beau–brummell:

Bridget Holmes (1591-1691) was a domestic servant at the
English royal court during the 17th century. As a “necessary woman”,
her jobs included cleaning the royal apartments and emptying and scouring
chamber pots. She lived through the reigns of seven monarchs (Elizabeth I,
James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and Mary II), the age of
Shakespeare, the age of discovery and the age of revolution. She served five of
the Stuart monarchs (Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and Mary II)
and was considered to be a bit of a fixture at the court. She was so
well-respected and regarded with affection, as a lady of great age and of great
loyalty to the Stuart kings, that James II commissioned this portrait of her in
1686, probably painted by John Riley and John Closterman; an extravagant
commission but one certainly to James’ credit as this is one of the first
pre-eighteenth century portraits of a working class person. In this portrait,
Holmes teasingly brandishes her mop at a Page of the Backstairs, and the set-up
of the portrait treats her with great dignity.

Bridget died in 1691, at the age of 100. One of the longest
serving royal servants in history, she is buried in Westminster Abbey and there
is a monument noting the monarchs under which she dutifully served. This
portrait now resides in the state apartments of Windsor Castle.