Louise von Plessen
Louise Scheel von Plessen (née komtesse Louise von Berckentin; Vienna, 26 April 1725 – Celle, 14 September 1799) was a Danish lady-in-waiting and writer.[1] She wrote the memoirs of her time at the Danish court: Mémoires de la cour de Danemark.
Life
She was the daughter of Count Christian August von Berckentin (sometimes "Berkentin"; 1694–1758), the Danish ambassador to Austria, and his spouse, Susanna Margrethe von Boineburg zu Honstein (1697–1732).[2] She spent her childhood in Vienna and with a maternal aunt at Vallø Protestant convent.
From 1740–44, she was lady-in-waiting to Christian VI's queen consort, Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. In 1744 she married politician Major Christian Sigfred Scheel von Plessen (1716, Glorup Manor – 1755). In 1761 she made an unsuccessful attempt to start a girls' school. In 1766, she was appointed head lady-in-waiting (Mistress of the Robes) of the court of the new queen, Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. She became the queen's confidante and was blamed for isolating her from her mentally ill husband because she disliked the king's friends, and she, with Ditlev Reventlow, became opposed to the king's circle which ultimately led to her exile in 1768; first to her estate, but then, as there was a fear of her influence, to Celle, Germany. Reportedly, the queen took her dismissal hard, and her immediate replacement, Charlotte Elisabeth Henriette Holstein, was not accepted - she was therefore not truly replaced Margrethe von der Lühe agreed to accept the post.
In 1771 Queen Caroline Matilda decorated Louise with her own Order of Mathilde (Mathildeordenen).
Footnotes
- ^ Bech, Sv. Cedergreen (2010). "Louise von Plessen (1725 - 1799)" (in Danish). Copenhagen: Dansk Kvindebiografisk leksikon. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- ^ "Comtesse Louise Berckentin" (in Danish). Denmark: skeel.info. April 30, 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
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