The curious similarities between Carrie Symonds and Marie Antoinette
From our UK edition
What is Carrie Symonds’s status? She seems to have a lot of influence but its extent is undefined. People find the lack of clarity unsettling. Nic Conner of the Bow Group observed in the Times that unlike ministers or civil servants she ‘cannot be sacked’ — a questionable point given Boris Johnson’s alleged amatory record. It is true however that she was neither elected nor appointed. So what is she — mistress, partner, girlfriend, fiancé or (perish the thought) first lady? We have to raid the historical locker to find the mot juste: maîtresse-en-titre - the official mistress of the French kings. The mistress that seems most relevant is Madame de Pompadour (1721-64) the maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV.
