Chief Court Mistress


Court Mistress or Chief Court Mistress is or was the title of the senior lady-in-waiting in the courts of Austria, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Imperial Russia, and the German princely and royal courts.

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

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 from 1694/98 onward named Overhofmesterinde, equivalent to the Mistress of the Robes, normally an elder widow, who supervised the rest of the ladies-in-waiting.
When the office was vacant the tasks were taken over by the second in command, the kammarfröken. This was also the case when the office of hofmesterinde to the queen was left vacant in 1808–23 and 1839–45, and was handled by Friederiche Amalie Marie Hedevig von der Manfe and Marie Ernestine Wilhelmine von Walterstorf respectively.

Chief Court Mistress to [Christina of Saxony], 1481–1513

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 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 the queens of Prussia and empresses of Germany:

Chief Court Mistress to [Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin] 1708–1713

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

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, was named hofmesterees 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.

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 [Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp], 1814–1818

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

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 Kirstine von Blixen-Finecke, who has served from 2016.
The title and position have changed over time. Before the reign of Queen Christina, the title was generally referred to as hovmästarinna, but during and after the reign of Christina, it became the custom to have two such Court mistresses subordinate to one överhovmästarinna. Only the Queen and the Queen Dowager had a Chief Court Mistress called överhovmästarinna while the equivalent at the courts of other female members of the royal house was called hovmästarinna.
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

During the reign of Christina, the office was often shared by several people.