Origins The Groom of the Stool was a male servant in the household of the English monarch who was responsible for assisting the king in his toileting needs. It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health.
In the Tudor era By the
Tudor age, the role of Groom of the Stool was fulfilled by a substantial figure, such as
Hugh Denys (died 1511) who was a member of the
Gloucestershire gentry, married to an aristocratic wife, and who died possessing at least four manors. The function was transformed into that of a virtual minister of the royal treasury, being then an essential figure in the king's management of fiscal policy. In the early years of
Henry VIII's reign, the title was awarded to court companions of the King who spent time with him in the
privy chamber. These were generally the sons of noblemen or important members of the gentry. In time they came to act as virtual personal secretaries to the King, carrying out a variety of administrative tasks within his private rooms. The position was an especially prized one, as it allowed unobstructed access to the king.
David Starkey writes: "The Groom of the Stool had (to our eyes) the most menial tasks; his standing, though, was the highest ... Clearly then, the royal body service must have been seen as entirely honourable, without a trace of the demeaning or the humiliating." Further, "the mere word of the Gentleman of the Privy Chamber was sufficient evidence in itself of the king's will", and the Groom of the Stool bore "the indefinable charisma of the monarchy".
Evolution and discontinuation The office was exclusively one serving male monarchs, so on the accession of
Elizabeth I of England in 1558 it was replaced by that of
Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, first held by
Kat Ashley. The office effectively came to an end when it was "neutralised" in 1559. On the accession of
James I, the male office was revived as the senior
Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who always was a great nobleman who had considerable power because of its intimate access to the king. During the reign of
Charles I, the term "stool" appears to have lost its original signification of
chair. From 1660 the office of Groom of the Stole (revived with the
Restoration of the Monarchy) was invariably coupled with that of First Gentleman (or Lady) of the Bedchamber; as effective Head of the royal Bedchamber, the Groom of the Stole was a powerful individual who had the right to attend the monarch at all times and to regulate access to his or her private quarters. Incongruously, the office of Groom of the Stole continued in use during the reign of Queen
Anne, when it was held by a duchess who combined its duties with those of
Mistress of the Robes. Under the
Hanoverians the 'Groom of the Stole' began to be named in
The London Gazette. In 1726,
John Chamberlayne wrote that while the
Lord Chamberlain has oversight of all Officers belonging to the King's Chamber, 'the Precinct of the King's Bed-Chamber ... is wholly under the Groom of the Stole'. Chamberlayne defines the Groom of the Stole as the first of the
Gentlemen of the Bedchamber; translating his title ('from the Greek') as 'Groom or Servant of the Long-robe or Vestment', he explains that he has 'the Office and Honour to present and put on his Majesty's first Garment or Shirt every morning, and to order the Things of the Bed-Chamber'. The office again fell into abeyance with the accession of
Queen Victoria, though her husband,
Prince Albert, and their son,
Edward, Prince of Wales, employed similar courtiers; but when Edward acceded to the throne as King Edward VII in 1901, he discontinued the office. ==List of Grooms of the Stool==