She was the
daughter of a Hanoverian pastor, and came to England in 1818 as governess
to the Princess Feodora of Leiningen. In her home letters she records that
'the princess received her in a pretty, childlike way,' and describes her
as 'not tall, but very pretty;' adding that she 'has dark brown hair,
beautiful blue eyes, and a mouth which, though not tiny, is very
good-tempered and pleasant; very fine teeth, a small but graceful figure,
and a very small foot. She was dressed in white muslin with a coral
necklet.' The domestic life was that of any other well-regulated and happy
family. The princess shared her governess's bedroom. They all took their
meals together at a round table. When they did not go to church, the
duchess read a sermon aloud and commented pleasantly on it. As early as
1830 Thomas Moore heard the Princess Victoria sing duets with her mother,
who also sang some pretty German songs herself.
Nor are there lacking traces of strict and chastening discipline. The
princess had been early taught that there are good habits and duties in
the management of money. When she was buying toys at Tunbridge Wells, her
wishes outran her little purse, and the box for which she could not pay
was not carried away on credit, but set aside for her to fetch away when
the next quarter-day would renew her allowance. Fraeulein Lehzen says, 'The
duchess wished that when she and the princess drove out, I should sit by
her side, and the princess at the back.
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