Elisabet von Eyben

Elisabet von Eyben (1745–1780), was a Danish courtier, lady in waiting to the queen consort of Denmark, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, from 1766 until 1771. She was the queen's confidante in her love affair with Johann Friedrich Struensee but was fired in 1771 because of rivalry between her and the queen about Struensee. After the fall of Struensee, von Eyben gave testimony that seriously damaged the cause of the queen during the divorce.

Elisabet von Eyben was born to the German nobles Christian August von Eyben and Sofie Marie von Hassbergen. She was raised at the Protestant convent of St. John in Slesvig from the age of one. In 1760, she was given a position at the Royal Danish court.

In 1766, she was appointed one of the ladies-in-waiting of the new queen upon the recommendation of Louise von Plessen. She was given the position of Kammerfrøken (senior maid of honour), which was the second highest rank among the ladies-in-waiting of the queen: after the senior lady in waiting Louise von Plessen in rank, and before the group of hofffroken (maid of honour).

von Eyben was reportedly an influential confidante of the queen. The letter writer Luise Gramm accused her of being a bad influence upon the queen: it was she who convinced her to ride astride in male attire and dance and flirt alongside Anna Sofie Bülow, Christine Sophie von Gähler and Johanne Marie Malleville. She had an affair with the courtier count Christian Frederik Moltke, the spouse of Ida Hedevig Moltke, who in turn had an affair with the Spanish envoy Sebastian de Llano y la Quadra.

During the absence of the king in 1768–69, there were rumors about the queen and a certain La Tour, a handsome actor and singer from the court theater Hofteatret, which employed a French language theater troupe in 1767-1773. La Tour was the lover of Elisabet von Eyben, but he was noted to receive gifts from "a higher hand" and it was said that his visits to von Eyben's chamber was in fact visits to the queen. This alleged affair is not considered to have been true, but La Tour was exiled after the return of the king, perhaps because the rumor was damaging enough in itself.

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