The Camarera mayor de Palacio (First Lady of the Bedchamber) was a court official of the Royal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain, who was in charge of the person and the rooms of the Queen of Spain.
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Historical precedents and regime during the 17th and 18th centuries
This office was created in 1526 when, during the Habsburg dynasty, the Royal Court was shaped after the Court of Burgundy. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, but also King of Spain, imported the etiquette styled in the court of his paternal grandmother Mary of Burgundy and appointed the first “Camarera mayor de Palacio” to his wife, the Empress.
The principal responsibility of the “Camarera mayor de Palacio” was managing all that was related with service to the Queen; she had authority over the different dignities and servants that composed her personnel. Her first obligation was the personal assistance to the Sovereign. She had to accompany her at all times, to the point of sleeping in her chamber, when the King was not. She was in charge of the clothes purveyors and directed the formal dressing of the Queen. In fact, she had the high duty of delivering the Queen water and a towel during morning toilette. All these functions gave the “Camarera mayor” a great intimacy with the Queen, as well as a big influence over her.
Regime during the 19th and 20th centuries
In the structure of the Royal Household, the Office “Camarera mayor de Palacio” had the same category as that of the Mayordomo mayor. Only a woman with the rank of Grandee of Spain could be nominated for this Office, and she was chosen between those of the class of “Dama de la Reina” (Lady of the Bedchamber) of major seniority. She was in charge of everything relative to the etiquette and organization of the Household of the Queen helped by the “Mayordomo mayor” (High Steward) to the Queen.
Between her duties there were signalling the dates for audiences to the Queen and accompanying her in every ceremony.
Under the “Camarera mayor de Palacio” they were the “Damas de la Reina” (Ladies of the Bedchamber) and the “Damas al servicio particular de la Reina” (Ladies-in-Waiting).
She had assigned an annual salary of 6.000 pesetas and had a private own office in the Royal Palace of Madrid.
She was styled “Excelentísima señora Camarera mayor de Palacio”.
This post was suppressed after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931 and never re-created after the restoration of Monarchy in 1975.
List of camareras mayores to the queen of Spain, 1526–1931
Isabella of Portugal, 1526–1539
1526–1546: Leonor de Castro y Meneses, Duchess of Gandía, Grandee of Spain
Anna of Austria, 1570–1580
1570–1571: Aldonza de Bazán, Marchioness of Fromista, Grandee of Spain
1571–1576: María Ángela de Aragón y Guzmán, Marchioness of Berlanga, Grandee of Spain
1576–1580: Francisca de Rojas y Sandoval, Countess of Paredes de Nava, Grandee of Spain
Margaret of Austria, 1601–1611
1601–1603: Catalina de la Cerda, Duchess of Lerma, Grandee of Spain
1603–1611: Catalina de Sandoval, Countess of Lemos, Grandee of Spain
Elisabeth of France, 1615–1644
1615–1621: Catalina de Sandoval, Countess of Lemos, Grandee of Spain
1621–1627: Juana Enriquez de Velasco, Duchess of Gandía, Grandee of Spain
1627–1643: Inés de Zúñiga, Countess of Olivares, Grandee of Spain
Mariana of Austria, 1649–1665
1649–1653: Ana de Cardona y Aragón, Countess of Medellín, Grandee of Spain
1654–1665: Elvira Ponce de León, Marchioness of Villanueva de Valdueza
1660: Margarita Zapata de Mendoza, Countess of Priego, Grandee of Spain. Appointed to serve as camarera to Maria Theresa of Spain prior to her departure to France, when she was given the status of queen of France at the Spanish court appending her marriage to Louis XIV.
Marie Louise of Orléans, 1679–1689
1679–1680: Juana de Aragón y Cortés, Duchess of Terranova, Grandee of Spain
1680–1689: Juana de Armendáriz, Duchess dowager of Alburquerque, Grandee of Spain
Maria Anna of Neuburg, 1689–1700
1689–1696: Juana de Armendáriz, Duchess dowager of Alburquerque, Grandee of Spain
1696–1700: María Teresa de Benavides, Duchess of Frías, Grandee of Spain
Maria Luisa of Savoy, 1702–1714
1702–1704: Marie Anne de La Trémoille, princesse des Ursins
1704–1706: María Alberta de Castro, Duchess of Béjar, Grandee of Spain
1706–1714: Marie Anne de La Trémoille, princesse des Ursins
Elisabeth Farnese, 1714–1724
1714–1724: Ángela Foch de Aragón, Countess dowager of Altamira, Grandee of Spain
Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, 1724
1724: Ángela Foch de Aragón, Dowager Countess of Altamira, Grandee of Spain
Elisabeth Farnese, 1724–1746
1724–1737: Ángela Foch de Aragón, Dowager Countess of Altamira, Grandee of Spain
1737–1746: Laura Castelví y Coloma, Marchioness dowager of Torrecuso
Barbara of Portugal, 1746–1758
1746–1758: Rosa María de Castro, Marchioness of Aytona, Grandee of Spain
Maria Amalia of Saxony, 1759–1760
1759–1760: Rosa María de Castro, Marchioness of Aytona, Grandee of Spain
Maria Luisa of Parma, 1788–1808
1788–1793: Florentina de Pizarro Picolomino, Marchioness dowager of Bélgida, Grandee of Spain
1793–1808: María Isidra de la Cerda y Guzmán, Duchess of Nájera, Grandee of Spain
Maria Isabel of Portugal, 1814–1818
1814–1816: María de la Encarnación Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga, marquesa de Móndejar
1816–1818: Antonia Fernández de Cordoba Sarmiento, Countess of la Puebla del Maestre, Grandee of Spain
Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony, 1818-1829
1819–1823: Maria Josefa Contreras y Vargas Machuca, Countess of Alcudia, Grandee of Spain
1823–1829: Rosa María de Carvajal Manrique de Lara, Dowager Marchioness of Bedmar, Grandee of Spain
Maria Cristina of the Two Sicilies, 1829–1833
1829–1834: Rosa María de Carvajal Manrique de Lara, Dowager Marchioness of Bedmar, Grandee of Spain
Isabella II, 1833–1868
1834–1841: Joaquina María del Pilar Téllez-Girón y Alfonso Pimentel, Marchioness of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain
1841–1842: Luisa Álvarez de las Asturias Bohórquez y Guiráldez, Marchioness of Bélgida, Grandee of Spain
1842–1843: Juana de Vega, Countess of Espoz y Mina
1843–1847: Joaquina María del Pilar Téllez-Girón y Alfonso Pimentel, Marchioness of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain
1847–1848: María Manuela Kirpatrick de Closeburn, Countess dowager of Montijo, Grandee of Spain
1848–1854: María de la O Guiráldez y Cañas, Duchess of Gor, Grandee of Spain
1855–1866: Rosalía Ventimiglia y Moncada d'Aragona, Duchess dowager of Berwick and Alba, Grandee of Spain
1866–1867: María de la O Guiráldez y Cañas, Duchess of Gor, Grandee of Spain
1867–1868: María de la Encarnación Álvarez de las Asturias Bohórquez y Guiráldez, Marchioness of Novaliches, Grandee of Spain
Mercedes of Orléans, 1878
1878–1878: María de la Encarnación Fernández de Córdoba y Álvarez de las Asturias Bohorques, Marchioness of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain
Maria Cristina of Austria, 1879–1906
1879–1884: María de la Encarnación Fernández de Córdoba y Álvarez de las Asturias Bohorques, Marchioness of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain
1884–1888: María Eulalia Osorio de Moscoso y Carvajal, Duchess of Medina de las Torres, Grandee of Spain
1888–1905: María Soledad Fernández de Córdoba y Alagón, Countess of Sástago, Grandee of Spain
1905–1906: María Luisa Cárvajal y Dávalos, Duchess of San Carlos, Marchioness widower of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain
During the reign of King Alfonso XIII, and after his marriage, the separate Household of his mother the Queen Maria Cristina of Austria was created, with her own “Camarera mayor de la Reina Madre” (First Lady of the Bedchamber of the Queen Mother). This office was successively held by:
1906–1923: Maria Natividad Quindos Villaroel, Duchess of La Conquista, Marchioness of San Saturnino, Grandee of Spain
1923–1929: Maria Concepcion Martos Zabalburu, Countess of Heredia Spinola, Grandee of Spain
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, 1906–1931
1906–1931: María Luisa Cárvajal y Dávalos, Duchess of San Carlos, Marchioness widower of Santa Cruz de Mudela, Grandee of Spain