Louise Lehzen

Who was Louise Lehzen?

Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen, better known as Baroness Louise Lehzen, was the governess, and later adviser and companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Born to a Lutheran pastor in Hanover, Lehzen entered into the household of the Duchess of Kent and her husband Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, in 1819. Five years later, Lehzen became governess to their only child, Princess Victoria. Lehzen became strongly protective of the princess, who resided in a household dominated by the controlling Kensington System, implemented by the Duchess and her comptroller Sir John Conroy. "Dear, good Lehzen" soon came to supersede all others in Victoria's eyes, including her own mother.

Victoria became second-in-line to the British throne in 1827; to prevent Victoria from being surrounded by mere commoners, King George IV named Lehzen a Baroness of the Kingdom of Hanover later that year. Lehzen encouraged the princess to become strong, informed, and independent from the Duchess and Conroy's influence, causing friction between the two and Lehzen.