Photograph of the Honourable Charlotte Knollys: a full-length portrait, seated, in court dress, probably for the Coronation of King Edward VII. Charlotte Knollys was Lady-in-Waiting and the first female Private Secretary to Queen Alexandra until her death in 1925. Both her father and brother also served in the Household of King Edward VII when Prince of Wales and later as king. In her Obituary in the Times, April 1930, it was written "On one occasion, by her promptitude and presence of mind, she saved her Majesty and, indeed, the whole household from imminent peril. This was early one morning in December, 1903, when a beam in Miss Knollys's bedroom at Sandringham, which was just under the floor of the Queen's room, caught fire, and Miss Knollys gave the alarm. For this service she was presented with a gold medal bearing the grateful inscription, "To our dear Charlotte."" Quoted on p. 12 – via The Times Digital Archive 1785–2008.