This sounds exactly like the old European courts, where intrigues and plots were hatched to gain recognition and power. When King Barack took the throne, it put the USA back two centuries. Shame on us for allowing the Regressive Party to take us back two centuries in governance.
You have it right. The term is courtiers........ those who compose the royal court. They were the landed nobility.
It was the Queen, Marie Antoinette that was hated by the French sans culottes for her excesses. Marie Antoinette however had royal blood, a genuine princess. She was neglected by her husband, a sexually inadequate place holder. She was a beauty. She did not have to put on airs, she was the genuine article.