Augusta von Fersen

Augusta von Fersen
Augusta von Fersen by Amalia Lindegren in 1844, at the age of 90.
Born	Christina Augusta von Fersen 10 March 1754 Sweden
Died	8 April 1846 (1846-04-09) (aged 92) Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Other names	Augusta Löwenhielm
Occupation	lady in waiting
Known for	Her relationship to Charles XIII of Sweden; for being one of "The tree graces", for her love life, and as a source of inspiration in culture and literature

Christina Augusta Löwenhielm née von Fersen (10 March 1754 – 8 April 1846), was a Swedish countess and courtier. She is known for her love affair with the later Charles XIII of Sweden. She is also famous in history as one of "the three graces" of the Gustavian age; three ladies-in-waiting (Augusta von Fersen, Ulla von Höpken and Louise Meijerfeldt) immortalized in the poem Gracernas döpelse by Johan Henric Kellgren, and known profiles of the epoch.

Augusta von Fersen was one of six daughters of the royal Crown Forester count Carl Reinhold von Fersen and the lady-in-waiting Charlotta Sparre. She was as such also the niece of Axel von Fersen the Elder, a leading force within the Caps, and the cousin of the famous Count Axel von Fersen the Younger. Her father was described as "one of the most elegant and spirited gentlemen of his time", and her mother was celebrated for her beauty at the French royal court of Versailles, when she accompanied her aunt and uncle by marriage, Ulla Tessin and the Swedish ambassador to France count Carl Gustaf Tessin, to France.

Both her parents spent their life in service at the royal Swedish court, and Augusta von Fersen, as well as her sisters, served as hovfröken (maid of honour) prior to her marriage. In December 1770, she married count Fredrik Adolf Löwenhielm (1743-1810). After their wedding, the couple settled in the country estate of her spouse for a while. They had one son.

During the 1771 winter social season in Stockholm, Augusta Löwenhielm was courted by prince Charles, who had recently returned to Sweden after having been sent abroad to separate him from Brita Horn. Prince Charles reportedly fell in love with her, she eventually reciprocated, and the relationship that followed has been described as "the most serious and tender in his [Charles'] erotic chronicle". The couple had a son, Carl Axel Löwenhielm. The relationship was well known as accepted, but she was not an official royal mistress; the relationship was rather treated as equal to the other extramarital love affairs which was at that time accepted in the circles of the nobility and royal court.