Sophia Dorothea of Celle (1666-1726)

Sophia Dorothea, Electoral Princess
of Hanover, with her children,
George and Sophie
Public domain

Georg Ludwig

Georg Ludwig (George Louis), the son of Ernst August of Hanover and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, was born in 1660. He received a formal education from a governor and preceptor until 1675. He gained a good command of French and German as well as Latin, some Italian, and Dutch. However, his English was always rudimentary - even after he became king of Great Britain!

From an early age he loved riding, hunting, and all things military. He fought with his father in the Dutch War against the French in 1675 and in subsequent years. He took part in the siege of Vienna in 1683 and served with distinction in the War of the Spanish Succession. 

The bride

Ernst August planned for his son to marry Sophia Dorothea, the daughter of his elder brother, Georg Wilhelm. This marriage made it likely that on Georg Wilhelm’s death his territory of Celle would be united to Hanover.  

Sophia Dorothea was only eleven when the marriage was first proposed. She had been brought up in a very relaxed atmosphere in a happy family. Her parents had married for love and she was their only child. She was lively and confident and had a number of suitors. The Electress Sophia did not believe that she would be a suitable wife for her son. In spite of her misgivings, however, the marriage was celebrated on 22 November 1682. She was sixteen, he was twenty-two. 

By the time George left for military service to fight for the Emperor Leopold against the Turks, she was expecting a child. Their son, George August, was born on 30 October/9 November 1683. [Note: Until 1752 the British still kept to the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar in use in Europe.] Sophia Dorothea had succeeded in the main aim of the marriage – to provide a male heir. A daughter was born four years later, and became the mother of Frederick the Great.

The affair

George and Sophia Dorothea found they had little in common and were living separate lives. George’s military campaigns meant that they saw very little of each other. While he was away she enjoyed court life at Herrenhausen. When Ernst August took his court to Venice and Rome for a year, she went with him without her husband. On her return she conceived her second child, a daughter, Sophia Dorothea. She was to marry Frederick William I of Prussia and become the mother of Frederick the Great.

But by this time the marriage had begun to fall apart. Sophia Dorothea was bored with her husband. She showed her contempt for court etiquette and picked quarrels with him. At about this time George took a lover, Melusine von der Schulenburg. Their daughter was born in January 1692, the first of three. She was calm and steady – a complete contrast to Sophia Dorothea, though she was far less beautiful. 

From July 1690 Sophia Dorothea began a flirtatious relationship with Count Philip von Königsmarck, an officer in the Hanoverian army. When he came to Hanover at the end of the year, they began to meet secretly. The affair was indiscreet and was the subject of gossip. About half their correspondence has survived and their letters show that from March 1692 they were lovers. 

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck
Public domain

Both of them were warned about the dangers of their relationship but they continued to meet secretly whenever possible. Their letters show intense jealousy, and also the fear of the consequences of discovery – even though the affair was becoming common knowledge.

Sophia Dorothea was hoping to obtain a divorce from her husband. Failing that, she wished to elope. The couple were extremely indiscreet and both were watched.

Discovery

During the night of July 11 (NS) 1694  Königsmarck was seen to enter the palace and make his way to Sophia Dorothea’s apartments. It is not known whether he reached her apartments. He was killed that night, possibly accidentally, though it is more probable that it was an assassination, instigated and paid for by Georg’s father, Ernst August. 

According to one story, Königsmarck’s body was sunk in the Leine river in a sack weighted down with stones. However, the English writer, Horace Walpole (a terrible gossip!), was to hear another story – that after the accession of George II, alterations were made to his mother’s old apartments and his body was found under the floor of her dressing room, probably having been strangled.

Divorce and imprisonment

Sophia Dorothea was confined to her apartments, where a search revealed letters from Königsmarck that left no doubt that, in spite of her denials, she had committed adultery.  It was agreed that a divorce would have to be arranged and that she would be sent back to her parents in Celle. The marriage was dissolved on 28 December 1694 on the grounds not of Sophia’s adultery but of her refusal to cohabit. She did not resist the divorce but initially welcomed it.  

After the divorce she was kept under virtual house arrest in the schloss of Ahlden and was not allowed access to her children, who probably never saw their mother again. Her imprisonment was not as harsh as has been thought. She had access to financial advisers and was permitted to keep the income from her father’s land. Her mother, who very much resented the way she was treated,  moved near to Celle in order to be on hand.  However, George was now free to marry again, though he never did. 

Sophia Dorothea’s name was struck out of prayers at the Hanoverian court and all her portraits were taken down. She died in 1726. 

Conclusion

1. Sophia Dorothea was certainly treated harshly, but no more so than other German princesses in her situation. In accordance with the normal practice, she was sent back to her family. This was far less harsh than the treatment she would have been given in English law.
2. She was not the only adulterous Hanoverian princess. Her descendants, Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Caroline of Brunswick (probably!) were equally guilty.