Personnel Selection Quotes
2nd Viscount Melbourne. The appointments to the Queen’s household was one of the powers that was contested by Parliament and the Monarchy. The Queen’s Ladies in Waiting or Secretary would seem to be very personal positions of which the Queen would make the decision, however these were very desirable positions that were used by the party in power to reward loyal supports of the party. As a practical matter, each of these appointments were the subject of negotiations between the Parliament and the Queen. The most competent people were not necessarily chosen—see {625949} . What is interesting to us today is the importance that the Queen and the Parliament placed on the spouse of the appointee. From the Queen’s point of view the character of the family of an appointee was extremely important to avoid scandal and have the queen support proper values as an example to the nation. To Parliament it was an issue of Patronage. A Lady in Waiting was an important member of the court and most upper class women coveted that position. The ruling party however did not want to see the wives of the opposition party members to get these plum positions and wanted to reward their own members by appointing their wives. Today, the character of a spouse of a potential appointee sometimes is a factor but there are many who believe that it should never be.
