Richard the Qaid () was a senior official (qāʾid, commander) of the royal council (curia regis or diwan) in the court of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily at Palermo during the latter years of the reign of William I of Sicily and during the regency of his wife, Margaret of Navarre, for their son William II. He was already the Great Chamberlain, or magister camerarius, when William I died in 1166. Origin Richard was a Muslim convert to Christianity, and likely a eunuch. He possibly appears in the records of the royal council in January 1161, but he rose to prominence in the political affairs of the day only in 1166. Career during the regency for William II Appointment as master chamberlain and familiaris regis In that year, King William I died on 17 May, leaving his underage son William II on the throne, under the regency of the Queen-mother, and advised by a council of three familiares regis under the leadership of Peter the Qaid. Although in effective control of the government, Peter was unable to counter the court intrigues, led by a faction around the Queen-regent's cousin, Gilbert, Count of Gravina, which paralysed the Kingdom. As a result, in the summer of the same year, Peter fled to Tunis. Richard succeeded him as master chamberlain of the palace (magister camerarius regii palatii), and became a member of the council of the familiares regis, now expanded to five members (alongside Richard, these were Richard, Count of Molise, the Bishop-elect of Syracuse Richard Palmer, the notary Matthew, and Martin the Qaid). Opposition to Stephen du Perche In October or November 1166, Stephen du Perche was appointed chancellor and Archbishop of Palermo, becoming the head of government. During Stephen's rule, Richard remained a familiaris at least for some while in 1167, and he is recorded as one of the heads of the duana baronum in March 1168. This was a new department, charged with the administration of the Norman kingdom's provinces in the Italian mainland, except Calabria. Richard soon emerged as a leading opponent of the chancellor. The latter's efforts to combat corruption in the Sicilian administration soon led to an attack against Muslims or suspected crypto-Muslims, and a clash with the palace eunuchs, whose chief Richard was. Richard began plotting against the chancellor, gaining the support of Abu'l-Qasim ibn Hammud ibn al-Hajar—according to the contemporary traveller Ibn Jubayr, the hereditary