Chief Court Mistress

Austria

In 1619, a set organisation was finally established for the Austrian Imperial court which came to be the characteristic organisation of the Austrian-Habsburg court roughly kept from this point onward. The first rank of the female courtiers was the Obersthofmeisterin, who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers. Whenever absent, she was replaced by the Fräuleinhofmeisterin, normally in charge of the unmarried female courtiers, their conduct and service.

Chief Court Mistress to Anna of Tyrol, 1608-1618

Chief Court Mistress to Eleonora Gonzaga, 1622-1658

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Anna of Spain, 1631-1646

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Leopoldine of Austria, 1648-1649

Chief Court Mistress to Eleonora Gonzaga, 1651-1686

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Theresa of Austria, 1740-1780

Chief Court Mistress to Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1854-1898

Denmark

The early modern Danish court was organized according to the German court model, in turn inspired by the Imperial Austrian court model, from the 16th century onward.

The highest rank female courtier to a female royal was the hofmesterinde (Court Mistress) from 1694/98 onward named Overhofmesterinde (Chief Court Mistres), equivalent to the Mistress of the Robes, normally an elder widow, who supervised the rest of the ladies-in-waiting.

Chief Court Mistress to Christina of Saxony, 1481–1513

Chief Court Mistress to Isabella of Austria, 1515–1523

Chief Court Mistress to Sophie of Pomerania, 1523–1533

Chief Court Mistress to Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow 1572–1631

Chief Court Mistress to Anne Catherine of Brandenburg 1597–1612

Chief Court Mistress to Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1648–1685

Chief Court Mistress to Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel 1670–1714

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow 1699–1721

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of Great Britain 1746–1751

Chief Court Mistress to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1752–1796

Chief Court Mistress to Caroline Matilda of Great Britain 1766–1775

Chief Court Mistress to Marie of Hesse-Kassel 1808–1852

Chief Court Mistress to Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg 1839–1881

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of Hesse-Kassel 1863–1898

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of Sweden 1906–1926

Chief Court Mistress to Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1912–1952

Germany

The Austrian court model was the role model for the princely courts in Germany, and the post of Obersthofmeisterin, or only hofmeisterin, existed in the princely (and later royal) German courts as well.

The German court model in turn became the role model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark and Sweden.

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1793-1810

Chief Court Mistress to Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria 1840–1873

Chief Court Mistress to Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein 1888–1918

The Netherlands

In the 16th-century, the principal lady-in-waiting in the courts of the Habsburg governors of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands), was named hofmesterees ('Court mistress') or dame d'honneur.

The principal female office holder in the royal court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the 19th-century was named Grootmeesteres ('Grand Mistress').

Norway

During the union of Sweden-Norway in 1814–1905, Sweden and Norway shared the same royal family. At that time, there were two Chief Court Mistress for the same queen: one as Queen of Sweden at the Swedish royal court when she lived in Sweden, and a separate Chief Court Mistress as Queen of Norway at the Norwegian royal court, who served in her post during the visits of the Swedish-Norwegian royal family to Norway.

Presently, the overhoffmesterinne in Norway acts as a vice hostess at the Norwegian royal court when the queen and the other female members of the royal family are absent.

Chief Court Mistress to Désirée Clary, 1823–1861

Chief Court Mistress to Josephine of Leuchtenberg, 1844–1876

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of the Netherlands, 1859–1871

Chief Court Mistress to Sophia of Nassau, 1872–1905

Chief Court Mistress to Maud of Wales, 1905–1938

Russia

In 1722, the Russian Imperial court was reorganized in accordance with the reforms of Peter the Great to Westernize Russia, and the old court offices of the Tsarina was replaced with court offices inspired by the German model. Accordingly, the new principal lady in waiting of the Russian empress was named Ober-Hofmeisterin.

Chief Court Mistress to Catherine I of Russia 1713–1725

Chief Court Mistress to Elizabeth of Russia 1741–1762

Chief Court Mistress to Catherine I of Russia 1762–1796

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse and by Rhine) 1855–1880

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) 1881–1917

Chief Court Mistress to Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse) 1894–1917

Sweden

In Sweden, the Chief Court Mistress is the second highest-ranking official of the royal household, preceded only by the Marshal of the Realm. She ranks immediately below the members of the royal family, the speaker of the Parliament and the prime minister, and has precedence over former speakers of the Parliament and former prime ministers. The incumbent is Countess Alice Trolle-Wachtmeister, who has served since 1994.

The title and position have changed over time. Before the reign of Queen Christina (1632–1654), the title was generally referred to as hovmästarinna (Court Mistress), but during and after the reign of Christina, it became the custom to have two such Court mistresses subordinate to one överhovmästarinna (Chief Court Mistress). Only the Queen and the Queen Dowager had a Chief Court Mistress called överhovmästarinna (the Chief Court Mistress) while the equivalent at the courts of other female members of the royal house was called hovmästarinna (Court Mistress).

The position was the highest a female courtier could have in the Swedish royal court, and the överhovmästarinna was ranked an Excellency, something unusual for a woman in the 17th century, which placed her immediately after the female members of the royal house in rank. Her role was to uphold etiquette at court, and receive and carry out the instructions of the Queen in the management of the court. She managed the employment of new members to the court of the Queen, and every meeting and letter to the Queen passed through her. She also managed the ceremony of the court presentation, in which nobles were presented to the royal family and thus allowed to show themselves officially at court. She could also represent the Queen on some occasions at court ceremonies and parties as hostess.

Chief Court Mistress to Catherine Stenbock 1552–1621

Chief Court Mistress to Karin Månsdotter 1567–1568

Chief Court Mistress to Catherine Jagellon 1568–1583

Chief Court Mistress to Gunilla Bielke 1585–1597

Chief Court Mistress to Christina of Holstein-Gottorp 1604–1625

Chief Court Mistress to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg 1620–1655

Chief Court Mistress to Christina 1632–1654

Chief Court Mistress to Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, 1654–1715

Chief Court Mistress to Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, 1680–1693

Chief Court Mistress to Ulrika Eleonora 1718–1741

Chief Court Mistress to Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, 1751–1782

Chief Court Mistress to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, 1771–1813

Chief Court Mistress to Frederica of Baden, 1797–1809

Chief Court Mistress to Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, 1809–1818

Chief Court Mistresss to Désirée Clary, 1823–1861

Chief Court Mistress to Josephine of Leuchtenberg, 1844–1876

Chief Court Mistress to Louise of the Netherlands, 1859–1872

Chief Court Mistress to Sophia of Nassau, 1872–1907

Chief Court Mistress to Victoria of Baden, 1907–1931