His wife, the Countess, took this photo when they received American Governess, my book about my year as a governess in their castle in 1961. Carl’s father, Christophe, was 12 years old then, the oldest of five children I helped care for and taught English to.
Before I came, the family had British governesses, but Countess Elisabet, Carl’s grandmother, wanted an American girl. She was tired of the formal reserve of British girls, and thought an American would not be so intimidated by the thought of nobility, and would be able to relax with the family. She was right. She and I felt as close as sisters by the end of the year.
Read about all my adventures in American Governess; My Year in a Bavarian Castle!
Ann Dickinson Sargent 