The Governess

Baroness Louise Lehzen (1784 – 1870)

Baroness Lehzen came to Victoria in 1824 when Victoria was five years old and became her trusted companion. Not only was she her academic tutor who gave her a solid early childhood education, but the young Victoria spent most of her waking hours with Lehzen and they developed an affectionate and close bond (which did not go unnoticed by other members of the family.) Victoria wrote in her diary about Lehzen, “…she is the most affectionate, devoted, attached, and disinterested friend I have.”

Governess Lehzen helped Victoria dress around 100 of her dolls. In her article, “Queen Victoria’s Dolls,” Elizabeth Jane Timms says, “The dolls appear to have provided pleasure for the Princess and Lehzen during the many hours they spent together and perhaps, given the historical figures that some of the dolls were, they were also a subtle history lesson.”

When Victoria became Queen in 1837 she no longer needed a governess. Instead Lehzen served as a sort of unofficial private secretary and lived in apartments adjacent to Victoria in Buckingham Palace – while the Queen’s own mother was put in a distant suite of rooms. She had an official role in the household and carried the keys as a sign of her position.

In 1842, Albert, who had developed a dislike towards Lehzen over her influence over Victoria, promptly dismissed her. Victoria missed her and wrote regularly to her former governess, weekly at first and later monthly at Lehzen's request. When visiting relations in Germany, the queen came to visit her twice in private.

When Lehzen became infirmed, Queen Victoria gifted her a wheelchair, and, after her death at the age of 85, Queen Victoria ordered the erection of a memorial to her memory. In the end, Lehzen was her safest and most trusted female friend and mentor.