Nathalie de Ségur, baronne de Malaret (1 May 1827 – 12 March 1910) was a French courtier. She served as lady-in-waiting (''

dame de Palais The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position ...

'') to the empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo.

Life

She was the daughter of Eugène Henri Raymond, Count of Ségur and

Countess of Ségur Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of Ségur, born Sofiya Feodorovna Rostopchina (russian: Софья Фёдоровна Ростопчина; 1 August 1799 in Saint Petersburg – 8 February 1874 in Paris), was a French writer of Russian Empire, Russ ...

, and married to the diplomat Joseph Alphonse Paul Martin d'Ayguesvives, baron de Malaret, in 1846. After the introduction of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

and the marriage of Emperor Napoleon III to Eugénie de Montijo, she was appointed to the Household of the new Empress. The ladies-in-waiting of the new Empress consisted of a ''Grand-Maitresse'' or senior lady-in-waiting, the Princesse d'Essling; a

Dame d'honneur Dame d'honneur or Dame d’honneur was a common title for two categories of French ladies-in-waiting, who are often confused because of the similarity. Dame d'honneur can be: * Short for Première dame d'honneur, which were commonly shortened to ...

or deputy, the Duchesse de Bassano, who both attended court on grand functions; and six (later twelve)

Dame du Palais The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position ...

, who were selected from among the acquaintances to the Empress prior to her marriage, and who alternated in pairs fulfilling the daily duties. She was described as "elegant in manner, with a beautiful temper and having hosts of friends, as she richly deserved." She appears not have attended court much in practice. She often accompanied her husband on his diplomatic missions (he was minister to Florence), and consequently she did not attend court often, and in fact "passed but little time in her own house".Carette, A. Bouvet:
My mistress, the Empress Eugénie; or, Court life at the Tuileries
', 1889 Amélie Carette, who was appointed reader to the empress in 1864, never saw her attend court.

Legacy

She belongs to the ladies-in-waiting depicted with Eugenie in the famous painting '' Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting'' by

Franz Xaver Winterhalter Franz Xaver Winterhalter (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court ...

from 1855.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segur, Nathalie de 1827 births 1910 deaths French ladies-in-waiting People of the Second French Empire Ladies-in-waiting to Eugénie de Montijo