Maria Aurora Uggla

Maria Aurora Uggla, married name Ehrengranat (1747–1826), was a Swedish lady in waiting and noble. She was the lady in waiting and confidant of the Swedish Queen, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, and later the head of the court of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf.

Maria Aurora Uggla was the daughter of nobleman Clas Fredrik Uggla and Anna Magdalena Hierta. She was appointed as a maid of honor to Sophia Magdalena upon her arrival to Sweden in 1766, and was one of the three ladies to carry the train of Sophia Magdalena in the second marriage ceremony in the Royal Palace, Stockholm, on 4 November 1766. Uggla is described as the trusted favorite and close confidant of Sophia Magdalena: otherwise very reserved and with few friends, the Queen is reported to have given Uggla her trust and followed her advice. The only other lady in waiting the queen is said to have been close to, was Virginia Charlotta Manderström.

As a person, Uggla is described as gifted and cultivated, although sometimes sharp. Maria Aurora Uggla was the star of the amateur theater of the royal court and recognized and regarded for her dramatic talent: she and Caroline Lewenhaupt are described as the primadonnas of the amateur theater of the royal court of Gustav III. Already in 1767, she is mentioned to have participated in the performance given at Ulriksdal Palace to the birthday of Sophia Magdalena. In 1774, she was ordered by the king to instruct Charlotte Eckerman in the part of Mechtild in the opera Birger jarl by Gyllenborg and Adlerbeth, after the part had been refused by Elisabeth Olin. Charlotte Eckerman made a great success in the part at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, and was called in by the audience. Prince Charles started to shout: "Miss Uggla! Miss Uggla!", after which the audience applauded also Maria Aurora Uggla in her box as well as the author Gyllenborg for having instructed Eckerman in the part.

Uggla was first considered as a messenger when the King decided to reconcile with the Queen in 1775 in order to consummate the marriage, but instead, Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila was chosen, having then a relationship with the Queen's chamber maid Anna Sofia Ramström. After the Queen gave birth to the Crown Prince in 1778, however, there were rumours that the father of the child was Munck. In a conversation with Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp in June 1778, Uggla was quoted as saying:

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