WEBVTT - The Princess Imprisoned in her Celle 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:05.200 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:10.040 and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hi, this 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.960 is Dana. Thank you so much for listening to Noble Blood. 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.000 Just a quick personal note. If you want to support 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:20.040 the show, you can subscribe on Patreon by some merch 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.600 or buy a copy of my book Anatomy, A Love Story, 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.680 which is a novel about nineteenth century historical surgery. All 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.560 of those have links in the bio, but of course, 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.880 as always, the best possible support is just that you 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:36.959 listen to the show. So thank you so much, And 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.400 a brief warning before we begin. This episode contains some 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:44.159 domestic violence, so if that's specifically triggering to you, you 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:55.480 might want to skip this episode. Seventeenth century princesses had 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:00.360 childhoods that, as this podcast has shown, have veered at 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.720 best lonely, at worst tragic, but Sophia Dorothea of Cell 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:10.959 had a remarkably idyllic childhood. As an only child, Sofia 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.319 Dorothea was doated on by her parents, the Duke and 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:19.280 Duchess of Brunswick Lundberg, who unusually for the time, had 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:24.520 married for love. Little Sophia Dorothea wanted for nothing. Her parents' 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.800 wealth and affection for her meant that she simply had 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.959 to ask for something and she would receive it. She 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:36.000 was a happy, vivacious child who inherited her mother's shining 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:40.640 brown eyes and glossy dark hair. From the windows of 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.600 her bedroom in her family's castle, Sofia Dorothea could look 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.840 out at the lime trees surrounding the moat, or she 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.880 could trace her fingers over the carved cupids that supported 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:57.800 her mantlepiece. Life was sunny for Sophia Dorothea, but she 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:02.840 was a seventeenth century prince, and like any other seventeenth 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:07.640 century princess, Sophia Dorothea's life was not her own. No 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.720 matter the love that her parents had for her, they 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:16.359 had larger political and familial obligations, and so when an 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:21.600 opportunity presented itself in the form of a strategic betrothal, 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.400 an opportunity for a year's long feud to be ended 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.919 for the family line to be strengthened, her parents took 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:35.680 the opportunity, even though the price was their beloved daughter's happiness, 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.560 and like many other political engagements, it would lead to 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:47.119 great sorrow and not just sorrow but scandal. The marriage 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.240 of Sophia Dorothea and her husband George Lewis would be 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:58.600 marked by betrayals, punishment, and finally murder. Forty years after 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.640 their marriage, the two spouses would find themselves in vastly 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:07.239 different positions. One would sit on the throne of England 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:12.480 while the other would die alone after decades of imprisonment. 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:28.519 I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The series 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:32.320 of strange events that would eventually lead to the unhappy 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:37.040 engagement of Sophia Dorothea to her cousin George Louis, actually 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.480 began with the death of a man named Frederick, Duke 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:45.120 of Brunswick Lundberg, in sixteen forty eight, nearly twenty years 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:49.920 before Sophia Dorothea was even born. Now for your brief 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:54.880 European history geography lesson. At that time, the Duchy of 0:03:54.920 --> 0:04:00.200 Brunswick Lundberg consisted of two principalities situated in the north 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.720 of what is now Germany. Throughout the course of the 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:08.360 seventeenth and then early eighteenth centuries, these principalities would be 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.040 known by a number of different names, but to keep 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.680 things simple, I'll refer to them as Hanover and Sell, 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.120 as they were commonly known around the end of the 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.919 seventeenth century after their capital cities. When Frederick died, he 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:27.320 had ruled Cell, the wealthier of the two principalities. Dying childless, 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:31.479 he bequeathed the title to his nephew, Christian Ludwig, who 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:36.120 was already ruling the principality of Hanover. Christian Ludwig was 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.560 happy to take the promotion of ruling Cell, and so 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:44.880 he passed Hanover to his younger brother, Georg Wilhelm. Georg 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.839 Wilhelm is Sophia Dorothea's father, but will get to that later. 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.920 The responsibilities of ruling and the monotony of court life 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:59.800 chafed against Georg Wilhelm's fun, loving, adventurous spirit. He left 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:04.520 Hanover as often as possible, traveling around Europe and spending 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.720 time in Italy and France with his younger brother Ernst August. 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.400 His court was not amused, and they wished that their 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.240 dilettante prince would settle down and maybe bar an air 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:21.760 or two. Eventually, Hanoverian court officials threatened to cut back 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.840 Gaeorg Wilhelm's allowance if he did not marry. They even 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.680 suggested a suitable bride, Princess Sophia of the Palatine. I 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.479 know there are a ton of Georgia's and Gaeorgs and 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:37.960 Sophia's in this episode. This isn't our Sophia Dorothea yet. 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.560 We're still on backstory, but it is important, I promise. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.120 Twenty eight year old Princess Sophia of the Palatine came 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.599 from a noble and well connected family. She was a 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.880 granddaughter of King James of England, but her family's fortunes 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.559 had suffered during the Thirty Years War and a number 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.800 of matches for Sophia had fallen through Before Gayorg Wilhelm's 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.680 offer came through. She eagerly accepted, but Gayorg himself was 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.120 having doubts. He had no wish to be tied down 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.039 to a woman he didn't love, nor to be tied 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.920 down to a court he found boring and provincial. Returning 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.840 to Venice for one last pre wedding trip in sixteen 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:25.240 fifty eight, he thought over his situation and he arrived 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:29.400 at an unorthodox solution. He would get his younger brother, 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:34.679 the penniless Ernst August, to be his substitute. After all, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.000 one brother could provide an air just as well as another. 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.560 As a younger brother, Ernst August was all too happy 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.000 to take the deal. The brothers drew up a deed 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:50.960 in exchange for financial compensation, Ernst August would take over 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:56.080 Gayiorg Wilhelm's princely duties, and he would marry Sophia in 0:06:56.160 --> 0:07:00.279 his stead. Gayorg Wilhelm additionally swore that he would would 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.360 never marry, meaning that he would never have legitimate children 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.480 who could inherit his estates or titles. All of that 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:13.840 would instead go to Ernst August and Sophia's family. Sophia 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:17.120 was given no input on the decision, but when the 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:21.400 new arrangement was presented to her, she agreed no doubt, 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:25.560 hiding her resentment at being traded like an object for 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.400 the sake of her future children's inheritance. It would not 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.680 be the last time that she would have to make 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.840 such sacrifices. But with this little problem settled, gayor G 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.040 Wilhelm was free to return to his beloved role of 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:47.360 seventeenth century international playboy. Sophia and Ernst August, conversely, lived 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:51.920 a simpler life, welcoming their first child, George Louis, in 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.880 sixteen sixty. The couple was actually well matched. Both were 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:01.600 highly ambitious, cultured, and intelligence, and they quickly began to 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.880 work together to secure a more prestigious position for their 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.960 young family than the somewhat modest principality of Hanover. As 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.760 a note, I know there are many Georges and Gayorg's 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.920 in this story. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:22.520 to Georg Wilhelm, Sophia Dorothea's father by his German name. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:27.000 For Sophia in Ernst Auguste's young son, who was technically 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.640 born Georg Ludwig, I'll use his English name, by which 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:35.920 he's most well known today, George Lewis. Sometime in the 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:41.400 sixteen sixties man about town, Georg Wilhelm met a beautiful 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:47.920 French noblewoman named Eleanor Delbrue. Eleanor's Protestant family had recently 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:52.120 been expelled from France during the prosecution of the Huguenots, 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.320 and they were now reliant on the generosity of their 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.320 wealthy noble friends abroad. It was in the home of 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.600 one of those wealthy friends that Georg Wilhelm and Eleanor 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:08.720 first met. For geiorg Gwilhelm. It was love at first sight. Eleanor, 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:11.920 ware that a good marriage was her only chance to 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:17.400 regain financial and social security, refused to become his mistress, 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.520 even though she romantically fell for the prince as well. 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.439 But because of the whole no marriage, no legitimate children 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.720 agreements that Geyiorg Wilhelm had signed with his younger brother, 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:34.320 he legally couldn't marry her. Eleanor was reluctant to accept 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.439 anything less than marriage, but she did love Geiorg Wilhelm, 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.520 and she hoped to create a happy life with him. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.280 In the fall of sixteen sixty five, the couple returned 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:49.920 to settle and sell, which Geiorg Wilhelm had inherited that spring, 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.640 and the two signed a document pledging their fidelity to 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.880 one another, a marriage in spirits but not in the 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.920 eyes of the law. Thus, when the couple's first child, 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:05.520 Sophia Dorothea, was born on September fifteenth, sixteen sixty six, 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:10.640 she was technically illegitimate, the child of unwed parents, but 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:14.520 her parents were determined to ensure that her status didn't 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.800 dictate the course of her life. From the moment of 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.200 her birth, they demanded that she be treated as heiress 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:28.320 of Cell, even if technically she wasn't. Gaeor. Wilhelm and 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.280 Eleanor adored their daughter, who would be their only child. 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:37.360 They also began the lengthy, politically delicate process of trying 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:41.120 to legitimize her. They began with a campaign to the 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.360 Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, the first, sending letters to him 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:49.040 full of praise and providing troops for his various campaigns 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:53.160 whenever he needed them, and lo and behold, it worked. 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.960 Leopold became increasingly friendly with the couple, even referring to 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:03.280 Eleanor by the title Duchess Over in Hanover. Younger brother, 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:07.160 Ernst August and his wife Sophia, were a little worried 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:12.880 by these developments. Cell was an enormously wealthy principality, and 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:17.840 the Hanovers worried that should Sophia Dorothea become legitimate, she 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:22.640 would inherit Cell and then possibly claim and win control 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:27.319 over their territory. They grew even more concerned as Georg 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.320 Wilhelm began buying up property and gifting it to his 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:36.400 quote unquote wife and daughter, giving them status and wealth 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:41.240 in their own right. Ernst August, always money minded, was 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.400 mad that his brother had begun to channel wealth away 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.360 from him. He was supposed to be his older brother's heir, 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:51.239 that was the whole point of marrying in his stead. Sophia, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.240 the wife that Ernst August had married in his stead, 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:58.960 though a sharply intelligent and cultured woman, was a stickler 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.800 for etiquette, and she found it insulting that the unmarried 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.880 mother of her niece, a nobody, a woman that she 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.720 regularly referred to as a clot of dirt, could possibly 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:15.600 be gaining power and prestige that Sophia, herself, granddaughter of 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:20.000 a king, felt she truly deserved. It was the beginning 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.640 of a long period of tension between the two couples, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.680 a tension that grew alongside the fortune and status of 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:33.480 little Sophia Dorothea. In July sixteen seventy four, when Sophia 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:38.440 Dorothea was eight, the Emperor officially legitimized her and granted 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:42.000 both her and her mother the title of Countess of 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:48.320 Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Following further machinations, Sophia Dorothea was made 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:52.959 a princess and the formal heir of Cell. The Hanovers, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.040 realizing the danger that their legacy was in hurried to 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.720 renegotiate the contract that the two brothers had signed in 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:05.079 sixteen fifty eight. This new contract allowed for the marriage 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.240 of Gayorg, Wilhelm and Eleanor and for the rights of 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.280 inheritance of Sophia Dorothea, though it denied those rights to 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.680 any future children who might be born to Gayorg, Wilhelm 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.840 and Eleanor, a compromise granted for Ernest August and Sophia. 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:25.319 The negotiations over this new document had been contentious, and 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.920 by the time all was resolved in the summer of 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.880 sixteen seventy six, the two couples were barely speaking to 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:36.600 one another. Things continued that way until sixteen eighty two. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:41.080 Sophia Dorothea grew up in the loving, carefree home created 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.679 by her adoring parents, indulged in all ways a free spirited, 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.120 outdoing young woman, Her parents pursued an alliance with another 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:54.839 branch of the Brunswick family, the Brunswick Wolfenbuttels, while Ernst 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:59.320 August and Sophia schemed to regain the inheritance they felt 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.719 they had lost, installing spies in the Court Etsel. It 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.240 was one of these spies in September of sixteen eighty two, 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:12.640 who delivered the devastating news to the Hanovers. Sophia Dorothea 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.480 was to be betrothed to August Wilhelm, the heir to 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:23.720 Brunswick Wolfenfuddel. An alliance between those two families would spell 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.680 certain doom for the Hanover's ambitions. It would push them 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.000 completely to the side. The combined wealth and political power 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.080 of the new young couple would mean they would occupy 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:39.200 the prominent place in German society that Ernst August and 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.960 Sophia felt should be theirs. They had to do something, 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.880 and what could be a more royal solution than a 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:53.120 strategic betrothal to their own child, George Lewis. George Lewis, 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:57.120 the Hanover's eldest son, was only six years older than 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:01.960 Sophia Dorothea and still single, following a bungled attempt at 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.440 wooing the English Princess Anne. If George Louis and Sophia 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:11.040 Dorothea Mary, Ernst August and Sophia could secure their family 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.960 line and all the resources of Cell, there was the 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:19.400 problem of status. Of course, Sophia had spent nearly twenty 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.920 years disparaging Eleanor and Sophia Dorothea as commoners, but she 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.040 swallowed her pride and traveled to Sell to sell Gayorg 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:32.680 Wilhelm on the plan. Gaeorg Wilhelm had never been too 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.720 happy with the proposed engagement to August of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.880 and he had grown increasingly tired of the animosity between 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.479 his wife and sister in law. He hated being estranged 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.320 from his brother, and so it didn't take much on 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:51.480 Sophia's part to convince him that this engagement was what 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:56.280 was best for their families. Eleanor, however, was another story. 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:00.680 She pleaded with Gayorg Wilhelm not to sacrifice their precious 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.600 daughter to the snobbish court of the Hanovers, not to 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.720 bind their beloved child to a young prince who was 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:12.240 said to be awkward and obtuse. But Gaeorg Wilhelm, who 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:16.240 had rejected the Hanover court himself and then spent a 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:20.120 lifetime defying the duties bestowed on him by noble birth, 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:25.000 finally felt that he must bend to obligation, and he 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:30.920 insisted resigned. Eleanor went to Sophia Dorothea's room to break 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:35.640 the news to her daughter. Sophia Dorothea did not take 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.480 it well. She was accustomed to a level of control 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:44.360 in her life. Now, in one swift move, her independence 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.760 had been taken from her in the worst way imaginable, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:52.720 through betrothal to a cousin she had been raised to revile. 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:58.200 She was inconsolable, sobbing on her bed as Eleanor held her. 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.680 When her father entered, he nervously presented her with a 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:07.000 birthday present from her estranged aunt. It was a miniature 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:12.080 of George Louis, framed in jewels. Sophia Dorothea threw the 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:17.560 portrait against the wall, sending diamonds flying. At her birthday 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.560 banquet that evening, she hid her tear stained face as 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:27.240 the engagement was formally announced. As courtiers congratulated her, she 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.560 kept her eyes downcast and did all that she could 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:35.000 to hold sobs at bay. Spending time with her future 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:39.359 husband did not reassure her. The two heartily could have 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:44.800 been more different. Sophia Dorothea was vivacious, sharp tongued, pampered 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:50.119 and affectionate. She was a skilled dancer and sparkling conversationalist, 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:55.280 prone to flight to fancy. George Louis preferred the battlefield 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.760 to the ball room. He was a courageous soldier with 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:04.240 a practical mind, but a somewhat unimaginative man, deeply concerned 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:09.639 with propriety and duty. As the boy's mother, Sophia herself 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:14.040 put it somewhat hyperbolically that her niece would find in 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:18.800 George Louis, quote, the most pig headed, stubborn boy who 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.840 ever lived, who has round his brains such a thick 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.639 crust that I defy any man or woman ever to 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:32.560 discover what is in them nothing like motherly love. Not 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.200 only was the marriage not a love match, it also 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:40.119 stripped Sophia Dorothea of everything her parents had given her 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:44.280 over her young life. George Louis would receive one hundred 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.520 thousand dollars a year for her dowry, an enormous son, 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:53.280 as well as all of Sophia Dorothea's estates. Sophia Dorothea 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.600 would receive an allowance, but it would be controlled by 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.960 her husband and future in laws. She would have nothing 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.680 to call her own, but there was nothing she could do, 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.919 and so Sophia Dorothea and George Louis were married at 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.480 the chapel at the Castle of Cell on November twenty first, 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:18.000 sixteen eighty two. It was a gloomy, chill morning and 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:23.560 wind racked the castle walls. It was an inauspicious beginning 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:29.520 to the marriage, and things would only get worse. The 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:33.800 early days of Sophia Dorothea and George Louise's marriage were 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:38.040 the best days. Sophia Dorothea quickly charmed the people of 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:42.359 Hanover with her personality and beauty, and even her haughty 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.200 mother in law began to feel more kindly about her. 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:50.280 The court of Hanover was modeled after Versailles buildings, and 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:55.560 courtiers alike dripped with diamonds, bowls lasted until the wee hours, 0:19:55.760 --> 0:20:01.080 and women dressed in the latest most fashionable styles. Sofia Dorothea, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.040 with her love for fashion and her natural exuberance, shone. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:08.760 But like the real Versailles, it was also a highly 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:14.399 regimented environment steeped in protocol, and Sofia Dorothea, raised in 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:19.240 the much more casual environment itself, frequently stumbled over the 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:24.440 seemingly meaningless rules of court etiquette, prompting mockery behind her back. 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:29.159 But the greatest struggles in these early days were loneliness 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:33.840 and boredom. Each day followed the same routine. Mornings spent 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:37.119 in bed, writing letters or in the garden, taking a walk, 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:41.320 dress for lunch a very formal affair, a nap, a 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.359 visit with other ladies of the court, dress for supper, eat, 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:49.560 then play cards or perhaps dance, and retire to bed, 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:55.000 day after day after day. At most hours, the vibrant 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.639 young princess, trapped by the rituals of court, could be 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:02.800 found cloistered in her apartments, with only one true friend 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.760 by her side, the one lady in waiting who had 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:11.320 accompanied her from cell. On October thirtieth, sixteen eighty three, 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:15.040 seventeen year old Sophia Dorothea gave birth to a son, 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:21.040 George Augustus. The family was overjoyed. Their line was secure. 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:25.640 Sophia Dorothea too was delighted. She adored her baby, and 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:29.000 his birth meant that she had fulfilled her wifely duties. 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:33.680 Slowly she began to gain some freedom. Finally she was 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.440 allowed to travel to Sell. She began spending more time 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:41.200 with her own beloved parents. Her in law softened even 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.200 further toward her, as did George Louis. Their son gave 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.760 them for once a common interest and something to talk about, 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.960 but their connection would not have time to develop. George 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.879 Louis was keen to continue his military success and win 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.600 acclaim for Hanover, and so he spent most of sixteen 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:04.760 eighty four and sixteen eighty five on military campaigns. When 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:09.679 he returned to Hanover, the couple bickered frequently. George Louis 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:13.480 admonished his wife for being disrespectful of the court's customs, 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:17.800 while Sophia Dorothea accused her husband of being a priggish 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.879 stick in the mud. She felt neglected, he felt haraigned. 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:26.840 The arguments worsened, became louder and more public, but the 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:30.800 couple still managed to conceive another child, a daughter they 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:35.280 named Sophia Dorothea, who was born in March sixteen eighty seven. 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:40.960 Sorry again for the confusing name repetition. The older mother, 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:45.720 Sophia Dorothea, adored her children, finding in them an escape 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:48.800 from the dramatic intrigues of the court that bored her 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:53.959 so much. Throughout his marriage, George Louis had had affairs, 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:59.679 but never anything particularly serious, but that changed when he 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:03.879 met Melissine van der Schlewenberg, the woman he would spend 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.000 the rest of his life with However, unofficially, though Sophia 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:12.360 Dorothea didn't love her husband, she was devastated by how 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:16.400 public the affair was. George Louis began to take Melosine 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:19.280 to dinner as his companion, or she would show off 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:23.560 the luxurious dresses and radiant jewels that her lover had 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:29.120 gifted her. Humiliated, Sophia Dorothea wrote letters to her parents 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.320 about the situation. Her mother was sympathetic, her father was 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:37.680 less so, writing that she must simply accept her lot 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:41.920 with a brave face. The young princess, now only twenty four, 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:46.200 felt more alone than ever, and that's when she met 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:52.400 Count Philip von Koenigsmark, or rather she re met him. Koenigsmark, 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:56.960 a dapper, dashing Swedish nobleman, had in fact come into 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:59.840 her life once before, when he had gone to Sell 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:03.560 as a preteen to receive military training. The two had 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:07.280 actually been friends then, and years later, seeing him at 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:11.840 a festival in Handover, Sofia Dorothea was delighted to reminisce 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:15.480 about the happy days of their childhood. But that reunion 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:19.200 was brief and relatively uneventful, and they did not see 0:24:19.280 --> 0:24:22.440 much of one another. For the next year, as Koenigsmark 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:26.720 tried to establish himself at court and while Sofia Dorothea 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:31.280 tried to repair her marriage. In those two missions, Koenigsmark 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:35.520 was more successful than she was. While Koenigsmark dazzled the 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:40.280 nobility with stories of his travels, Sophia Dorothea's attempts to 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.920 win back George Louis just seemed to drive the two 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:47.760 further apart. The married couple would sometimes not see each 0:24:47.760 --> 0:24:54.200 other for weeks. He practically lived with his mistress Melasine. 0:24:54.840 --> 0:24:58.760 In sixteen eighty eight, George and Sophia Dorothea had a 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:03.600 vicious argument. It's alleged that George Louis was physically abusive 0:25:03.680 --> 0:25:07.879 towards her. The situation was so bad that even Sophia, 0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:12.159 who had never been Sophia Dorothea's champion, intervened on her 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.359 daughter in law's behalf, taking her and her children to 0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:20.560 their family's country residents to restore her spirits while reprimanding 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:25.120 her own son George Louis so forcefully that he reluctantly 0:25:25.240 --> 0:25:28.480 began to spend more time with his wife. It was 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:33.720 then that Koenigsmark re entered Sophia Dorothea's life. He had 0:25:33.760 --> 0:25:36.720 been in and out of Hanover over the past year, 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:40.080 but he had decided to purchase a large estate nearby 0:25:40.280 --> 0:25:43.680 and settle for a time in the region. His wealth 0:25:43.760 --> 0:25:46.840 and charisma had won him acclaim, and he had quickly 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:51.720 been accepted into the highest echalons of Hanoverian society. Some 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:55.080 of his closest friends were Sophia Dorothea's brothers in law, 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:58.600 the young Princes, and it was through them that Koenigsmark 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:02.200 came back into the present of the Princess. They were 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:07.200 only friends at first, brought together by their inherent similarities. 0:26:07.600 --> 0:26:11.720 In Koenig's Mark, Sophia Dorothea found the opposite of her 0:26:11.760 --> 0:26:17.040 staid husband. She discovered a man who matched her in liveliness, humor, 0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:21.800 and impulsivity. The two shared a love for life and 0:26:22.280 --> 0:26:26.359 a disregard for rules that made their time together exhilarating 0:26:26.840 --> 0:26:30.639 but also dangerous. Once they ran into one another in 0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:34.800 the palace gardens, where Sophia Dorothea was playing with her daughter, 0:26:35.160 --> 0:26:38.320 The little girl was tired and refused to climb the 0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:41.720 steps back up to their apartment. Instead of having a 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:45.800 servant carry her daughter, Sophia Dorothea picked up her own 0:26:45.880 --> 0:26:50.080 daughter and began to walk up the stairs. It sounds normal, 0:26:50.280 --> 0:26:53.919 but in a court as etiquette obsessed as Hanover, this 0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:58.480 was a grave impropriety. Surely a princess should not be 0:26:58.600 --> 0:27:02.280 carrying a child as a servant might. But things only 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:06.320 escalated when Koenigsmark teased her about the weight of her burden, 0:27:06.560 --> 0:27:09.960 and he took the tired child into his own arms, 0:27:10.119 --> 0:27:13.600 delivering her to the top of the stairs. For Sophia 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:18.159 Dorothea and Koenigsmark, the act was natural as well, a 0:27:18.200 --> 0:27:22.360 mother caring for her child. But for court observers, who 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:25.800 watched the couple laugh at the entrance to the royal apartments, 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:30.359 it was the first sign that something was not quite right, 0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:34.560 and though their reasoning in this instance might have been 0:27:34.640 --> 0:27:38.680 jumping the gun a little, their larger point was correct. 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:43.040 By the end of sixteen ninety one, Koenigsmark and Sophia 0:27:43.119 --> 0:27:51.320 Dorothea were engaged in a full fledged affair. Miraculously, a 0:27:51.480 --> 0:27:54.919 number of letters between the two have survived, letters that 0:27:54.920 --> 0:27:59.240 were sent to relatives for safekeeping, so now three hundred 0:27:59.359 --> 0:28:04.680 years later, we can witness their love firsthand. Koenigsmark sealed 0:28:04.680 --> 0:28:07.919 his letters with a wax stamp bearing the image of 0:28:07.960 --> 0:28:11.399 a small heart inside of a larger one and the 0:28:11.440 --> 0:28:16.240 motto quote so is yours within mine. The two wrote 0:28:16.240 --> 0:28:21.800 in French, using codes and nicknames, hastily scrawling passionate letters 0:28:21.800 --> 0:28:25.520 to one another whenever they had a moment alone. Koenigsmark's 0:28:25.600 --> 0:28:30.199 letters read like the template for romance novel speeches. Quote. 0:28:30.640 --> 0:28:34.560 I shall embrace tonight, the loveliest of women. I shall 0:28:34.640 --> 0:28:38.720 kiss her charming mouth. I shall worship her eyes, those 0:28:38.800 --> 0:28:42.080 eyes that enslave me. I shall hear from her very 0:28:42.160 --> 0:28:44.920 lips that she loves me. I shall have the joy 0:28:45.000 --> 0:28:48.440 of embracing her knees. My tears will chase down her 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:52.000 incomparable cheeks. I will hold in my arms the most 0:28:52.040 --> 0:28:56.000 beautiful body in the world. Verily, Madam, I shall die 0:28:56.120 --> 0:29:01.280 of joy. Sophia Dorothea's letters back are no more restrained. 0:29:02.760 --> 0:29:06.320 If you but knew how intense is my love, she wrote, 0:29:06.560 --> 0:29:10.960 you would pity me. It increases every moment. Absence does 0:29:11.000 --> 0:29:14.760