady-in-Waiting is used to describe a woman attending a female member of the Royal Family other than the Queen Regnant or Queen Consort. An attendant upon one of the latter is styled Lady of the Bedchamber or Woman of the Bedchamber, and the senior Lady in Waiting is the Mistress of the Robes. The Women are in regular attendance, but the Mistress of the Robes and the Ladies of the Bedchamber are normally only required for ceremonial occasions. There were formerly other offices, including
Maids of Honour.

In Imperial Japan before World War II, official ladies-in-waiting raditionally could serve as concubines (additional wives or consorts) for the Emperor. If the Empress failed to produce a male heir that survived long enough to succeed the Emperor, then the Emperor’s son by one of the official ladies-in-waiting could be named his heir and would be adopted by his wife. In 1901, when then-Crown Princess Sadako gave birth to a son, the future Emperor Hirohito, she was the first official wife of a Crown Prince or Emperor to do so since 1720.

The term is also used in film and stage, to describe an actress whose role consists of very little action or involvement.

Answer 6

"Ladies in Waiting" are usually from noble family and are personal friends of the queen and ecourt her places.

Answer 7

ladies is waiting are kindda like servants of a queen/princess. they are dressed in a pretty nice fashion

Answer 8

They "waited" on royalty. They were not only their servants, but their confidants. Also were know to deliver personal messages meant to be kept in the strictest of confidence.

Answer 9

i'll go and ask them