Anna Maria Hjärne

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Anna Maria Hjärne née Ehrensvärd (1718–1798) was a Swedish courtier who served as Chief Court Mistress to Queen Sophia Magdalena of Denmark from 1766 to 1777. She was the daughter of Johan Jacob Ehrensvärd and Anna Maria Mannerheim and, in 1739, married Count Gustaf Adolf Hjärne. Both she and her husband supported the Hats, one of the two political parties in Sweden at the time.

When the office of senior lady in waiting to the crown princess (later queen) Sophia Magdalena became permanently needed after 1766, the Hats helped appoint Hjärne. The position, however, was mainly ceremonial; her duties were largely carried out by her deputies Ernestine Palmfelt and from 1767 Charlotta Sparre. Hjärne’s appointment was acceptable because she was a riksrådinna (wife of a member of the Council of the Realm), but Axel von Fersen the Elder thought she lacked the right character and French language skills for the role.

Publicly, Sophia Magdalena, who had Caps support, clashed with her mother-in-law Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, a Hat supporter. Hjärne, a Hat sympathizer, was said to slander and spread rumors about the queen. A satirical fable in 1771, The She Fox and The Turtle Dove, was seen as a Caps-led attack on Sophia Magdalena, with Hjärne and the nobility cast as the Foxes.

During the Revolution of 1772, Sophia Magdalena confided in Hjärne that she feared the king might divorce her for pro-Danish plots and alleged adultery with riksråd Fredrik Ribbing and the Danish envoy. King Gustav III discussed divorce with Axel von Fersen the Elder, while Ribbing’s flattery of the queen and the supposed mockery of Hjärne by Ribbing fed the rumors. Ulrika Strömberg was asked to investigate, but the evidence was weak. Fersen advised against divorce, noting only the queen’s pleasure in compliments and Danish maids as insufficient proof.

In 1775 the marriage was consummated with help from Adolf Fredrik Munck, and the king apologized to the queen for believing Hjärne’s story. Anna Maria Hjärne remained in her post until 1777, when she was replaced by Ulrika Strömfelt.