The princess and the politicians

John Charmley

Princess Dorothea Lieven was wife to the Russian ambassador in London from 1812 to 1840. As a woman, she was debarred from having any formal power in the world of European diplomacy. But as a Baltic Russian, brought up under the harsh regime of Catherine the Great, Dorothea Lieven was not meant to be the power behind any man: it was centre stage she craved.