Louise Lehzen (1784 – 1870) was a German baroness. She became governess to, and later adviser and companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Her Majesty Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria Wettin, née Hanover) (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom from 20 June 1837, and Empress of India from 1876 until her death. ...

Louise Lehzen was a native of Coburg in Germany, born the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She was part of the household of Princess Victoria of Coburg, and served as nurse to Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the daughter of the Princess by her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen. Princess Victoria was subsequently wed to the Duke of Kent, who was, at the time, fourth in line for the English throne. The entire household was moved to England in 1819 so that the new Duchess of Kent's first child might be born there. This child was a girl, christened "Alexandrina Victoria" after her mother and her godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia; she would grow up to be Queen Victoria. Coburg may be one of several places: Coburg, Germany, capital of the Coburg district of Bavaria, Germany Coburg, Oregon a city in the United States Coburg, Iowa a city in the United States Coburg, Victoria a suburb of Melbourne, Australia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists... Aleksandr Pavlovich Romanov or Tsar Alexander I (The Blessed), (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825), Emperor of Russia (reigned March 23, 1801–December 1, 1825), King of Poland (reigned 1815–1825), son of the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, afterwards Paul I, and Maria Fedorovna, daughter of the Duke...

The Duke of Kent died, quite suddenly in 1820, followed quickly by his brother,King George III. Victoria's uncle, the Duke of York, ascended the throne as George IV. Victoria was now third in line for the Crown of England, after her uncle the Duke of Clarence, and his tragic succession of young daughter, all of whom died before reaching the age of five. As the virtual heir presumptive to the throne, Victoria had to be educated accordingly. Unfortunately for her, the Duchess of Kent was nearly bankrupt, having assumed all of her late husband's debts, and could not afford to engage a new governess. Feodora was now 14, and no longer required the services of a governess. Thus did Louise Lehzen, the daughter of a Lutheran Pastor, gain such remarkable ascendency over the young life and mind of one of Europe's greatest rulers. She became governess to Princess Victoria in 1824, and continued to care for and instruct Victoria even after the Duchess of Northumberland was formally appointed Governess. "Dear, good Lezhen" came to occupy a place in Victoria's heart that superceded all others, especially her own mother, the Duchess of Kent. George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738–29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain, and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... George IV King of the United Kingdom George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762–26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The education Victoria received from this woman was rudimentary but solid. She learned to speak French, German, and English, had a good grasp of history, and became well versed in religious matters. However, her education was almost entirely lacking in subjects that would behoove a future monarch to study, such as philosophy or classical writings, and completely devoid of literature. Lehzen did not know these things herself, and thus could never teach them to her royal pupil. Thus Victoria's life continued quietly enough, until she was eight years of age. In 1827, George IV died and was succeded by his brother, Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV. He formally recognised Victoria as his heir, and made Lehzen a Baroness of Hanover. 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... William IV (William Henry) (21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. ...

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, after the death of her uncle, King William IV, Lehzen was installed at Buckingham Palace as a sort of unofficial Private Secretary. At this point, Lehzen had totally replaced Victoria's mother both in influence and in affection; Lehzen's apartments adjoined the Queen's, while the Duchess of Kent was installed in a suite of rooms far removed from Victoria's. For the first several years of Victoria's reign, especially before her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840, Lehzen was a very strong influence on the Queen's outlook on both politics and personal matters, despite the fact that she was very careful never to overtly involve herself in state affairs. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel, of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha branch of the House of Wettin) (26 August 1819 - 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The coming of Albert, the "Prince Consort," changed all that. Albert was a man of breeding and education; he had just completed a tour of Europe, preceded by years at the University of Bonn. The English court, which was a paragon of corruption and inefficiency that harkened back to the time of Elizabeth I, dismayed his puritan, German sensibilities. At first he struggled in vain to make Victoria see the waste and inefficiency that surrounded her, but the care of the household was the special province of Baroness Lehzen, about whom Victoria would hear no evil. Lehzen also intrigued against Albert, advising Victoria that she was the Queen of England, and Albert her mere consort: she had but to order, and he must obey. Lehzen, however, had calculated without Victoria's increasing love and almost pathetic devotion to her husband. Elizabeth I Queen of England and Ireland Queen of France, nominal title Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. ...

When Victoria's first child, the Princess Victoria, was born November 22, 1840, Victoria trusted Lehzen to make the arrangements for the nursery staff. Lehzen then put the nursery in the hands of a Mrs. Southey and Sir James Clark the Royal Physician, over Albert's objections that Clark was wholey unsuited to the post, having already discredited himself during the affair of Lady Flora Hastings, several years previous. The Baroness Lehzen was often found with the young princess, or gossiping with Southey, in a nursery that was kept unsuitably hot due to Southey's ailments. Eventually, the Princess Royal fell ill, but the incompetant Dr. Clark declared it was a minor colic, and nothing to be concerned about. He could not have been more wrong: the young Princess Victoria, who was named for her mother, became seriously ill. Albert, who was devoted to his first born, confronted Victoria on the incompetance of the staff selected by the Baroness. Victoria raged and pleaded and cried a great deal, after which Albert declared that he would leave the affair in her Queenly hands, and be it on her head if the child died. After this arguement, the Queen finally awoke to reason (or considered the love of her husband more important than that of her governess) and she ultimately dismissed Lehzen. The Princess Victoria recovered, and the Queen was left even more in thrall of her redoubtable husband, and under his subtle and sophisticated tutelage, embarked on her career as the longest reigning of England's sovereigns. Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. ...

When Lehzen was dismissed from the court in 1842 she returned to her native Germany. She lived on the pension that Victoria had sent her, and covered the walls of her house in various portraits of the Queen as she could find or cut out of newspapers. She wrote Victoria, who replied infrequently, and always regarded her as the daughter of her heart, if not her body. She died in 1870. 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

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