Karen Sehested
Karen Sehested (1606-1672) was a Danish court official. She served as principal lady-in-waiting and royal governess for the children of king Christian IV of Denmark and Kirsten Munk from 1631 to 1634. She is portrayed in the famous memoirs of Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Jammers Minde. She was fired by the king for abusing the royal children.
Karen Sehested was the daughter of nobleman Claus Maltesen Sehested (1558–1612) and Anne Nielsdatter Lykke (1568–1645) and sister of Hannibal Sehested and Malte Sehested. She married Tyge Kruse of Stenalt (1604-1629) in 1628 and Jørgen Seefeld of Visborg (1606-1666) in 1641. In 1631 she was made governess of the king's morganatic children. The task was difficult because of the stormy morganatic marriage. She was fired by the king since his children had complained about her extreme severity and physical discipline. Her later relationship to king Frederick II of Denmark, one of her former wards, was however a good one. The same year, she became the foster mother of her nephew, general major Niels Juel.