relative of the Empress; this title existed at least since the 9th century. The Kingdom of Greece was established in 1832 and its first queen, Amalia of Oldenburg, organized the ladies-in-waiting of its first royal court with one 'Grande Maitresse', followed by the second rank , and the third rank . Italy Naples and the Two Sicilies Prior to the unification, the greatest of the Italian states was the Kingdom of Naples, later called Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1842, the ladies-in-waiting of the Queen of the Two Sicilies were composed of one (Lady of Honor, ranked just below the ), three (Lady Companions, ranked below the ), and a large number of (Court Ladies). Kingdom of Italy In 1861, the Italian Peninsula was united in to the Kingdom of Italy. The ladies-in-waiting of the Queen of Italy were headed by the , followed by the , and finally the . The was nominally the chief lady-in-waiting, but in practice often limited her service to state occasions; the was the regular lady-in-waiting who personally attended to the queen, while the were honorary courtiers attached to the royal palaces in particular cities, such as Florence, Turin, and so forth, and only served temporary when the queen visited the city in question: among these, only the attached to the royal palace of the capital of Rome served more than temporary. Japan In Japan, the imperial court offices was normally reserved for members of the court aristocracy and the ladies-in-waiting or 'palace attendants' were commonly educated members of the nobility. During the Heian period (794–1185) women could hold court offices of substantial responsibility, managing the affairs of the Emperor. Female palace attendants were employed by the Imperial Bureau of Palace Attendants from among the court aristocracy, but were required to have sufficient education in Chinese classics to be accepted. During the Sengoku period (1467–1603), the highest rank of a lady-in-waiting was the 'Female Assistant to the Major Counselor', who ran the affairs of the daily life of the Imperial Household. The second rank was , who acted as intermediary between the Emperor and those seeking an audience and issued his wishes in writing. Ladies-in-waiting acted as imperial secretaries and noted the events at court, visitors and gifts in the official court journals. In contrast to China, female palace attendants managed the palace of the imperial harem rather than eunuchs, and could hold