History Main / LadyInWaiting

* ''Series/MagnificentCentury'' has '''lots''' of these. Daye Hatun is lady-in-waiting to the Valide Sultan, Gülşah is one to Mahidevran, Gülnihal is one to Hürrem…

* In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' Rani becomes a lady-in-waiting to the ill fated Lady Jane Gray, the Nine Days Queen, while time traveling. She claims to be "Lady Rani of the Court of the Taj Mahal", in order to HandWave the fact that she's claiming to [[NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel be a gentlewomen despite her ethnicity]].

* From the Literature/BookOfGenesis: Hagar is this to Sarah, Zilpah is this to Leah, and Bilhah is this to Rachel. (Some say that Zilpah and Bilhah were in fact half-sisters of Leah and Rachel, though this is uncertain.) Hagar's son Ishmael becomes [[HeroOfAnotherStory an important patriarch to Muslims]] after he and his mother get sent away by [[RichBitch Sarah.]] Zilpah's sons Gad and Asher and Bilhah's sons Dan and Naphtali later start four of Israel's Twelve Tribes.

* From the [[Literature/BookOfGenesis]]: Hagar is this to Sarah, Zilpah is this to Leah, and Bilhah is this to Rachel. (Some say that Zilpah and Bilhah were in fact half-sisters of Leah and Rachel, though this is uncertain.) Hagar's son Ishmael becomes [[HeroOfAnotherStory an important patriarch to Muslims]] after he and his mother get sent away by [[RichBitch Sarah.]] Zilpah's sons Gad and Asher and Bilhah's sons Dan and Naphtali later start four of Israel's Twelve Tribes.

* Millie Chillum in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', who is totally overawed at being in the presence of the Queen, which Magrat finds rather odd, since she's known the girl her whole life.

* TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady-in-waiting gives us a list of women who have been this through history.]] Some of them are: the aforementioned Comtesse de Polignac alongside Louise Marie of Savoy-Carignan aka the Princess of Lamballe (France); writers and rivals Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon (Japan); the also aforementioned Paola di Bellegarde alongside Countess Wulff, Sofia Esterhàzy-Liechtenstein and Countess Caroline Lamberg (Austro-Hungarian Empire), four of Henry VIII's six wives (Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard ''and'' Catherine Parr) (England), etc.

* In Anime/AldnoahZero, Eddelrittuo works as the companion of Princess Asseylum.

* In '' Literature/WarOfTheAncients'', Queen Azshara, has a retinue of handmaidens, all of whom dye their hair silver to match that of their queen, but none of them can compare [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman with Azshara's overwhelming beauty]].

If a lady-in-waiting has a close physical resemblance to their mistress, they may be utilized as a BodyDouble to throw off possible assassination attempts.

* In LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms, the deaths of two ladies-in-waiting have ''very'' important consequences for the Kingdom of Hou. [[spoiler: They were mother and daughter, and both worked as companions for the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the cruel Queen Consort]] and the [[SpoiledBrat spoiled Princess Shoukei]]. The Queen framed the mother for corruption and got her ''and'' her daughter executed for such a "crime", [[DrivenByEnvy out of jealousy]] [[DisproportionateRetribution because the daughter]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking was more talented than the Princess]]. [[MoralEventHorizon This was the cherry on top]] of the Royal Family's [[AllCrimesAreEqual already present sins]] [[FisherKing that were driving Hou to ruin]], causing [[KnightInSourArmor Governor Gekkei]] [[TheDogBitesBack to lead a revolution]] that finished with the Royal Couple ''and'' their kirin [[KarmicDeath dead]], and with [[FallenPrincess Shoukei]] as a SoleSurvivor who goes through quite the BreakTheHaughty.]]\\
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And later, [[spoiler: the OlderAndWiser Shoukei and a girl named Suzu Ooki become ladies-in-waiting to Youko/Sekishi, the Queen of Kei.]]

And later, [[spoiler: the OlderAndWiser Shoukei and a girl named Suzu Ooki become ladies-in-waiting to Youko/Seikishi, the Queen of Kei.]]

* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'': Queen Asylla, wife of King Leoric, had some handmaidens who were imprisoned and killed along with her as Leoric fell into madness. They were later re-animated by dark magic and rose as the Wretched Mothers.

* TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady-in-waiting gives us a list of women who have been this through history.]] Some of them are: the aforementioned Comtesse de Polignac alongside Louise Marie of Savoy-Carignan aka the Princess of Lamballe (France); writers and rivals Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon (Japan); the also aforementioned Paola di Bellegarde alongside Countess Wulff, Sofia Esterhàzy-Liechtenstein, and Countess Caroline Lamberg (Austro-Hungarian Empire), four of Henry VIII's six wives (Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard '''and'' Catherine Parr) (England), etc.

* In Hawaiian Mythology, the other three [[AnIcePerson Snow Maidens]], Lilinoe, Kahoupokane, and and Waia'u, serve as this to [[EveryoneIsRelated their sister]] Poli'ahu. Lilinoe styes Poli'ahu's hair, Waia'u bathes her, and Kahoupokane is in charge of laundry.

* In Manga/RoseOfVersailles, one of the main antagonists is Martine Gabrielle de Polastron aka the Countess of Polignac, lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette [[spoiler: and the long-lost mother of Rosalie, Oscar's own sort-of lady-in-waiting.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/JaneAndTheDragon'', Jane's mother, Adeline, is a lady-in-waiting. Jane was originally to become a lady-in-waiting as well, if not for her leaping at the opportunity to become a squire, instead.

* TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady-in-waiting gives us a list of women who have been this through history.]] Some of them are: the aforementioned Comtesse de Polignac alongside Louise Marie of Savoy-Carignan aka the Princess of Lamballe (France); writers and rivals Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon (Japan); the also aforementioned Paola di Bellegarde alongside Countess Wulff, Sofia Esterhàzy-Liechtenstein, and Countess Caroline Lamberg (Austro-Hungarian Empire), ''several'' of Henry VIII's wives (Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard '''and'' Catherine Parr) (England), etc.

* In Manga/RoseOfVersailles, one of the main antagonists is Gabrielle de Polastron aka the Countess of Polignac, lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette [[spoiler: and the long-lost mother of Rosalie, Oscar's own sort-of lady-in-waiting.]]
* In LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms, the deaths of two ladies-in-waiting have ''very'' important consequences for the Kingdom of Hou. [[spoiler: They were mother and daughter, and both worked as ladies in waiting for the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the cruel Queen Consort]] and the [[SpoiledBrat spoiled Princess Shoukei]]. The Queen then framed the mother for corruption and got her ''and'' her daughter executed for such a "crime", [[DrivenByEnvy out of jealousy]] [[DisproportionateRetribution because the daughter was more talented than the Princess]]. [[MoralEventHorizon This was the cherry on top]] of the Royal Family's [[AllCrimesAreEqual already present sins]] [[FisherKing that were driving Hou to ruin]], causing [[KnightInSourArmor Governor Gekkei]] [[TheDogBitesBack to lead a revolution]] that finished with the Royal Couple ''and'' their kirin [[KarmicDeath dead]], and with [[FallenPrincess Shoukei]] as a SoleSurvivor who goes through quite the BreakTheHaughty.]]\\

* Pictured above: In one of the multiple endings of {{Princess Maker}} 2, the daughter of the game ends up working as the lady-in-waiting to the Queen.

* In LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms, the death of a certain lady-in-waiting has ''very'' important consequences for the Kingdom of Hou. [[spoiler: The lady ''and'' her daughter were executed on false charges [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen by the cruel Queen Consort]], who did it out of jealousy because the lady's child was more talented than Crown Princess Shoukei. [[MoralEventHorizon This was the cherry on top]] of the Royal Family's [[AllCrimesAreEqual already present sins]] [[FisherKing that were driving Hou to ruin]], causing [[KnightInSourArmor Governor Gekkei]] [[TheDogBitesBack to lead a revolution]] that finished with the Royal Couple ''and'' thei kirin dead, and with FallenPrincess Shoukei as a SoleSurvivor who goes through quite the BreakTheHaughty.]]\\

* In the ''Sissi'' novels by several authors, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary aka Sissi has several noblewomen as her ladies-in-waiting. One of them is the Italian countess known as Paola di Bellegarde [[spoiler: whom [[ShipperOnDeck Sissi]] hooks up with the Count of Königsegg-Aulendorf.]]

* In one of the multiple endings of {{Princess Maker}} 2, the daughter of the game ends up working as the lady-in-waiting to the Queen.

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* In Manga/RoseOfVersailles, one of the main antagonists is Gabrielle de Polastron aka the Countess of Polignac, lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette [[spoiler: and the long-lost mother of Rosalie, Oscar's own sort-of lady-in-waiting.]]

* In the ''Sissi'' novels by several authors, Empress Sissi has several noblewomen as her ladies-in-waiting, one of them being an Italian countessknown as Paola Bellegarde [[spoiler: whom Sissi hooks up with a Hungarian nobleman.]]

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* Lady Cluck to Maid Marian in the Disney version of ''Disney/RobinHood''. In their first scene they are playing badminton and Cluck jokes "As your lady in waiting, I'm waiting."

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* In ''JaneAndTheDragon'', Jane's mother, Adeline, is a lady-in-waiting. Jane was originally to become a lady-in-waiting as well, if not for her leaping at the opportunity to become a squire, instead.