ATHELSTAN CLUB DOMINO BALL – DOUBLE RUSH Lady Lillian-Louise Marie Rathle

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andre Gerard Rathle, Lady Lillian-Louise Rathle, or Lilly as her friends call her, will serve as the Leading Lady of the The Athelstan Clubs 149th Domino Ball, which takes place on January 21st in the clubs rooms. The Athelstan Club has long been a family tradition for Lilly. “My father, Andre Rathle, has been a member of the Athelstan Club for over 30 years. He is currently the President of the Board of Governors of the Athelstan Club, which he has served on for over 13 years. The Athelstan Club has always been a very special place for me,” she shares. “My earliest memories of Mobile Mardi Gras are watching the parades from both the reviewing stands and balconies of the Athelstan Club, as well as spending post-parade time in the rooms. The Athelstan Club is Ground Zero for Mobile Mardi Gras.”

Not only does Lilly have a long history with The Athelstan Club, but her family also shares a long lineage of Mardi Gras royalty. Lilly served as a Maiden of the 2015 Juvenile Court, while Lilly’s brother, Henri Alan Rathle, served as a Knight of the Juvenile Court in 2018. Additionally, her cousin, Blaize Naman, served as a Knight of the MCA Court in 2019, while two more of her cousins, Olivia Grace Rathle and Mathilde Elizabeth Naman, were ladies of the court in 2022.

To announce her selection of 149th Leading Lady of the Domino Ball, a scroll party was held at The Country Club of Mobile where Lilly was formally asked by the Athelstan Club Board of Governors and the Domino Ball Committee by the presentation of a formal scroll. “It was a ceremony steeped in 149 years of ritual and tradition. It was so amazing and a night that I will never forget. The night also coincided with my 22nd, birthday which made it even more memorable,” she recalls. The Domino Ball has long been known as a costume party for the Ladies of the Court as each Debutante comes in a costume of their “suppressed desire,” and each costume is kept closely under wraps until the night of the ball.

So, we can’t tell you exactly what Lilly will be donning for her special night. What we do know is that her costume is being designed and made by the uber-talented Jessica Price right here in Mobile.

Lilly is currently a student at The University of Alabama where she majors in Public Relations and minors in Communications. She is a member of Chi Omega sorority. She will graduate in May of this year and plans to move to New Orleans to work for a Public Relations firm.