A handmaiden was a personal aide to a monarch or other political leader.
During the High Republic Era, handmaidens worked for Princess Xiri A'lbaran of the E'ronoh royal family, and wore a stark-gray uniform with silver and red embroidery over its shoulder.
Padmé Amidala with two of her Handmaidens
On the Mid Rim planet Naboo, the elected monarch typically had one royal handmaiden, but their role as a bodyguard had fallen out of practice after the Gungan-Naboo dispute. However, at the request of Captain Quarsh Panaka, Queen Padmé Amidala brought back the tradition, but she realized it would be more useful to have multiple handmaidens in the event one needed to take on her appearance as a body double, leaving possible enemies less likely to catch on to the deception. Later Naboo queens continued the reinstated tradition. Amidala also had handmaidens as her aides during her time as a Galactic Republic Senator though out of the original five handmaidens hired by Panaka only Sabé continued to serve her until the start of the Clone Wars.
Sepratist senator Mina Bonteri of Onderon had at least two handmaidens who served her during the Clone Wars and helped her sneak Amidala and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano to her home on Raxus Secundus to secretly discuss an attempt to bring an end to the war.
Lyra Erso was attended by handmaidens when she gave birth to her daughter Jyn on the planet Vallt in the Keep. The handmaidens were excited to meet Lyra's husband the scientist Doctor Galen Erso and one of them greeted him when he arrived at the keep after the birth of his daughter.
The House of Organa also employed handmaidens. Princess Leia Organa had a handmaiden named Agira who she once talked into switching places with her so that that she could sneak off to the nearby woods to go shipspotting with her toy droid, L0-LA59.
- William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First