Amalie Sophie Holstein
Amalie Sofie Holstein (1748-1823), was a Danish noble and courtier, known for her love life and unconventional life style, known in history as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court.
Life
She was the daughter of Schack von Buchwald til Johannisdorff and Eleonora Elisabet von Plessen and married the courtier count Ulrik Adolf Holstein in 1763. In 1765, her spouse was appointed ambassador to Berlin, but during a ball, she convinced the king to appoint another to the post because she did not wish to leave Denmark. It was regarded a scandal that she had affect government policy in this way, and the king appointed her spouse to a post in the Danish countryside, where they both reportedly found it less than pleasing to reside.
She was a cousin of Ida Hedevig Moltke, and her relative Charlotte Elisabeth Henriette Holstein served as the chief lady in waiting to queen Caroline Matilda. Upon the recommendation of the queen's friend Christine Sophie von Gähler, her spouse was given a political post by the queen's lover Johann Friedrich Struensee in 1770, which made it possible for the pair to return to court, and Amalie Sofie Holstein became a leading member of court life. Together with the baroness Anna Sofie Bülow and countess Christine Sophie von Gähler, she became known as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court.[1]
Amalie Sofie Holstein are described by contemporaries friendly and with a good disposition and humor to her personality, beautiful though somewhat plump to her appearance, and as sympathetic and kind to those who knew her personally. She had a relationship with Enevold Brandt, who used his position with the king to pay off her gambling debts, and left the position as the king's care taker to Élie Salomon François Reverdil for her.[2] Struensee disliked her because she allegedly made Brandt defiant toward him, and as her spouse proved himself not useful as a politician, the Holstein couple was allowed to stay at court because of Brandt.[3]
On the night of the fall of Struensee in January 1772, Brandt danced with Holstein at the masquerade ball, and when he escorted her from the ball, he told her that he was sure that their roles could not continue much longer.[4] After the coup, her spouse was forced to resume his old post in the countryside, effectively banishing them from court once again. She gave birth to her only child in 1775 and became a widow in 1789.
References
- August Fjelstrup: Damerne ved Karoline Mathildes Hof, 1909.