Hedvig Elisabet Strömfelt, née ''Wrangel'' (1687 - 8 March 1751), was a Swedish courtier. She served as

överhovmästarinna Court Mistress ( da, hofmesterinde; nl, hofmeesteres; german: Hofmeisterin; no, hoffmesterinne; sv, hovmästarinna) or Chief Court Mistress ( da, Overhofmesterinde; ('grand mistress'); ; no, overhoffmesterinne; sv, överhovmästarinna; russia ...

to two queens of Sweden,

Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden, reigning in her own right from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of her husband ...

and

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia Louisa Ulrika of Prussia ( sv, Lovisa Ulrika; german: Luise Ulrike) (24 July 1720 – 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden from 1751 to 1771 as the wife of King Adolf Frederick. She was queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III. Backgr ...

, and as Royal Governess to the royal children.

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

refers to her with affection and admiration in his writings.

Life

Hedvig Elisabet Strömfelt was the daughter of colonel nobleman Jurgen Johan Wrangel and Margareta Stenbock and married to

riksråd Riksrådet (in Norwegian and Swedish), Rigsrådet (in Danish) or (English: the Council of the Realm and the Council of the State – sometimes translated as the "Privy Council") is the name of the councils of the Scandinavian countries that rule ...

count Johan Carl Strömfelt (1678-1736). She became the mother of three children, among them

Ulrika Strömfelt Ulrika Eleonora Strömfelt (1724–5 April 1780), was a politically active Swedish noble and courtier. She is known for her part in the attempted Coup d'état of queen Louisa Ulrika in 1756. Life Ulrika Strömfelt was the daughter of riksr� ...

. After having been widowed, Strömfelt was appointed ''

'' (Mistress of the Robes) to

in 1736 in succession to Katarina Ebba Horn af Åminne, making her the senior of all the female courtiers, and served until the queen's death in 1741. As such, she was the first in rank of all the female office holders of the royal household with responsibility of the ladies-in-waiting and the performance of court etiquette around them and the queen. Upon the marriage of the crown prince to

in 1744, she resumed her post at the court of Louisa Ulrika, and welcomed her with the rest of the late queen's court at Gnatskow in

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...

. With experience in Swedish court etiquette, she was able to guide Louisa Ulrika in the new court, and described as having a wise judgement in combination with a lovable and youthful appearance, she gained the confidence of Louisa Ulrika. Louisa Ulrika described her in a letter to her mother: :"The countess Strömfelt ... is a very good woman and I started on the right foot with her because she does all that I want and is absolutely not irksome. It is the same with all my other ladies-in-waiting. ..All my ladies-in-waiting are very beautiful and very funny, each of the can take part in a conversation with no risk of ruining it." From 1746, when the first child was born in the royal house, she also served in the capacity as a royal governess. As royal governess, the queen was concerned that she did not beat the children enough physically, especially the crown prince, Gustav.Ohlander, Ann-Sofie, Kärlek, död och frihet: historiska uppsatser om människovärde och livsvillkor i Sverige, Norstedt, Stockholm, 1985 In his memoirs, Gustav mention her with gratitude and respect. She served in her two positions until her death in 1751, when she was succeeded by

Ulla Tessin Ulrika "Ulla" Lovisa Tessin née Sparre (23 May 1711 – 14 December 1768) was a Swedish courtier, letter writer and dilettante artist. Life Ulla Tessin was born to ''riksråd'' marshal count Erik Sparre of Sundby and Christina (Stina) Beata Li ...

as Mistress of the Robes and by

Ulrica Schönström Ulrica Schönström, née ''Adlersten'' (1694–1757) was a Swedish baroness and courtier. She was the royal governess of the children of Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. She was born to baron Göran Adlersten and Mar ...

as royal governess.

References

* Gustaf Elgenstierna, Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor. 1925-36. * https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203229/http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:486518/FULLTEXT01 * Olof Jägerskiöld (1945). Lovisa Ulrika. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. ISBN {{DEFAULTSORT:Stromfelt, Hedvig Elisabet 1687 births 1751 deaths 18th-century Swedish people Mistresses of the Robes (Sweden) Age of Liberty people Governesses to the Swedish monarchy