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Fanny Burney: Royal Servant |
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The hierarchies of service meant that arraying the Queen in her outer wear required a servant of superior rank to Mrs Thielky (salary £30 a year), who was restricted to handing these garments in turn to the Robe-Keeper; this the clothes-unconscious Fanny found helpful since ‘I should run a prodigious risk of giving the gown before the hoop, and the fan before the neckerchief’ [the hoop was like a crinoline, and the neckerchief was a gauzy scarf].
Engraving of the Queen's favourite dog, Badine
© Olivia Davenport |
Around mid-day the Queen changed into more formal wear, and twice a week there was a lengthy hair-dressing session, when real and false hair was piled into a ‘beehive’ shape, curled, crimped, pinned, pommaded, powdered, beribboned and bejewelled. No wonder she hoped for some stimulating conversation. Late at night Fanny would help with the undressing, and other duties included looking after the Queen’s favourite dog, Badine, and mixing the snuff to which Queen Charlotte was addicted.
It was dull work, not made more acceptable by the other Keeper of the Robes, Mrs Juliana Schwellenberg, who acted as Fanny’s superior and only attended the mid-day sessions. Schwelly, as she was nicknamed, had accompanied the Queen from the German principality of Mecklenberg-Strelitz when she came as a 17-year-old to marry the King (in 1761). She was fiercely loyal to her mistress, but a bully to the rest of the household, and shy Fanny was an easy victim.
Words: Hester Davenport
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