Female with doctorate to cuddle Queen's Guide (8)
I believe the answer is:
shepherd
'guide' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'female with doctorate to cuddle queen's' is the wordplay.
'female with' becomes 'she' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'doctorate' becomes 'phd' (PhD is an example).
'to cuddle' is an insertion indicator.
'queen' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'phd' placed around 'er' is 'pherd'.
'she'+'pherd'='SHEPHERD'
(Other definitions for shepherd that I've seen before include "marshal" , "meat's produced by his livestock?" , "Animal tender" , "Herder of sheep" , "Guardian of flock" .)