Many girls dreamed of living at court and serving the empress. But maid of honor is not only life in luxury and endless privileges, but also hard work.
What did maid of honor do
The women who surrounded the empress had their ranks. The youngest is a maid of honor. They became young unmarried noblewomen. Under Nicholas I, a rule was introduced according to which the empress had 36 maids of honor. They not only carried out the instructions of the wife of the ruler, but also of his daughters. Out of 36 girls, those who were called “retinues” were chosen. They lived at court all the time. The rest were required to appear only during celebrations, receptions, balls, etc.
Sweet maid of honor is a well-educated girl who was supposed to spend with the empress or her daughters around the clock and fulfill any requests. They went for a walk with their mistress and paid visits with her. In addition, they were engaged in needlework or reading together. The maid of honor was not only to know
court etiquette, but also to keep abreast of the latest news of the courtyard. For example, notify the Empress on time of whom and when to congratulate on her birthday or birthday. Often, maids of honor wrote invitations, congratulations or replies to letters under the dictation of their mistress. When there were guests at the court, the maids of honor of the queen or empress had to ensure that no one was bored and entertain them with conversation. Educated in various fields, the young ladies became an adornment of society and its reflection.
Since being ready to execute orders at any time throughout the day and still maintain a good mood was not easy, the maids of honor had their own schedule. They were on duty for a week, and then rested and helped the attendants cope with those things that they did not have time to do.
Each maid of honor received a good salary, most of which had to be spent on outfits. Since she was with the ruler or her daughters day and night, she should have looked appropriately. For each important occasion, dresses and jewelry were purchased. However, there was no need to spend money on accommodation and food. Each maid of honor received housing and ate from the royal cuisine.
The Empress was attentive to her subordinates, although she did not have the opportunity to make close friends among them. In case of illness, the maid of honor received proper care and could rest as much as she needed to recover. In addition, the treatment was paid by the empress.
The maids of honor were not forbidden to marry. Since they were at court, they could hope for the best parties and a beautiful dowry. Empresses were often guests at the wedding of their pupils. However maid of honor is an unmarried girl. Therefore, in most cases, those who decided to get married were forced to resign.
Duties of maids of honor and stats ladies
Some maids of honor never married, staying next to their mistresses. Long service and excellent performance of their duties ensured promotion. They became maids of honor. Their staff was small: only 5-6 people.
Stats ladies were the wives of influential officials and people close to the emperor. Chamber maids of honor and stats ladies did not fulfill any duties at court and were only decoration of holidays and important events. However, both of them very often neglected their duties with impunity.
How to become maids of honor
In order to get such a position at court, one had to have a good education. The pretenders knew etiquette at court and knew how to behave in the presence of the emperor and his family. Of course, each of them was able to dance and move gracefully. But not only the girls studied this. The maids of honor had to maintain conversations on a variety of topics, so it was necessary to gain knowledge in the fields of history, literature, art, theology and many others.
But the maid of honor of the court could not only be the daughter of a famous aristocratic family. A girl from a family could have been luckier. But only on condition that her parents had enough money to educate. The young applicant was to graduate from the
Institute of Noble Maidens. As a rule, Smolny. If the final exams were passed with dignity, the institute got the opportunity to become a maid of honor. Of all the applicants, few were selected. And they got ciphers. This meant that they could now take up their duties.
Leaving service
Service at court was not a duty for life. A maid of honor is someone who was always present at the empress or her daughters. Therefore, she could be able to successfully marry and leave the service. But sometimes maids of honor were forced to marry against their will. This happened when the crown prince or even the emperor himself fell in love with a young beauty.
Of course, the future ruler could not marry the maid of honor from the retinue of his mother or sisters. And therefore, in order to break this connection, the empress hastily chose a worthy party for her subordinate and sent the beauty from the court.
But the service could be left at will. However, few dared to take such a step. As a rule, this happened only for health reasons.
The maid of honor is the person closest to the ruler, her servant and the keeper of many secrets. However, such a life was not simple and at times brought only misfortune.