Henrika Juliana von Liewen

Who was Henrika Juliana von Liewen?

Henrika Juliana von Liewen was a Swedish noble, socialite and lady-in-waiting, believed to have been politically active on behalf of the Hats during the Age of liberty.

Daughter of the noble and statesman Hans Henrik von Liewen, she was made lady-in-waiting to the crown princess, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. She belonged to the first group to be made lady-in-waitings to Louisa Ulrika upon her arvial in Sweden together with Cathérine Charlotte De la Gardie, the sisters Agneta and Ulrika Strömfelt and Lotta Sparre, and is described as Louisa’s first favourite. She was married to lieuntenant colonel Carl Hårleman on Drottningholm Palace in 1748 and replaced as royal favourite by Ulrika Eleonora von Düben.

She is believed to have been politically active as a participator in the party paper of the Hats, "En ärlig Svensk", which was published in 1755-56 by Nils von Oelreich. The monarch dictated against the paper to the parliament, and H. Benzelius declared it contradicted to the bible. The editorship of the paper was kept anonymous. It was well known that a great part of the senate gathered in the salon of Henrika Juliana von Liewen to proof read the paper.