The Queen's lady-in-waiting doesn't get a salary. Here's why she's still one of the most powerful people at the palace.

• Lady Susan Hussey is more than the Queen's lady-in-waiting.
• Hussey is a godmother to Prince William and a close friend to the monarch, reports say.

The most powerful members of the Queen's royal household don't necessarily have the most senior job titles.

Lady Susan Hussey, 81, is one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, a role held by aristocrat women who act as personal assistants to the monarch.

Hussey was initially hired to respond to letters after Prince Andrew's birth in 1960, according to Hello! Magazine, and has spent the past 60 years accompanying the monarch at official state events, where she rubs shoulders with celebrities, politicians, and royalty alike.

She has been photographed at the State Opening of Parliament, the formal start of the parliamentary year where the Queen reads a speech setting out the government's agenda for the coming months. She also accompanied the Queen in the car before Prince Philip's funeral, Hello! Magazine reports.

While Hussey is one of eight Ladies-in-Waiting, she is reportedly known as the palace's "Number One Head Girl" and has been described as "one of the key trusted figures helping the Queen in her later life," according to Tatler.

The only catch? Hussey doesn't get paid a salary

The role is considered a "huge honor" among aristocratic circles, according to Prince Charles' former butler Grant Harrold, who told Insider that it is given to women who are wealthy enough to afford to take the unpaid position.

Harrold added that he would describe Hussey as a "friend" to the Queen rather than an employee because she doesn't get a salary.

Hussey's official title is Woman of the Bedchamber, a title given to ladies-in-waiting who are peeresses, the wife or widow of a peer (a man with an aristocratic title).

Hussey was married to the late Marmaduke Hussey, the Baron Hussey of North Bradley, who was also known as Lord Hussey. Lord Hussey was the chairman of the BBC when Princess Diana gave her "Panorama" interview in 1995, according to Tatler, and was the former chief executive and managing director of Times Newspapers, according to his obituary in The Guardian.

He was knighted in 1996 and died in 2006, according to the obituary.

As the Queen's close companion, Hussey is virtually part of the royal family herself

Royal Historian Marlene Koenig told Insider that Hussey is "very close to the Queen."

The 81-year-old's loyalty to the royals goes behind her official duties. She is godmother to the monarch's grandson, Prince William, Hello! Magazine reports, and was in the official family photos at his christening ceremony.

Hussey holds a high honor, as she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. The award, started by Queen Victoria in 1896 to reward people who helped her as a monarch, is the highest rank that the Queen can issue, according to British Heritage. The Duchess of Cambridge and the late Prince Philip are also recipients.

And the monarch clearly trusts Hussey's judgment. The 81-year-old has influence over who joins the royal household.

She interviewed the Queen's dressmaker Angela Kelly for the role of assistant dresser in 1994, Kelly wrote in her 2019 memoir, "The Other Side of the Coin." Kelly has worked for the Queen for 27 years and was given special permission from Her Majesty to write about their relationship in the book.

Hussey also recommended Prince William and Prince Harry's longtime nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, for the job, Tatler reports.