Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day

Far from being servants or decorative accessories in court, ladies-in-waiting competed for real positions of power--and many succeeded in their goals, sometimes betraying their queens in the process. A few even became royal mistresses. Drawing on a wide variety of primary sources, this lively, full-scale study by a bestselling author combines anecdote with searching analysis to create social history at its most colorful and entertaining.