Louise, Baroness Lehzen

Common card · No. 284212

Johanna Clara Louise, Baroness von Lehzen (3 October 1784 – 9 September 1870) was the governess and later companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Lehzen was born to a Lutheran pastor Joachim Friedrich Lehzen (1735–1800) and his wife, Marie Catharina Melusine Palm (1745–1793), herself the daughter of a priest. In 1819 she entered the household of the Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George III. Five years later, Lehzen was appointed governess to his only child, Princess Alexandrina Victoria. The young princess became second-in-line to the British throne in 1827. Victoria's upbringing was dominated by the controlling Kensington System, implemented by the widowed Duchess of Kent and her comptroller Sir John Conroy. Lehzen was strongly protective of Victoria, and encouraged the princess to be strong, informed, and independent from the Duchess and Conroy's influence, causing friction within the household. Attempts to remove the governess were unsuccessful, as Lehzen had the support...

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