Ladies in Waiting
by Mistress Anne Bigod
prepared for the reign of Artan VI and Aziza

Ladies in Waiting and Baskets

A properly stocked basket can save your life. Ok, maybe that's a bit much, but not far off. I will be providing a basket for the Ladies in Waiting to utilize while caring for Her Majesty Aziza. The idea is that the retinue will make sure that the basket makes it from one event to the next and that HRM will never know how.

My plan is that the basket be small enough to tote across the battle field at Estrella or keep under the thrones during court but large enough to carry everything you could possibly need. This basket will contain the following items at a minimum and can be added to as the reign progresses. If you notice something running low or something we should have and don’t, please let either myself or Mistress AElflaed know and we will stock it.

  • Pain relievers
  • Tissues
  • Handkerchiefs
  • Hair brush
  • Hair ties
  • Small sewing kit (including Outlands Green & Gold thread)
  • Pens
  • 3x5 cards for notetaking or marking gifts with names & contact info of gift givers
  • Ribbon or lucet cord (useful for many things)
  • Duct tape
  • Safety pins
  • Bandaids
  • Diet Lipton Green Tea with Citrus
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Anti-Static spray
  • Lint roller
  • Mini Dop kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, fem products)
  • Berocca
  • Deck of Cards
  • Mints
  • Gum
  • Wet wipes
  • Tide pen
  • Travel toilet paper
  • Lotion
  • Sunscreen

Court Duties of a Lady in Waiting

One of the most important duties of a Lady in Waiting is to attend upon Their Majesties during court. This duty entails two distinct parts: Taking care of the needs of TRM (water, snacks, mints, handkerchiefs, etc) and assisting the Blue Iris Herald with the organizing and flow of court.

Court is a show and like other scripted and orchestrated shows, involves props and timing. Assisting the Herald for court requires that you be briefed before court by the Herald. They are responsible for organizing the order of court with TRMs. The Lady in Waiting working during court acts as an assistant to the Herald. You are responsible for receiving largess and items gifted to TRMs (tagging each with contact info on the gifters) and stowing those items behind the thrones and out of the way of court business. Additionally, you may be asked to assist with the handling of scrolls and medallions (or other appropriate regalia) so that each bit of court business flows smoothly into the next.

Any awards that you know about before court are considered confidential and should remain so. One of the best seats in the house is behind the thrones where you get to see the faces of the gentles receiving awards. This position must not be abused.

Remember that while you are behind the thrones, you can oftentimes still be seen by the populace attending court. Please do not move about unnecessarily and NEVER lean on the thrones (especially if you are tall) or look through the decorative holes in the chair backs. Please do wear comfortable shoes. If court is going to be a long one, we will work to have different shifts of Ladies working court.

With larger winter events that have lots of court business coming up, some events may require having more than one Lady working court at a time. The decision regarding how many attendants will be behind the thrones and who they are will rest with the retinue coordinator for that event (most likely Master Balthazar) and the ranking Lady of the day. Oftentimes space behind the thrones is tight and there may only be room for one or two attendants. Please be gracious and let’s allow everyone to work who wants to but not have any person ever be overworked.

Retinue resource pages for retinue of Artan VI and Aziza