Vilhelmina Gyldenstolpe, née ''De Geer'' (16 December 1779, Stockholm-31 December 1858, Stockholm), was a Swedish court official. 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 ...

'' (Senior lady-in-waiting) to the queen and later queen dowager of Sweden,

Désirée Clary Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary ( sv, Eugenia Bernhardina Desideria; 8 November 1777 – 17 December 1860) was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 5 February 1818 to 8 March 1844 as the wife of King Charles XIV John. Charles John was a former Fre ...

, from 1829 to 1858.

Life

She was the daughter of courtier baron

Charles De Geer (1747–1805) Baron Charles de Geer (the family is usually known as De Geer with a capitalized "De" and is pronounced "de yer"; 30 January 1720 in Finspång – 7 March 1778 in Stockholm) was a Swedish industrialist and entomologist. Life De Geer, who came ...

and Eleonora Vilhelmina von Höpken. She was thus the sister of Carl De Geer (1781–1861) and sister-in-law of

Hans Henric von Essen Count Hans Henric von Essen (26 September 1755 – 28 June 1824) was a Swedish officer, courtier and statesman. Biography Hans Henric von Essen was born at Kavlås Castle in Tidaholm Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. He was a m ...

. She married the courtier count Carl Edvard Gyldenstolpe (1770-1852) in 1798, with whom she had eight children. Her spouse had previously been engaged to

Lolotte Forssberg Fredrika Charlotte "Lolotte" Forssberg (1766–1840) was a Swedish noble and lady-in-waiting, later countess Stenbock. She was one of the most talked about people of her time as the possible child of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Princess Sophia ...

, the alleged daughter of her father's first wife

Ulla von Liewen Ulrica "Ulla" Elisabeth von Liewen (24 February 1747, in Stockholm – 16 May 1775, in Uppsala), was a Swedish courtier and baroness. She was at one point the royal mistress of Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden and is known as the likely mother of ...

and

Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

. In 1823, she was appointed ''

statsfru A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

'' to the newly formed household of the queen, and was in 1829 promoted to the office of ''överhovmästarinna'' or senior lady-in-waiting. King

Charles XIV John of Sweden sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

had abolished a number of court customs prior to the arrival of the queen in 1823 in order to make court life less formal, such as public dining and the kissing of the queen's skirt during court presentations, but while left many of the offices of his own court vacant, he still appointed a full court to the queen. Further more, while the king himself often loosened the etiquette in his own appearances, Gyldenstolpe seems to have upheld a strict conservative etiquette at the court of the queen; at one occasion during a journey, Vilhelmina Gyldenstolpe announced that while the king planned to greet also people normally not received at court because of their rank, such a thing could of course be unthinkable for the queen. Queen Désirée compared her unfavorably to the senior lady-in-waiting of her daughter-in-law

Josephine of Leuchtenberg Joséphine of Leuchtenberg (Joséphine Maximilienne Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais; 14 March 1807 – 7 June 1876) was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 to 8 July 1859 as the wife of King Oscar I. She was also Princess of Bologna f ...

in a letter to her sister

Julie Clary Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771 – 7 April 1845), was Queen of Naples, then of Spain and the Indies, as the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, who was King of Naples from January 1806 to June 1808, and later King of Spain and the Spanish West Indi ...

in March 1831: :"I am sure you have found countess Piper to be very pleasant and entertaining; she is an exceptional person n phénix Joséphine is lucky to be given her as a

dame d'honneur Dame d'honneur or Dame d’honneur was a common title for two categories of French ladies-in-waiting, who are often confused because of the similarity. Dame d'honneur can be: * Short for Première dame d'honneur, which were commonly shortened to ...

, my own is an icicle!""Min gud tocket hov! Det svenska hovet från Napoleon till Louis Philippe" in Ingvar von Malmborg (ed) Familjen Bernadotte - kungligheter och människor. Stockholm, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyldenstolpe, Vilhelmina 1779 births 1858 deaths Mistresses of the Robes (Sweden)