HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL (of Great Britain), the personal attendants upon the reigning sovereign. The establishment was first regulated during the reign of Edward (1461-83), who defined the offices and duties of its members. In the Household Book' compiled by his orders regulations were male for the table of the king, the daily allowance of provisions, the amount of fuel and lights due to peers of each rank in attend ance at court, and all officers and servants on ordinary and festive occasions; gifts, arms, wages, and liveries were also regulated from the highest to the lowest. Sub sequent rulers improved upon these regulations. Henry VIII. found it necessary to exclude vagabonds, rascats, and boys from his household. But no definite rules were laid down until 1780. when Burke introduced a plan for radical reform. The expenses' were alMost beyond belief. Richard II. was always attended by a guard of 200 men, and had also in his retinue 13 bishops, besides barons, knights, and esquires. The household of Edward IV. cost £18,000 a year; that of William and Mary, £15,000. Since the accession of William III., parliament has fixed the amount of appropriation at the beginning of each reign. To the present queen the allowance is £385.000, distributed as follows: privy purse, £60,000; household salaries and retired allowances, 1131.260; household expenses, £172,500; royal bounty, alms, and special services, N,13.200: leaving an unappropriated balance of £8,040 to he used at discretion. these sums throw little light upon the comparative grants for the sovereign's house hold and personal expenses. The lord-steward is the chief officer of the household, and under him are the treasurer, controller, paymaster, almoner, and a number of clerks. The steward has a salary of £2,000 a year. His authority extends over the offices of treasurer, controller, and master of the household, the first two of whom act as his deputies, and all the household officers and servants are subject to his authority except those of the chapel, the chamber, and tne stable. The lord-chamberlain is the head of the second division of household officers. A third branch of the household is under the
direction of the master of the horse, and embraces the master of the hounds, the grand falconer, the crown equerry, other equerries, and pages of honor. Tim ladies of the household fill a more important rank in the court of a female sovereign. The mistress of the robes is the head of this department, and under her are the ladies of the bedchamber, the maids of honor, and a great number in subordizate places. The office of mistress of the robes is of and high dignity. She has the superintendence of all duties belonging to' the bedchamber, within the lord-chamberlain has no authority, regulates the rotation and the times of attendance of all the ladies, has the custody of the robes, and on state occasions it is her dqty to see that:the ceremony of robing the queee is property performed. She rides in the same carriage with the queen on -state fideasimis. Tile ladies of tke bedchamber are the personal attendants of the queen, and form part of her court. The bedchamber women are subordinate to thorn. The maids of honor are the immedi ate attendants of the queen, and accompany her on all occasions. There arc other officers attached to the royal household: the dean and subdean of the chapel, with their clerks and chaplains; and, in the medical service, the physicians in ordinary and extra ordinary, and surgeons, apothecaries, oculists, dentists, druggists, and chemists. These various officers comprise the queen's household; but in addition to these there are establishments for the prince of Wales and for other members of the royal family. The annuities of the whole family are as follows: the queen, £385,000; prince of Wales, £40,000; princess of Wales, £10,000; crown-prince of. Prussia, £8,000; duke of Edinburgh, £25,000; princess Christian of Sleswick•Holstein, £6,000; princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne), £6,000; duke of Connaught, £25;000; prince Leopold, £15,000; duchess of Cambridge, £6,000; duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, £3,00u; duke of Cam bridge, £12,000; duchess of Teck, £5,000.