Women in Palace, Ladies in Politics. The female informal power in the Court of Isabel II, 1833-1868

Abstract

The Court continued being a space of power that, in the 19th century, had to coexist with the new representative institutions created by the political liberal system. In that courtier universe, the central axis was formed by the access to the King in their spatial and temporal dimensions. That is, a greater proximity to the monarch resulted in a greater capacity to influence their decisions. As it was a woman who had the monarchical sovereignty between 1833 and 1868, there were women who had more and better access to spaces and activities forbidden to men. In that way, although they were excluded of political participation, women could access directly to the power of the Queen and influenced in her decisions, bending her will to their personal networks of power. This article aims to study this practise of informal power analysing the women family of the Queen, focusing on the Ladies of the Bedchamber. A position modified in their social profile by the interference of politics in the Royal Palace life.