Crown Princess Mary's Ladies-in-Waiting

[Lumutqueen]

Because she wants to?
She may have earned enough money, to keep herself going, or her husband has agreed to be the main contributor.
But she will get certain amounts of money for varying things.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by queen dolly

Get real, this is 2010 and nobody works for free, not even for the royal family. The ladies-in-waiting are employe and of course they are payed.

Some people actually do work for free. Red Cross, sports clubs, humanitarian organisations, religious organisations, raffles, social organisations, animal protection, need I go on?

Ladies-in-Waiting are not employees they are attendends and they are not paid a salary.

LiWs are not hired, they are requested to become a LiW.

Tanjo Doky is an unpaid LiW.
Caroline Heering is officially Mary's private secretary (and right now acting chief of the CP-court) as such she is paid, but she also step in as a LiW from time to time.

QMII has four LiWs who share their work and apart from official state visits abroad the workload is pretty acceptable.

Lets take Mary:
She is on the job perhaps two or three times a week at some official event. The LiW will be around Crown Princess Mary in her offical capacity as a LiW for perhaps one to three hours. The rest of the time, to and from the job she will be with her friend Mary.
Then there are planning and meetings and preparations. That's perhaps another two hours or so twice a week.
Perhaps on the phone for another two hours or so during a week.
Then perhaps a few hours of homework/homestudy a week to prepare herself in order to better assist Mary.
Four or five hours say twice a week, handling some of the letters Mary gets from ordinary people. Official letters and requests will be handled by a secretary.
So my estimate is that a LiW works perhaps 20-30 hours a week on average. Many weeks considerably less.
A few weeks considerably more.

It's only when a LiW accompany Mary on an official state visit abroad hat a LiW is really working hard. But she also get some unique experiences, not to mention privileges.

I'd say it isn't unusual for a wealthy woman to put in 20 hours of volunteer work a week.

[ashelen]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

@ ashelen

I guess it comes down to the honour/privilege of being the Crown Princess' personal attendant/confidante.

but still it is a job with a lot of responsabilities, if you get paid is one thing but if you do not get paid personalyy I would not want all this responsabilities not even for being close to any royal, but this is my personal opinion.

[Naggi]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Because she wants to?
She may have earned enough money, to keep herself going, or her husband has agreed to be the main contributor.
But she will get certain amounts of money for varying things.

Even if she wants to, which I personally would never doubt, I can't imagine that both ladies would work for no money but only for the "honour" to be Mary's ladies-in-waiting. Maybe it was so in former times that the LiWs were not paid for their services but we are living in other times now where royals especially in Europe have another stand as centuries ago. I am sure this is a very prestigious job and there are people who would feel honoured to do it, but still it makes no sense. I am sure that Mary's LiWs definitely get some sort of money compensation that covers more than their claims to reimburse for travel or clothing costs. I do not doubt that both ladies are very wealthy. But since when has richness stopped people not to earn more money? However the money they earn might not make them richer as they are already...this I doubt not..

[queen dolly]

At the royal website www.kongehuset.dk the ladies-in-waiting are listed as employees, so off course they get paid.

[Lumutqueen]

Just because they are listed as employees does not mean they get paid.
You can volunteer in a charity shop, and still be called an employee and not get paid.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by queen dolly

At the royal website www.kongehuset.dk the ladies-in-waiting are listed as employees, so off course they get paid.

Please allow me to correct you.

Look here: Kongehuset - Organisation - Hofstaterne - Hoffets medarbejdere
The Ladies-in-Waiting are not listed as employees. They are listed as a part of Queen Margrethe's hofstat = the members of her staff.
So are the adjutants and the captain of Dannebrog, who are not employed by the court either.

If you do not believe me, please feel free to contact the court and check for yourself.

LiW are not and have never been paid.

[Naggi]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Please allow me to correct you.

Look here: Kongehuset - Organisation - Hofstaterne - Hoffets medarbejdere
The Ladies-in-Waiting are not listed as employees. They are listed as a part of Queen Margrethe's hofstat = the members of her staff.
So are the adjutants and the captain of Dannebrog, who are not employed by the court either.

If you do not believe me, please feel free to contact the court and check for yourself.

LiW are not and have never been paid.

I do not want to be rude by asking this - it is more a try for me to better understand this issue here. Can you please define the word payment in this context? For me, when I get some compensation for my clothes and my travels and benefits of all sorts or when I profit in the one or other way, it can be regarded as some sort of payment as well.

I more and more get the impression that maybe we can see the LiW as some sort of "consultants" who get a little monetary benefit to cover their costs but the royal house does not pay for their, for example, health or social wellfare insurances. Am I correct here or have I totally missed the point? Thanks.

[rubies]

Wow, I started some good conversation.

I was thinking....maybe they have other duties such as Caroline does and that is the way they get paid. Or maybe the clothing allowance is so awesome that it is like being paid!!

Doesn't Anya (sp, the other LIW) have another job on the side? with Marianne Dulong? I think I read that.

I would think Mary would be fun to be with, so these ladies are her friends and they get there own enjoyment out of it!!

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Naggi

I do not want to be rude by asking this - it is more a try for me to better understand this issue here. Can you please define the word payment in this context? For me, when I get some compensation for my clothes and my travels and benefits of all sorts or when I profit in the one or other way, it can be regarded as some sort of payment as well.

I more and more get the impression that maybe we can see the LiW as some sort of "consultants" who get a little monetary benefit to cover their costs but the royal house does not pay for their, for example, health or social wellfare insurances. Am I correct here or have I totally missed the point? Thanks.

You are certainly not rude for wishing to learn more.

Payment as in salary on an hourly/weekly/monthly basis like all other employees.

A LiW will get compensation for expenses, if she has purchase something she would need in regards to her duty as a LiW.
The same goes for personal items or toilet articles she is buying on behalf of the royal lady she is serving. - Neither QMII nor Mary can pop down to the local chemist, nor can they be sure of discretion if they were to order from Amalienborg. But letting you LiW buy or order it for you, then no one can be sure the article is actually for you. The alternative would be to let your chambermaid buy it for you. Better to let a trusted LiW do it, wouldn't you say?

Alexandra fell victim to such an indescretion years ago. She and Joachim's driver was sacked and as a private employee and not a court employee, he was not covered by a letter of confidence, so he told among other things about some very intimate articles he bought at a chemist to the papers. I believe it was Ekstra Bladet that happily printed every detail.
If a court employee breach the letter of confidence it's a criminal offence not just a matter for a civil lawsuit.
I've signed several such letters myself in connection with some jobs I've had.

I must admit I'm not completely familiar with the insurance issues, but if someone is injured in my house while being there as a guest or working for me, then it's my insurance that will deal with it, unless we are talking about an outside contractor. I guess that must apply to LiWs as well.
As for healthcare: If a LiW is not employed then a healthcare agreement for employees does not apply. Not all workplaces has such an agreement. She would instead be covered by the public healthcare system (and probably a private one as well) like everybody else.

ADDED: More of "hofstat". A Hofstat, I don't know the English word, is an organisation that along with other hofstater (plural) constitute the entire court as a whole. QMII has a hofstat, consisting of her closest associates. Frederik and Joachim each have a similar hofstat of their own. The royal garages is also a hofstat, and so on. All of these hofstater constitute the entire court working for the DRF. All headed by a boss i.e Queen Margrethe.

[Naggi]

Great! Thank you very much for the explaination, Muhler. This is very interesting. I would have assumed that the LiW gets a salary for her services.

[sofajr]

Caroline Heering celebrated her 38th birthday:

Billed-Bladet - Caroline Heering holdt fødselsdag - se billederne

[Lumutqueen]

No Mary, strange. Looks like a casual party.

[ashelen]

Originally Posted by Muhler

You are certainly not rude for wishing to learn more.

Payment as in salary on an hourly/weekly/monthly basis like all other employees.

A LiW will get compensation for expenses, if she has purchase something she would need in regards to her duty as a LiW.
The same goes for personal items or toilet articles she is buying on behalf of the royal lady she is serving. - Neither QMII nor Mary can pop down to the local chemist, nor can they be sure of discretion if they were to order from Amalienborg. But letting you LiW buy or order it for you, then no one can be sure the article is actually for you. The alternative would be to let your chambermaid buy it for you. Better to let a trusted LiW do it, wouldn't you say?

Alexandra fell victim to such an indescretion years ago. She and Joachim's driver was sacked and as a private employee and not a court employee, he was not covered by a letter of confidence, so he told among other things about some very intimate articles he bought at a chemist to the papers. I believe it was Ekstra Bladet that happily printed every detail.
If a court employee breach the letter of confidence it's a criminal offence not just a matter for a civil lawsuit.
I've signed several such letters myself in connection with some jobs I've had.

I must admit I'm not completely familiar with the insurance issues, but if someone is injured in my house while being there as a guest or working for me, then it's my insurance that will deal with it, unless we are talking about an outside contractor. I guess that must apply to LiWs as well.
As for healthcare: If a LiW is not employed then a healthcare agreement for employees does not apply. Not all workplaces has such an agreement. She would instead be covered by the public healthcare system (and probably a private one as well) like everybody else.

ADDED: More of "hofstat". A Hofstat, I don't know the English word, is an organisation that along with other hofstater (plural) constitute the entire court as a whole. QMII has a hofstat, consisting of her closest associates. Frederik and Joachim each have a similar hofstat of their own. The royal garages is also a hofstat, and so on. All of these hofstater constitute the entire court working for the DRF. All headed by a boss i.e Queen Margrethe.

what kind of articles they bought that could be so interested?

[Marika86]

"Billed Bladet" article and photos about Caroline Heering style

Billed-Bladet - Caroline Heering - se Marys smukke hofdame

[AnnaNotherThing]

For some reason, I thought Caroline was much older than 38...!!! So she is the same age as Mary...I thought Caroline was already in her early 40s, maybe because her children are older (like 6 and 8)...now I realise she must of just got married and had babies earlier (than Mary)...

[Muhler]

This is interesting: http://www.billedbladet.dk/Kongelige/Artic...nye%20jobs.aspx

According to this article in Billed Bladet the jobs of Mary's LiWs will be changed.

Caroline Heering will step down from her post as private secretary for Mary and she will instead become a special advisor for Mary in regards to the Mary Foundation. She will still serve as a LiW for Mary, when she is attending events that are connected to the Mary Foundation.

Tanja Doky will instead become private secretary for Mary and still function as her LiW.

This new arrangement will be in effect from 1. November.

- I interprete this as there being put even more emphasis on the Mary Foundation.
Also that Caroline Heering to a large extent will step in for Mary in regards to the Mary foundation. Where Mary so far has had a very hands on influence, regarding administration and planning.
It's only natural to me that Mary no longer have sufficient time to deal with the Foundation as she also has other obligations and is going to be a mother two more children.
My little pet-theory about the CP-couple de facto taking over from the Regent Couple in anyting but the most important roles is also tempting to speculate about.
Especially as M&F does not show any signs of slowing down because of the pregnancy.

[agami.pearl]

this is from official website
http://kongehuset.dk/

[windsorgirl]

Is Caroline still filling in for the Per Thornit role? Or have they hired a replacement for him?

[dazzling]

So Tanja will have two jobs if I understand correct? & Caroline will only be her LIW when it comes to the Mary foundation? If so, that means Mary wont have a full time LIW.