duchess, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

duchess v.

[note letter from Paul Kunino Lynch 12/9/00: Duchess is ‘widely understood here as meaning what happens when an Australian or other provincial goes to the UK, and British power figures try to sap the visitor’s will & judgment by overpowering them with experiences such as weekends in the luxurious homes of the mighty, duchesses and such. Presumably this used to work once upon a time, and it was at its peak during WWI. Verb both transitive & intransitive. I was duchessed, they duchessed or tried to duchess me. Stupid bastard went to London and let them duchess him [...] So the central meaning of the word is “treated by (generic) duchesses”, rather than like them’]

(Aus.) to treat in a patronizing manner, in the image of a stereotyped duchess; trad. attributed to the treatment by certain Britons of visiting Australians.

1956		J.T. Lang I Remember 64: On arrival in England he was ‘duchessed’ in a manner that no Australian Prime Minister has ever been ‘duchessed’ before. [Ibid.] 178: I found that the Prince of Wales was being ‘duchessed’ in Australia. [...] He was surrounded by flunkeys.
1969		L. Haylen Twenty Years’ Hard Labor 134: Cables from London, telling us about the Labor delegation flashing through London in Rolls Royces, of being ‘duchessed’ in the Commons or on the lawns at the Palace, didn’t exactly send the Labor benches into transports of delight.
1976		Sun-Herald (Sydney) 27 June 38: It cannot be said that Malcolm Fraser was ‘duchessed’ during his memorable stay in Peking. But the flattering, seductive treatment he received did resemble the softening up process thus named to which Australian political leaders visiting London used to be exposed [GAW4].
1983		Sun-Herald (Sydney) 12 June 21: All this – and the fact that Bob bounced Prince William on his knee – [...] prompts the thought that Hawke has been duchessed by royalty [GAW4].