Camilla scraps ladies-in-waiting in modernising move

Camilla, the Queen Consort, is ending the contented of having ladies-in-waiting, but alternatively volition beryllium helped by "Queen's companions".

As good arsenic modernising the title, the six women assistants volition beryllium little regularly successful attendance than the erstwhile relation required.

The honorary positions impact helping the Queen Consort astatine nationalist events.

Unlike the ladies-in-waiting, this slimmed-down relation volition not impact correspondence oregon administration.

Replacing the relation of lady-in-waiting volition extremity a diagnostic of tribunal beingness going backmost to the mediate ages, with specified adjacent idiosyncratic helpers of a Queen often coming from aristocratic families and, implicit the centuries, sometimes caught up successful tribunal intrigue.

The caller "companions" volition beryllium a much occasional and informal position, supporting the Queen Consort astatine authoritative engagements and not progressive successful replying to letters oregon day-to-day planning.

They don't person a wage but their expenses volition beryllium covered.

This symbolic alteration of absorption volition beryllium enactment into signifier adjacent week, erstwhile the Queen Consort hosts a reception for campaigners against home unit and unit against women.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics connected Friday showed that 2.4 cardinal adults successful England and Wales, 1.7m women and 700,000 men, had suffered from home maltreatment successful the erstwhile year.

Queen Camilla has campaigned to rise consciousness astir home unit and for the archetypal clip her Queen's companions volition beryllium with her astatine the Violence Against Women Girls reception astatine Buckingham Palace, alternatively than ladies-in-waiting.

The archetypal companions see immoderate longstanding idiosyncratic friends - the Marchioness of Lansdowne, Jane von Westenholz, Lady Katharine Brooke, Sarah Troughton, Lady Sarah Keswick and Baroness Chisholm, a erstwhile Conservative whip and Cabinet Office spokeswoman successful the House of Lords.

A palace root says that Baroness Chisholm, who has been sitting connected 2 prime committees arsenic a Conservative, has go a non-affiliated peer.

The Queen Consort, aged 75, has besides appointed Major Ollie Plunket arsenic her equerry, who acts arsenic a idiosyncratic assistant.

The erstwhile ladies-in-waiting who served the precocious Queen Elizabeth II volition present assistance King Charles to big events astatine Buckingham Palace and volition beryllium known arsenic "ladies of the household".