Maid of honour

[1] A maid of honour was a maiden, meaning that she had never been married (and therefore was ostensibly a virgin), and was usually young and a member of the nobility.

Under Mary I and Elizabeth I, maids of honour were at court as a kind of finishing school, with the hope of making a good marriage.

[3] The Earl of Worcester discussed the appointments in a 1604 letter: "for the presence [chamber] there ar nowe 5 maydes, Cary, Myddellmore, Woodhowse, Gargrave, Roper, the sixt is determyned but not come".

[8] At her coronation, Queen Elizabeth II had six maids of honour who attended her throughout the ceremony, especially carrying the trains of her robes.

At the Tudor and Stuart courts, the women in attendance included gentlewomen, maids of honour, and chamberers.