At the same time, the outside of the Palace was under the control of neither of these functionaries--but of the Office of Woods and Forests; and thus, while the insides of the windows were cleaned by the Department of the Lord Chamberlain--or possibly, in certain cases, of the Lord Steward--the Office of Woods and Forests cleaned their outsides.

Of the servants, the housekeepers, the pages, and the housemaids were under the authority of the Lord Chamberlain; the clerk of the kitchen, the cooks, and the porters were under that of the Lord Steward; but the footmen, the livery-porters, and the under-butlers took their orders from yet another official--the Master of the Horse.
Naturally, in these circumstances the service was extremely defective and the lack of discipline among the servants disgraceful.

They absented themselves for as long as they pleased and whenever the fancy took them; "and if," as the Baron put it, "smoking, drinking, and other irregularities occur in the dormitories, where footmen, etc., sleep ten and twelve in each room, no one can help it." As for Her Majesty's guests, there was nobody to show them to their rooms, and they were often left, having utterly lost their way in the complicated passages, to wander helpless by the hour.

The strange divisions of authority extended not only to persons but to things.

The Queen observed that there was never a fire in the dining-room.