Zara calls the midwife... to become her mother’s new lady-in-waiting
SHE once helped deliver Zara Tindall’s third child Lucas on a bathroom floor – now NHS midwife Dolly Maude is to become lady-in-waiting to the Princess Royal.
The 51-year-old mother of four has been present at the births of all three Tindall children and was maid of honour when the Princess Royal’s daughter married Mike Tindall in 2011.
The former England rugby international has revealed that Mrs Maude is a firm favourite with the Tindalls’ extended family and told of her unconventional involvement with Lucas’s birth at their home at Gatcombe Park in 2021. ‘She was there and recognised that we wouldn’t have got to the hospital in time, so it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, towels down, brace brace brace!’ he told his The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.
Last January, Dolly turned up at Cheltenham racecourse with Zara wearing a badge bearing the words ‘Lady in Waiting’. A Royal spokesman was later forced to clarify that this was actually a joke.
But now the midwife is to have an official role within the Royal fold. One of Mrs Maude’s friends said: ‘For the Princess Royal, it’s a perfect fit because of their shared love of dogs and horses. She’s not only
extremely close to Zara, she also gets on brilliantly with the Princess. She’s fiercely loyal and discreet. It’s a great match.’
Buckingham Palace is expected to announce the appointment in the Court Circular on February 1, when Mrs Maude will be revealed as one of four newly appointed ladies-inwaiting to the King’s sister, to replace others who have retired.
After qualifying as an NHS maternity nurse in 2008, she worked at a hospital in Sierra Leone in 2013, teaching staff basic nursing and theatre skills. She has worked for NHS Gloucestershire for nearly 16 years.
A lady-in-waiting has traditionally been the wife or daughter of a peer, but they can also be a cousin or close friend. They act as a companion on Royal engagements as well as helping with their day-to-day duties.