Hedvig Elisabet Strömfelt (née Wrangel; 1687 — 8 March 1751) was a Swedish courtier. She served as
överhovmästarinna to two queens of Sweden,
Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden and
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, 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 King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he s ...
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) or 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 ...
count Johan Carl Strömfelt (1678–1736). She became the mother of three children, among them
Ulrika Strömfelt.
After having been widowed, Strömfelt was appointed ''
överhovmästarinna'' (Mistress of the Robes) to
Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden in 1736 in succession to Katarina Ebba Horn af Ã…minne, 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
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia 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 (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...
. 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 on 8 March 1751, when she was succeeded by
Ulla Tessin 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 M ...
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