Friday, October 23, 2009

Young Handmaiden


(stamp size 2.25" x 1.5")

Handmaidens to Queen Amidala were composed of young women of a similar age and with a striking similarity to their mistress. These handmaidens acted as bodyguards, decoys and confidantes to her, roles devised by Amidala's head of security, Captain Panaka. Despite their beautiful and delicate appearance, they were heavily trained to be vigilant and able to protect the Queen's and their own life. All of Naboo's handmaidens were members of the secret Order of Sanctuary.

Sabé is Queen Amidala's top handmaiden and it is rumored that they are best friends. Because of her physical similarity to the queen, whenever there is any sign of danger towards Amidala, Sabé is the first handmaiden chosen to act as Decoy. Once in full makeup and dress, she is virtually indistinguishable from the queen. She also imitates Amidala's voice and speech patterns and is encouraged to give orders so that she may keep up appearances.

In The Phantom Menace, Sabé imitates the Queen twice. The first time is during the escape from Naboo. Yes, that is HER in the black dress; not Amidala. She continues to be the decoy until she arrives on Coruscant. She then returns to her normal role as a handmaiden for the Senate scene and remains that way way until the return to Naboo, where she wears the queen's battle dress and attempts to appeal to the Gungans. Unfortunately, despite her training, she lacks the political finesse of the real Amidala, and they are forced to let the Gungans, Jedi, and the rest of the Naboo traveling party in on the ruse.

Sabé as the Queen's decoy with Padme as a handmaiden

2 comments:

Mama Cache said...

Beautiful stamp! I noticed the dimensions . . . wow.

Ari C'rona said...

She's lovely - you're amazing! :o)

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