now found difficult to endure. She never forgave her former friend Lord Palmerston, whose intransigence over what should have been a minor diplomatic row concerning the choice of the new British Ambassador to Russia, was largely responsible for the tsar's decision to recall her husband. Soon after the Lievens returned to Russia, their two youngest sons suddenly died. This tragedy and her declining health caused the princess to leave her native land and settle in Paris against the wishes of her husband and the tsar. She never saw her husband again, but she was genuinely grieved when he died in January 1839. Paris and Guizot In a city where salons served a unique social and political purpose, Princess Lieven's salon, known as "the listening/observation post of Europe", empowered her to be an independent stateswoman. In 1837 she and François Guizot entered into a close personal partnership that lasted until the princess's death and included exchanging over 5000 letters; he has been called the greatest, and perhaps only true, love of her life. During the Crimean War (1854–1856), Princess Lieven acted as an informal and trusted conduit between the belligerents. Much to her annoyance, all Russians were ordered to leave France at the outbreak of war, and she settled for a time in Brussels, which she detested. Eventually, she found life there so tedious that she returned to Paris without permission, and the Russian government sensibly let the matter lie. Death Dorothea Lieven died peacefully at her home, 2 rue Saint-Florentin, Paris, aged 71, on 27 January 1857, with Guizot and Paul Lieven, one of her two surviving sons, beside her. She was buried, according to her wish, at the Lieven family estate of Mesothen (near Mitau) next to her two young sons who had died in St. Petersburg. Legacy Princess Lieven "succeeded in inspiring a confidence" with prominent men "until now unknown in the annals of England", wrote Russian foreign minister Count Nesselrode. Her friendships with King George IV, Prince Metternich, Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Wellington, George Canning, Count Nesselrode, Lord Grey, and François Guizot gave Dorothea Lieven the opportunity to exercise authority in the diplomatic councils of Great Britain, France, and Russia. She was a political force, a position reached by few other contemporary females. The princess participated, either directly or indirectly, in a large number of major diplomatic events between 1812 and 1857. She knew "everyone in