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Fanny Burney: Royal Servant |
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The Royal offer
One Sunday evening in May 1786, Fanny and her father joined the crowds on the Terrace. Though Fanny tried to hide by pulling her hat down over her face, the King marched up to her, put his head right under the brim and asked jocularly ‘How goes the Muse?’
She discovered why he was so attentive when shortly afterwards the offer was made which could not be turned down. Fanny would receive a salary of £200 a year (about £20,000 today), subsistence, and her own accommodation at Windsor and other royal residences; she would have her own maid and a footman and the use of a carriage. 
Cigarette card of Queen Charlotte
© Mary Evans Picture Library |
But Fanny knew that the job was a 365-days-a-year one, with no holidays whatsoever and visitors strictly vetted. When she arrived to take up the post it was hard to restrain the tears.
Duties
Fanny’s principal duty was to help the Queen to dress. She found it difficult to get used to being summoned by a bell, ‘so mortifying a mark of servitude’, which would ring around 7.30am. She would rush down the corridors to the Queen’s apartment, often still tying her sash or pulling on the obligatory gloves as she ran. Mrs Thielky, the Wardrobe Maid, would already have helped the Queen into her underwear, consisting of a knee-length linen shift and a stout corset (no knickers then).
Words: Hester Davenport
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