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| George I of Great Britain |
(1660-1727)
King of Great Britain 1714
Elector of Hanover 1698
Duke of Brunswick-Lunebirg 1698
Also known as:
Georg Ludwig von Hanover
Son of Ernst August von Hanover & Sophia von Pfalz.
Husband of Sophia Dorothea von Braunschweig, mar 1682.
George I & Sophia Dorothea.
"Only his lack of money and large gambling debts made him consider his mother's scheme he should marry a distant cousing, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle. Sophia was the 16-year-old daughter of the wealthy Duke of Brunswick, who lived in a castle with furniture made of solid silver with his French wife and their only child, Princess Sophia. At this time Germany before unification was a collection of separate principalities and dukedoms and the Duke of Brunswick scandalised them by marrying a pretty young governess employed in his household. This meant that Sophia Dorothea and her mother lacked the royal blood considered vital for any royal bride. Crown Prince George Ludwig of Hanover was a crushing snob, obsessed with the idea of ancient bloodlines. He regarded marrying Princess Sophia, who was merely the daughter of a humble governess, as a marriage beneath his dignity. However, the Crown Prince was running short of money so he reluctantly agreed to his mother's plan for a dynastic marriage to his young cousin. By doing this George Ludwig would acquire Princess Sophia Dorothea's dowry and greatly increase his wealth. However, he had no intention of leaving Melusine von der Schulenburg, his young mistress. Melusine was one of several Maids of Honour to Prince George Ludwig's mother, the Electress Sophia." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
"Georg Ludwig was a boor, heavy, taciturn, cold, askward, heartless, ugly, and a phlegmatic libertine. The position of poor Sophia Dorothea was a pitiable one. She had no friends at the Court of Hanover, and her coarse husband treated her with neglect. With her mother-in-law she was never intimate. Passionate, ardent, impulsive, with a keen and mocking wit, she loarhed her enforced marriage, and hated the surroundings of her joyless life." (The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol 273: 375)
A self-proclaimed ladies' man not altogether clean.
"George I was not altogether clean. He liked to be known as a ladies' man. According to Horace Walpole -- his minister Robert Walpole's son -- the first Hanoverian's women included one he made Countess of Darlington, 'by whom he was father of Charlotte Viscountess Howe, though she was not publicly avowed.' Towards the end of his life, George gave an apartment in St. James to another, Miss Anne Brett, who 'was to have been created a countess', but afterwards married Sir William Leman. He told a third, made Duchess of Kendal, that he would (if he could) come back to her after the end of his life. He died; a bird flew in through the duchess's window, and 'she believed it was the King's soul, and took the most utmost care of it.' This mistress, also known as Melusine von der Schelenberg, was George I's great love. By her he had had three natural daughters: Anna Louise, married to Ernst August Philipp von dem Bussche-Ippenburg, divorced, and made Reichgrafin von Delitz in her own right; Petronella Melusine, made Countess of Walsingham in 1722, and married to Philip Dormer Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield, in 1733; and Margarethe ('Trudchen') Gertrud, George's favourite, who died young. None was ever formally legitimised or publicly acknowledged; all were officially registered as children of Melusine's sisters; and each was known to England as a niece of Melusine." (Human Biology and History: 78)
Lurid personal life and a little harem.
" . . . His personal life was held to be lurid. Had he not had his wife's lover, Count Konigsmarck murdered, and the erring spouse, Sophia Dorothea, imprisoned for life in Germany? To England, it was averred, he had brought two favorite mistresses (the thin Maypole or Giraffe, [Ehrengard] Melusine von der Schulenberg, and the fat Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg) and had left behind a younger---said to be his favorite---mistress, because she was a Catholic and therefore not acceptable in his Anglican kingdom. One of his reasons for going to Hanover was, it was surmised, to be periodically reunited with her. Quite apart from this little harem, it seemed highly suspicious that George had brought two Turks (Mehemet and Mustafa) with him to England: they were not sinister, there to pander to the king's 'depraved tastes' or at best 'to cater for his strenuous sex-life'? . . . ." (England's Rise to Greatness, 1660-1763: 214)
Lurid personal life and a little harem.
" . . . His personal life was held to be lurid. Had he not had his wife's lover, Count Konigsmarck murdered, and the erring spouse, Sophia Dorothea, imprisoned for life in Germany? To England, it was averred, he had brought two favorite mistresses (the thin Maypole or Giraffe, [Ehrengard] Melusine von der Schulenberg, and the fat Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg) and had left behind a younger---said to be his favorite---mistress, because she was a Catholic and therefore not acceptable in his Anglican kingdom. One of his reasons for going to Hanover was, it was surmised, to be periodically reunited with her. Quite apart from this little harem, it seemed highly suspicious that George had brought two Turks (Mehemet and Mustafa) with him to England: they were not sinister, there to pander to the king's 'depraved tastes' or at best 'to cater for his strenuous sex-life'? . . . ." (England's Rise to Greatness, 1660-1763: 214)
George had the 'China-blue' Brunswick eyes.
Maid of Honour to Electress Sophia of Hanover 1690
Duchess of Munster, Marchioness of Dungannon, Countess of Dungannon & Baroness Dundalk (Irish Peerage) 1716
Duchess of Kendal, Countess of Feversham & Baroness Glastonbury (English Peerage) 1719
Princess of the Holy Roman Empire & Princess of Eberstein 1723
Also known as:
born Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg
Mademoiselle de Schulenburg
le Schulenburg
the Schulembemburgim (by Electress Sophia)
the Goose (by Jacobites)
Half-sister of George I
Also known as:
Personal & family background.
"The daughter of Jobst Moritz von Offeln, in 1697 she married Ernst August, Count von Platen-Hallermund, who, according to serious historians, was the son of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover which made him the possible half-brother of the future George I, King of Great Britain. Her husband's sister, Sophie Charlotte, Countess von Kielmansegg, as mistress of King George I became Countess of Darlington."(Brigitte Gastel Ancestry)
6. Mary Lepell (1700-1768)
Lady Hervey
Lover in 1720s.
English courtier.
Maid-of-Honour to Caroline as Princess of Wales
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline.
Also known as:
Mary Lepel
Mary Leppel
Mary Hervey
Mary, Lady Hervey.
Daughter of Brigadier-General Nicholas Wedig Lepell, page of honour to Prince George of Denmark, & Mary Brooke, daughter and co-heiress of John Brooke of Rendlesham, Suffolk, mar 1698
Wife of John Hervey, Lord Hervey of Ickworth, mar 1720.
George I's wife's jealousy of Lady Hervey.
"Hervey was in the bloom of youth, Lady Mary in the zenith of her age, when they became rivals: Lady Mary had once excited the jealousy of Queen Caroline when Princess of Wales. 'How becomingly Lady Mary is dressed to-night,' whispered George II to his wife, whom hr had called up from the card-table to impart to her that important conviction. 'Lady Mary always dresses well,' was the cold and curt reply." (George Villiers: 190)
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey, whose attractions, great as they were, proved insufficient to rivet the exclusive admiration of the accomplished Hervey, had become his wife in 1720, some time before her husband had been completely enthralled with the gilded prison doors of a court. She was endowed with that intellectual beauty calculated to attract a man of talent: she was highly educated, of great talent; possessed of savoir faire, infinite good temper, and a strict sense of beauty. She also derived from her father, Brigadier Lepel, who was of an ancient family in Sark, a considerable fortune. Good and correct as the various intimacies formed during the course of their married life by his lordship." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 188)
"Whilst he lived on terms with is wife which is described even by the French as being a 'Menage de Paros,' Lord Hervey, found in another quarter the sympathies which, as a husband, he was too well-bred to require. It is probable that he always admired his wife more than any other person, for she had qualities that were quite congenial to the tastes of a wit and a beau in those times. Lady Hervey was not only singularly captivating, young, gay, and handsome; but a complete model also of the polished, courteous, high-bred woman of fashion. Her manners are said by Lady Louisa Stuart to have 'had a foreign tinge, which some called affected; but they were gentle, easy, and altogether exquisitely pleasing.' . . . ." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 190)
7. Anne Brett (1665?-1745)
"To console himself for this affront after his own peculiar fashion, George I immediately took a new mistress. This person was the half sister of the starving poet Savage; and her mother was the repudiated wife of the Earl of Macclesfield, who afterward married Colonel Brent. Unlike all the other concubines of the monarch, Miss Brent was allowed to reside in the palace at St. James. Their intercourse continued until it was unexpectedly terminated by the death of the king, who had intended---notwithstanding the intense disgust which was already expressed by the British nobility and populace at the honors which he had previously conferred upon his ridiculous mistresses---to elevate this woman to the peerage, and thus inflict upon it another disgrace. . . Nevertheless, Miss Brent remained supreme and triumphant in her influence, until the departure of the king on his last visit to the continent." (A History of the Four Georges, Kings of England: 79)
"As Melusine aged, she feared the King might replace her by a younger mistress. Despite being ugly, George I did have the allure of royalty and the ability to dispense titles and jewels. The promiscuous young lady Lady Anne Brett, daughter of the Countess of Macclesfield, and several other ladies of the court, competed for the monarch's affection. Finally the King succeeded in bedding Lady Anne after giving her jewels from the late Queen Anne's collection. . . ." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
Anne Brett's physical appearance & personal traits.
" . . . Later on, he took another mistress, Anne Brett, who had such black hair and dark skin that she became known as 'The Sultana'. . . . " (Monarchs, Murders & Mistresses: A Calendar of Royal Days:1)
"On the other hand, it was not till the last year or two of his reign that their foreign sovereign paid the nation the compliment of taking openly an English mistress. That personage was Anne Brett, eldest daughter of the earl of Macclesfield, the unnatural mother of Savage the poet. Miss Brett was very handsome, but dark enough by her eyes , complexion, and hair for a Spanish beauty. Abishag was lodged in the palace under the eyes of Bathsheba, who seemed to maintain her power, as other favorite sultanas have done, by suffering partners in the sovereign's affections. When his majesty should return to England, a countess's coronet was to have rewarded the young lady's compliance, and marked her secondary rank. She might, however, have proved a troublesome rival, as she seemed so confident of the power of her charms, that, whatever predominant ascendant the duchess might retain, her own authority in the palace she thought was to yield to no one else. . . ."(Reminiscences: 25)
Royal affair's benefit to Anne Brett.
"The Duchess of Kendal, the king's mistress, had rooms in the palace, and, toward the close of his reign, George I assigned apartments there on the ground floor to a fresh favorite, Miss Anne Brett. When the king left for Hanover, Miss Brett had a door opened from her rooms to the royal gardens, which the king's granddaughter, Princess Anne, who was residing in the palace, indignantly ordered to be walled up. Miss Brett had it opened a second time, and the quarrel was at its height when the news of the king's death put an end to the power of his mistress. . . ." (Various Authors: 48)
8) Mustafa & Mehemet (d.1726).
Favourites in 1686-1727.
Mustafa (Mustapha) de Mistra, captured at Mistra in the Morea by the Swedish officer Balthasar von Klinkowstrom, from 1703 in George's service as Kammerdiener." (George I: 406)
"Mehemet (d.1726), George's Turkish body servant, captured as a child at Koron where his father was a provincial governor, successively groom and keeper of closet, keeper of George's private accounts. . . ." (George I: 405)
Mustafa was Keeper of the King's Closet while Mehmet remained a body servant (Ger. Liebdiener)
" . . . As personal attendants on George two Turks, Mehemet and Mustafa, held long-established positions though they were, and remained, body-servants without political influence. Contrary to popular legend neither had been captured by George during his Hungarian campaigns: English historiography would seem to have confused them with a young Turkish boy whom George did capture and send home to his mother. Mehemet was brought to Hanover by an officer under George's command, and Mustafa -- after a period in the service of the Swedish officer who had captured him -- was transferred to that of George. Of the two, both so much a fixture at George's court in England that they were depicted in the murals of Kensington Palace, Mehemet held the more responsible position and was in charge of George's private accounts, the Schatullengen or Quitlungen from 1699 until his death in 1726. The surname he adopted on his ennoblement in 1716, von Konigstreu (lit. true to the king), can be assumed to have been chosen by himself -- since self-advertisement was against George's temperament -- and tells us something of his attitude to his master." (George I: 100)
" . . . Percival notes in his diary for 26 Jan. 1715 . . . the libel that 'the King keeps two Turks for abominable uses'; from this presumably derives the legend, still repeated in English works, that George had 'depraved tastes' or, more ambiguously, that the 'backstairs duty' of Mehemet and Mustafa was 'to organise the King's strenuous sex life' (Howard, The Royal Palace, 155)." (George I: 133)
"George was also a relatively old man when he came to Britain's shores again. Born on 28 May 1660, he was already fifty-four, the oldest occupant of the throne upon his accession, although the current Prince of Wales may change that. Relatively short, he was physically fit, and his 'china-blue' Brunswick eyes were an impressive feature. George had a happy childhood. His mother, Sophia, was devoted and was keen to ensure that her children grew up in a happy environment. As a result she was careful to keep those she saw as overly religious, and thus inflexible, from her children. In 1666 George's father, Ernst August, had become ruler of the prince bishopric of Osnabruck, a territory that, after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, alternated between a Catholic Prince Bishop and a Protestant member of the house of Hanover, ensuring that he and his wife were financially independent and could bring up their children as they deemed fit." (The Hanoverians: 55-56)
George I's lovers were:
1. Maria Katherine von Meysenbug
Grafin von Meisenbug-Zuschen (1655-1723)
Lover in 1676-1677.
a.k.a. Katharina Maria von Meysenbug; Maria von Meisenbug.
Daughter of Georg Philipp van Meysenbug & Anna Elisabeth van Meysenbug.
Wife of Johann von dem Bussche
"George's education was also advanced in other ways. In 1676 he made the under-governess of his sister pregnant. Despite his parents' attempts to claim that the child was not his, the boy looked like George. He was not acknowledged, and he and his mother departed from the historical record, a fate like that of many of those who have fallen for the charm of princes. Ernst August then appears to have arranged for Maria Katherine von Meysenburg (1655-1723), the younger sister of his own mistress, Klara Elisabeth von Platen, to become the mistress of the younger George; a way for the father to influence his son's situation, although the psychological consequences were less clear." (The Hanoverians: 57)
2. Judith Hawley (1658-?)
Lover in 1681.
Also known as:
Grafin von Meisenbug-Zuschen (1655-1723)
Lover in 1676-1677.
a.k.a. Katharina Maria von Meysenbug; Maria von Meisenbug.
Daughter of Georg Philipp van Meysenbug & Anna Elisabeth van Meysenbug.
Wife of Johann von dem Bussche
"George's education was also advanced in other ways. In 1676 he made the under-governess of his sister pregnant. Despite his parents' attempts to claim that the child was not his, the boy looked like George. He was not acknowledged, and he and his mother departed from the historical record, a fate like that of many of those who have fallen for the charm of princes. Ernst August then appears to have arranged for Maria Katherine von Meysenburg (1655-1723), the younger sister of his own mistress, Klara Elisabeth von Platen, to become the mistress of the younger George; a way for the father to influence his son's situation, although the psychological consequences were less clear." (The Hanoverians: 57)
2. Judith Hawley (1658-?)
Lover in 1681.
Also known as:
born Judith Hughes, & sister of Margaret Hughes
Wife of General Henry Hawley
" . . .Now General Henry Hawley died in his bed, and the Charborough portrait cannot be meant for him; but there is very little doubt that it is a posthumous picture, depicting the death of Col. Francis Hawley at the battle of Steinkirk in 1692. This Col. Hawley married Judith Hughes, half-sister to General Thomas Erie, of Charborough, and their eldest son was Lieut. General Henry Hawley." (Notes and Queries: 7-8)
"Of her [Margaret Hughes] family little is known except that an unnamed brother was killed in 1670 and she had a sister, allegedly born about 1658, who became the mother of the infamous General Henry Hawley, who was soundly beaten by the Jacobites at the battle of Falkirk in 1746. Judith's husband Francis Hawley, a colonel in the army came from a very respectable family and was a grandson of William Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele." (Royal Sex: Mistresses & Lovers of the British Royal Family)
" . . . Actress and mistress of Prince Rupert. Her origins are unknown. By 1668 she was an actress with the King's Company but retired in 1670 having become the mistress of the King's cousin, Prince Rupert. In 1673 they had a daughter named Ruperta. Margaret acted in the Duke's Company in 1676-7 but then left the stage again and lived in a house in Hammersmith. The Prince died in November 1682, leaving his estate in trust for Margaret and their daughter, who later married Emanuel Scrope Howe. Margaret died on 1 October 1719 at Eltham, Kent, administration of her effect being granted to her sister Judith Hawley. . . ." (Jane Ferguson's Royal Genealogy Page)
" . . .Now General Henry Hawley died in his bed, and the Charborough portrait cannot be meant for him; but there is very little doubt that it is a posthumous picture, depicting the death of Col. Francis Hawley at the battle of Steinkirk in 1692. This Col. Hawley married Judith Hughes, half-sister to General Thomas Erie, of Charborough, and their eldest son was Lieut. General Henry Hawley." (Notes and Queries: 7-8)
"Of her [Margaret Hughes] family little is known except that an unnamed brother was killed in 1670 and she had a sister, allegedly born about 1658, who became the mother of the infamous General Henry Hawley, who was soundly beaten by the Jacobites at the battle of Falkirk in 1746. Judith's husband Francis Hawley, a colonel in the army came from a very respectable family and was a grandson of William Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele." (Royal Sex: Mistresses & Lovers of the British Royal Family)
" . . . Actress and mistress of Prince Rupert. Her origins are unknown. By 1668 she was an actress with the King's Company but retired in 1670 having become the mistress of the King's cousin, Prince Rupert. In 1673 they had a daughter named Ruperta. Margaret acted in the Duke's Company in 1676-7 but then left the stage again and lived in a house in Hammersmith. The Prince died in November 1682, leaving his estate in trust for Margaret and their daughter, who later married Emanuel Scrope Howe. Margaret died on 1 October 1719 at Eltham, Kent, administration of her effect being granted to her sister Judith Hawley. . . ." (Jane Ferguson's Royal Genealogy Page)
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| Melusine von der Schulenburg |
3. Melusine von der Schulenburg (1667-1743)
Lover in 1691-1727.
Duchess of Munster, Marchioness of Dungannon, Countess of Dungannon & Baroness Dundalk (Irish Peerage) 1716
Duchess of Kendal, Countess of Feversham & Baroness Glastonbury (English Peerage) 1719
Princess of the Holy Roman Empire & Princess of Eberstein 1723
Also known as:
born Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg
Mademoiselle de Schulenburg
le Schulenburg
the Schulembemburgim (by Electress Sophia)
the Goose (by Jacobites)
the Hop-pole
the Maypole (by British public)
the Scarecrow (by Hanoverian people).
Daughter of: Gustav Adolf von der Schulenburg, Privy Councilor to the Elector of Brandenburg, & Petronella von Schwenken.
Natural offspring:
1. Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Countess of Dölitz
2. Melusina von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham
3. Margaret Gertrude von der Schulenburg, Countess of Oeynhausen (1701–1726)
"Countess Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenburg was born (Dec 25, 1667) at Emden, Saxony, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Count von der Schulenburg, an official in the household of the elector of Brandenburg. Countess Ehrengarda attended the Hanoverian court and was appointed as maid-of-honour to the electress Sophia of Hanover (1690), and quickly became the mistress of her son, the future George I of England (1660 – 1727), bearing him several illegitimate daughters that he never acknowledged, though he treated them with great affection. They were the Countess Delitz, the Countess of Walsingham, and the Countess von Lippe. Prince George’s mother mentioned Ehrengarda in her letters to her niece, the Duchesse d’Orleans as ‘the Schulembemburgin.’ Ehrengarda accompanied the king to England in 1714, and she obtained considerable political influence, due to her friendship with Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Stanhope, and politicians found her a useful intermediary with the king. She was involved in speculation over the South Sea Bubble (1720) and sold the monopoly to make copper coins in Ireland, but her reputation for rapacity seems undeserved. Because of this untrue perception the countess was unpopular with the British people, who sneeringly referred to her as ‘the Maypole,’ because of her thin figure. She was created duchess of Kendal in the Irish peerage and the Emperor Charles VI granted her the title of Princess of Eberstein. The persistent tradition that George I married her in morganatic style after the death of his wife Sophia Dorothea (1726) remains unproven though not unlikely. Before her death she caused some comment because of her habit of daily feeding a black raven, which she believed was the spirit of the king visiting her after death. Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenberg died (May 10, 1743) aged seventy-five, at Kendal House, Isleworth, Sussex, the home of her daughter, the Countess of Walsingham." (Women of History)
Fell head over heels in love.
"George, who had just made his ill-starred marriage with Sophia Dorothea of Zell, no sooner beheld her than he straightaway fell head over ears in love with her. The openness with which he proceeded to indulge his passion did not in the least shock the Electoral Court, where morals, if they ever existed, had become brazened by the example of the intrigues of Ernest Augustus with the infamous Platen. Even the indignation that might have been expected of the Electress Sophia, who was far superior to her surroundings, merely expressed itself in out-spoken contempt of her son's utter lack of taste in his choice." (Seven Splendid Sinners: 66)
Shared common interests.
"Melusine was born in Emden, Germany on December 25, 1667, to a minor aristocratic family. she failed to find a husband, so she was going to have to work for her living. Her family was delighted when in 1689, at the age of twenty-two, she found a position as maid of honor to George's mother, Sophia, Electress of Hanover. It wasn't long before George noticed Melusine. He evidently lost no time in cultivating her friendship. They found that they shared interests in art, music, and architecture. George's mother disapproved of the relationship and was openly rude to Melusine, who was unfashionably thin, earning her the nicknames scarecrow' and 'maypole.' Even so, George's friendship with her quickly turned in something more intimate, because she was pregnant barely a year later. She gave birt to Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg in 1692. Another daughter followed the next year, and a third girl in 1701, but George never acknowledged the three girls as his children." (Scarlet Women: 130)
"George, instead, seems to have been faithful to Melusine von der Schulenburg (1667-1743), who in 1690 was appointed a lady-in-waiting to George's mother, becoming George's lover from at least 1691: their first daughter was born in 1692. . . Melusine, who was kind, well educated and from a prominent family, provided George with the calmness he did not find in his excitable and angry wife. Melusine and George were very close and had three daughters -- born in 1692, 1693 and 1701, and passed off as the children of Melusine's sisters, to whom George showed much affection. Indeed, he took much pleasure in his second family, not least when it was supplemented by grandchildren: two grandsons born in 1722 and 1724. George often took late suppers with Melusine and her daughters. . . ." (The Hanoverians: 75)
"George had not remarried, but for twenty-three years he had lived with his mistress, Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg, whom he treated as a wife and by whom he had three children. . . A contemporary described her as 'a very tall, lean, ill-favored old lady.'. . . ." (Royal Panoply: Brief Lives of the English Monarchs: 240)
"In 1723, Kaiser Karl VI created her a Princess of the Empire with the title Princess of Eberstein. That she subsequently became what was the equivalent to Queen in all but name, is important to note because her place at the side of George I was all the more marked due to the fact that his own consort was missing. His banished wife, Sophie Dorothea of Braunschweig-Lüneburg died in the castle of Ahlden in 1726.
Rumours persisted of a secret morganatic union, otherwise known as a ‘left-handed’ marriage, having taken place between George and Melusine. Although as Melusine’s biographer Claudia Gold has pointed out, remarriage was illegal in England whilst the divorced partner was still alive. With the death of the disgraced Sophie Dorothea, George I was technically free to finally marry the woman he loved, who was mother to three of his daughters. It is not possible to state whether such a ceremony ever did take place due to the absence of evidence categorically confirming it, although in the opinion of her biographer, it would appear at least possible that it did. Either way, it is interesting that a portrait of Melusine exists that has come to light in more recent years and which was made on one of Melusine and George’s trips to Hanover. The choice of royal blue attire, with the sitter clutching an ermine-trimmed robe is immediately apparent." (Royal Central)
Personal & family background.
" . . . She was descended from the elder branch of the ancient but impoverished house of Schulemburg; her father had held high office in the Court of Berlin, her brother found a similar place in the service of the Venetian Republic. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II, and sometime queen-regent: a study of her life and time: 75)
"The origin of the family of Schulenburg was literally lost in the mists of German history. When it first emerges from that hyperborean darkness it appears to have possessed the enormous number of quarterings that were considered the sine qua non of nobility. In a short time it became so prolific that the trunk of its genealogical tree cleft itself into two gigantic and umbrageous branches, known as the 'Black' and the 'White' von der Schulenburgs. It was to the latter and younger line that Ehrengard Melusina belonged. Time had made this famiy very illustrious, and it was the proud boast of the Schulenburgs that they had provided the Holy Roman Empire with 'four marshals, twenty-five generals, six ministers, and four bishops.' The name was, however, scarcely known outside Germany till the laurels won by Johann Mathias, Ehrengard Melusina's brother, gave it a European reputation. . . But though the Schulenburgs were so distinguished they were very poor. Their marshals, generals, ministers, and bishops had a happy faculty of spending as they went the fortunes they made, and never had any money to give or bequeath to their numerous relations. They could, however, always find employment suited to their rank to relieve their needs at one or other of the German Courts. Thus Ehrengard Melusina, when sixteen or seventeen, like her famous brother before her, had bidden farewell to the dilapidated ancestral castle at Emden in Saxony, where she was born, and departed for the Court of Herrenhausen, at which the Schulemburg influence had obtained for her the post of maid-of-honour to the Electress Sophia." (Seven Splendid Sinners: 64)
the Maypole (by British public)
the Scarecrow (by Hanoverian people).
Daughter of: Gustav Adolf von der Schulenburg, Privy Councilor to the Elector of Brandenburg, & Petronella von Schwenken.
Natural offspring:
1. Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Countess of Dölitz
2. Melusina von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham
3. Margaret Gertrude von der Schulenburg, Countess of Oeynhausen (1701–1726)
"Countess Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenburg was born (Dec 25, 1667) at Emden, Saxony, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, Count von der Schulenburg, an official in the household of the elector of Brandenburg. Countess Ehrengarda attended the Hanoverian court and was appointed as maid-of-honour to the electress Sophia of Hanover (1690), and quickly became the mistress of her son, the future George I of England (1660 – 1727), bearing him several illegitimate daughters that he never acknowledged, though he treated them with great affection. They were the Countess Delitz, the Countess of Walsingham, and the Countess von Lippe. Prince George’s mother mentioned Ehrengarda in her letters to her niece, the Duchesse d’Orleans as ‘the Schulembemburgin.’ Ehrengarda accompanied the king to England in 1714, and she obtained considerable political influence, due to her friendship with Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Stanhope, and politicians found her a useful intermediary with the king. She was involved in speculation over the South Sea Bubble (1720) and sold the monopoly to make copper coins in Ireland, but her reputation for rapacity seems undeserved. Because of this untrue perception the countess was unpopular with the British people, who sneeringly referred to her as ‘the Maypole,’ because of her thin figure. She was created duchess of Kendal in the Irish peerage and the Emperor Charles VI granted her the title of Princess of Eberstein. The persistent tradition that George I married her in morganatic style after the death of his wife Sophia Dorothea (1726) remains unproven though not unlikely. Before her death she caused some comment because of her habit of daily feeding a black raven, which she believed was the spirit of the king visiting her after death. Ehrengarda Melusina von der Schulenberg died (May 10, 1743) aged seventy-five, at Kendal House, Isleworth, Sussex, the home of her daughter, the Countess of Walsingham." (Women of History)
Fell head over heels in love.
"George, who had just made his ill-starred marriage with Sophia Dorothea of Zell, no sooner beheld her than he straightaway fell head over ears in love with her. The openness with which he proceeded to indulge his passion did not in the least shock the Electoral Court, where morals, if they ever existed, had become brazened by the example of the intrigues of Ernest Augustus with the infamous Platen. Even the indignation that might have been expected of the Electress Sophia, who was far superior to her surroundings, merely expressed itself in out-spoken contempt of her son's utter lack of taste in his choice." (Seven Splendid Sinners: 66)
Shared common interests.
"Melusine was born in Emden, Germany on December 25, 1667, to a minor aristocratic family. she failed to find a husband, so she was going to have to work for her living. Her family was delighted when in 1689, at the age of twenty-two, she found a position as maid of honor to George's mother, Sophia, Electress of Hanover. It wasn't long before George noticed Melusine. He evidently lost no time in cultivating her friendship. They found that they shared interests in art, music, and architecture. George's mother disapproved of the relationship and was openly rude to Melusine, who was unfashionably thin, earning her the nicknames scarecrow' and 'maypole.' Even so, George's friendship with her quickly turned in something more intimate, because she was pregnant barely a year later. She gave birt to Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg in 1692. Another daughter followed the next year, and a third girl in 1701, but George never acknowledged the three girls as his children." (Scarlet Women: 130)
"George, instead, seems to have been faithful to Melusine von der Schulenburg (1667-1743), who in 1690 was appointed a lady-in-waiting to George's mother, becoming George's lover from at least 1691: their first daughter was born in 1692. . . Melusine, who was kind, well educated and from a prominent family, provided George with the calmness he did not find in his excitable and angry wife. Melusine and George were very close and had three daughters -- born in 1692, 1693 and 1701, and passed off as the children of Melusine's sisters, to whom George showed much affection. Indeed, he took much pleasure in his second family, not least when it was supplemented by grandchildren: two grandsons born in 1722 and 1724. George often took late suppers with Melusine and her daughters. . . ." (The Hanoverians: 75)
"George had not remarried, but for twenty-three years he had lived with his mistress, Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg, whom he treated as a wife and by whom he had three children. . . A contemporary described her as 'a very tall, lean, ill-favored old lady.'. . . ." (Royal Panoply: Brief Lives of the English Monarchs: 240)
"In 1723, Kaiser Karl VI created her a Princess of the Empire with the title Princess of Eberstein. That she subsequently became what was the equivalent to Queen in all but name, is important to note because her place at the side of George I was all the more marked due to the fact that his own consort was missing. His banished wife, Sophie Dorothea of Braunschweig-Lüneburg died in the castle of Ahlden in 1726.
Rumours persisted of a secret morganatic union, otherwise known as a ‘left-handed’ marriage, having taken place between George and Melusine. Although as Melusine’s biographer Claudia Gold has pointed out, remarriage was illegal in England whilst the divorced partner was still alive. With the death of the disgraced Sophie Dorothea, George I was technically free to finally marry the woman he loved, who was mother to three of his daughters. It is not possible to state whether such a ceremony ever did take place due to the absence of evidence categorically confirming it, although in the opinion of her biographer, it would appear at least possible that it did. Either way, it is interesting that a portrait of Melusine exists that has come to light in more recent years and which was made on one of Melusine and George’s trips to Hanover. The choice of royal blue attire, with the sitter clutching an ermine-trimmed robe is immediately apparent." (Royal Central)
Personal & family background.
" . . . She was descended from the elder branch of the ancient but impoverished house of Schulemburg; her father had held high office in the Court of Berlin, her brother found a similar place in the service of the Venetian Republic. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II, and sometime queen-regent: a study of her life and time: 75)
"The origin of the family of Schulenburg was literally lost in the mists of German history. When it first emerges from that hyperborean darkness it appears to have possessed the enormous number of quarterings that were considered the sine qua non of nobility. In a short time it became so prolific that the trunk of its genealogical tree cleft itself into two gigantic and umbrageous branches, known as the 'Black' and the 'White' von der Schulenburgs. It was to the latter and younger line that Ehrengard Melusina belonged. Time had made this famiy very illustrious, and it was the proud boast of the Schulenburgs that they had provided the Holy Roman Empire with 'four marshals, twenty-five generals, six ministers, and four bishops.' The name was, however, scarcely known outside Germany till the laurels won by Johann Mathias, Ehrengard Melusina's brother, gave it a European reputation. . . But though the Schulenburgs were so distinguished they were very poor. Their marshals, generals, ministers, and bishops had a happy faculty of spending as they went the fortunes they made, and never had any money to give or bequeath to their numerous relations. They could, however, always find employment suited to their rank to relieve their needs at one or other of the German Courts. Thus Ehrengard Melusina, when sixteen or seventeen, like her famous brother before her, had bidden farewell to the dilapidated ancestral castle at Emden in Saxony, where she was born, and departed for the Court of Herrenhausen, at which the Schulemburg influence had obtained for her the post of maid-of-honour to the Electress Sophia." (Seven Splendid Sinners: 64)
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Melusine von der Schulenburg Duchess of Kendal, 1691 |
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . It was not easy to understand how she maintained her sway; it was certainly not by her person. She was very tall, and in her youth had some good looks of the passive German type, but as the years went by she lost the few pretexts to beauty that she possessed. Her figure became extremely thin, in consequence of small-pox she lost all her hair, and was not only marked on the face but wore an ugly wig. She sought to mend these defects by painting and riddling her face, which only made them worse; her taste in dress was atrocious. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 75)
"A portrait of Melusine, painted when young, shows her as raven-haired and attractive. Two decades later on her arrival in London, Countess Melusine had lost her looks and was starting to worry about the security of her position and her lack of any official income to pay for lavish court dresses required of her as a royal mistress of a king without a wife.. In her late forties, Countess Melusine's high cheek bones and dark eyes suggested she had one been a beauty but by now her complexion was badly scarred by smallpox. Being very thing, she was nicknamed 'The Maypole'. It was whispered that in his youth Prince George Ludwig had married Melusine in a morganatic marriage, so her daughters would never be eligible to rule over Britain or Hanover, but no proof of this marriage was ever found." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
Character or persona.
" . . . Schulemburg was a stupid woman, with a narrow range of vision, and her dominant passion was avarice; but she was undoubtedly attached to her protector, and remained faithful to him not that any one ever tempted her fidelity. She had an equable temper, and she was no mischief maker. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 75)
First encounter.
" . . . Melusina having no dower and no great charm, except her youth, made her way to Hanover, about 1690, in the hope of improving her fortunes, honourably or dishonourably as chance offered. Melusina attracted the attention of George Louis, Prince of Hanover, as he was then called. He made her an allowance, and procured for her a post at court as maid of honour (save the mark) to his mother, the Electress Sophia. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 74)
Affair's benefits.
"Melusine herself was naturalised as British in 1716. She became Duchess of Munster in the Irish peerage that year, and Duchess of Kendal in the British peerage three years later, while she also benefited from the spoils system that Britain offered the Hanoverians. She received 15,000 pounds worth of South Sea Company stock as a secret present, in the hope that she would strengthen the King's support for the company...while Melusine's two younger daughters were given 5000 pounds each. Melusine Carteret in 1724 was attributed, in part, to her influence." (The Hanoverians: The History of a Dynasty: 76)
"Erangard (sic) Melosine (sic) Schulenberg, a German lady, mistress to King George I, was created, in 1716, a peeress of Ireland, as Baroness of Dundalk, Countess and Marchioness of Dungannon, and Duchess of Munster. In 1719, her ladyship was enrolled amongst the nobility of Great Britain, in the dignities of Baroness Glastonbury, in the county of Somerset, Countess of Feversham, and DUCHESS OF KENDAL, for life. She was afterwards advanced to the rank of Princess of Eberstein, in the Germanic empire. Her grace died in 1743, when ALL HER HONOURS became EXTINCT." (A general and heraldic dictionary: 471)
4. Sophia von Kielmansegg (1675-1725)
Lover in 1702-1725.
Countess of Darlington 1721
Countess of Leinster 1722
German-born British courtier
" . . . It was not easy to understand how she maintained her sway; it was certainly not by her person. She was very tall, and in her youth had some good looks of the passive German type, but as the years went by she lost the few pretexts to beauty that she possessed. Her figure became extremely thin, in consequence of small-pox she lost all her hair, and was not only marked on the face but wore an ugly wig. She sought to mend these defects by painting and riddling her face, which only made them worse; her taste in dress was atrocious. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 75)
"A portrait of Melusine, painted when young, shows her as raven-haired and attractive. Two decades later on her arrival in London, Countess Melusine had lost her looks and was starting to worry about the security of her position and her lack of any official income to pay for lavish court dresses required of her as a royal mistress of a king without a wife.. In her late forties, Countess Melusine's high cheek bones and dark eyes suggested she had one been a beauty but by now her complexion was badly scarred by smallpox. Being very thing, she was nicknamed 'The Maypole'. It was whispered that in his youth Prince George Ludwig had married Melusine in a morganatic marriage, so her daughters would never be eligible to rule over Britain or Hanover, but no proof of this marriage was ever found." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
Character or persona.
" . . . Schulemburg was a stupid woman, with a narrow range of vision, and her dominant passion was avarice; but she was undoubtedly attached to her protector, and remained faithful to him not that any one ever tempted her fidelity. She had an equable temper, and she was no mischief maker. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 75)
First encounter.
" . . . Melusina having no dower and no great charm, except her youth, made her way to Hanover, about 1690, in the hope of improving her fortunes, honourably or dishonourably as chance offered. Melusina attracted the attention of George Louis, Prince of Hanover, as he was then called. He made her an allowance, and procured for her a post at court as maid of honour (save the mark) to his mother, the Electress Sophia. . . ." (Caroline, the illustrious queen-consort of George II: 74)
Affair's benefits.
"Melusine herself was naturalised as British in 1716. She became Duchess of Munster in the Irish peerage that year, and Duchess of Kendal in the British peerage three years later, while she also benefited from the spoils system that Britain offered the Hanoverians. She received 15,000 pounds worth of South Sea Company stock as a secret present, in the hope that she would strengthen the King's support for the company...while Melusine's two younger daughters were given 5000 pounds each. Melusine Carteret in 1724 was attributed, in part, to her influence." (The Hanoverians: The History of a Dynasty: 76)
"Erangard (sic) Melosine (sic) Schulenberg, a German lady, mistress to King George I, was created, in 1716, a peeress of Ireland, as Baroness of Dundalk, Countess and Marchioness of Dungannon, and Duchess of Munster. In 1719, her ladyship was enrolled amongst the nobility of Great Britain, in the dignities of Baroness Glastonbury, in the county of Somerset, Countess of Feversham, and DUCHESS OF KENDAL, for life. She was afterwards advanced to the rank of Princess of Eberstein, in the Germanic empire. Her grace died in 1743, when ALL HER HONOURS became EXTINCT." (A general and heraldic dictionary: 471)
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Sophia von Kielmansegg Countess of Darlington |
4. Sophia von Kielmansegg (1675-1725)
Lover in 1702-1725.
Countess of Darlington 1721
Countess of Leinster 1722
German-born British courtier
Half-sister of George I
Also known as:
born Baroness Sophia Charlotte von Platen und Hallermund
Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg
Sophia von Platen
the Elephant.
Daughter of Ernst August of Hanover & Clara Elisabeth von Meysenburg, Baroness von Platen und Hallermund. Her mother's husband Franz Ernst, Baron von Platen (1631–1709) was officially described as her father
Wife of Johann Adolf, Baron von Kielmansegg (1668–1717), Deputy Master of the Horse to George Louis.
Mistress or half-sister?.
" . . . He also brought Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg who was given the English title Countess of Darlington. She was the daughter of his father's mistress Baroness Clara Meysenburg von Platen, but since Clara had numerous lovers, Sophia Charlotte possibly had a different father than Prince George---if they indeed shared the same father, she would have been George's half-sister." (Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens: 530)
Shared lover.
"As it was not, however, in George's nature to be constant, Ehrengard Melusina was obliged to share her lover with others, which she did with an apparently placid indifference. Her most formidable rival was the Baroness Kielmansegg, the wife of the master of the horse at the Electoral Court. This lady was commonly reported and believed to be the daughter of Ernest Augustus and the Countess von Platen, and consequently a sister de la main gauche of George. The relationship by no means prevented her mother, as to whom at least there was never any doubt, from bringing her to Herrenhausen when she grew up for the express purpose of captivating her brother. Such nightmare morals were entirely in keeping with the characters of all concerned, and quite common in the semi-civilized Courts of the Holy Roman Empire. George had succumbed, as the terrible Countess von Platen meant him to, and the result of this monstrous intrigue was a daughter who in later years became the mother, in lawful wedlock, of the celebrated Admiral Howe." (Seven Deadly Sinners: 67)
Marriage to keep appearances.
"As a concession to appearances, to which she never afterwards gave the slightest thought, Madame de Kielmansegg had married the man by whose name she was known in order to provide her child with a legitimate father. Shortly after this event she had inherited a large fortune from her mother... (Seven Deadly Sinners: 71-72)
Royal scandal & incest.
" . . . Some sources indicate that Baroness von Kielmannsegge is mistakenly identified as a mistress of George I, but she was actually his illegitimate half-sister. In fact, she was both. One of the mistresses of George's father, Ernest Augustus (1629-1698), was Clara von Meisenbuch (1648-1700), later Countess von Platen. Clara had some children fathered by Ernest Augustus, and one of them, Baroness Sophia von Kielmannsegge, became mistress of George I. . . . " (The English Royal Family of America, from Jamestown to the American Revolution:115)
5. Sophia Karolina von Offeln (1669-1726)
Countess von Platen
Lover in 1700 [or 1714-1727 (another source)]
a.k.a. born Sophie Caroline Eva Antoinette von Offeln
Daughter of Jobst Moritz von Uffeln and Anna Sabina von Schilder.
Wife of Ernst August, Graf von Platen-Hallermund, mar 1697.
Daughter of Ernst August of Hanover & Clara Elisabeth von Meysenburg, Baroness von Platen und Hallermund. Her mother's husband Franz Ernst, Baron von Platen (1631–1709) was officially described as her father
Wife of Johann Adolf, Baron von Kielmansegg (1668–1717), Deputy Master of the Horse to George Louis.
Mistress or half-sister?.
" . . . He also brought Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg who was given the English title Countess of Darlington. She was the daughter of his father's mistress Baroness Clara Meysenburg von Platen, but since Clara had numerous lovers, Sophia Charlotte possibly had a different father than Prince George---if they indeed shared the same father, she would have been George's half-sister." (Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens: 530)
Shared lover.
"As it was not, however, in George's nature to be constant, Ehrengard Melusina was obliged to share her lover with others, which she did with an apparently placid indifference. Her most formidable rival was the Baroness Kielmansegg, the wife of the master of the horse at the Electoral Court. This lady was commonly reported and believed to be the daughter of Ernest Augustus and the Countess von Platen, and consequently a sister de la main gauche of George. The relationship by no means prevented her mother, as to whom at least there was never any doubt, from bringing her to Herrenhausen when she grew up for the express purpose of captivating her brother. Such nightmare morals were entirely in keeping with the characters of all concerned, and quite common in the semi-civilized Courts of the Holy Roman Empire. George had succumbed, as the terrible Countess von Platen meant him to, and the result of this monstrous intrigue was a daughter who in later years became the mother, in lawful wedlock, of the celebrated Admiral Howe." (Seven Deadly Sinners: 67)
Marriage to keep appearances.
"As a concession to appearances, to which she never afterwards gave the slightest thought, Madame de Kielmansegg had married the man by whose name she was known in order to provide her child with a legitimate father. Shortly after this event she had inherited a large fortune from her mother... (Seven Deadly Sinners: 71-72)
Royal scandal & incest.
" . . . Some sources indicate that Baroness von Kielmannsegge is mistakenly identified as a mistress of George I, but she was actually his illegitimate half-sister. In fact, she was both. One of the mistresses of George's father, Ernest Augustus (1629-1698), was Clara von Meisenbuch (1648-1700), later Countess von Platen. Clara had some children fathered by Ernest Augustus, and one of them, Baroness Sophia von Kielmannsegge, became mistress of George I. . . . " (The English Royal Family of America, from Jamestown to the American Revolution:115)
5. Sophia Karolina von Offeln (1669-1726)
Countess von Platen
Lover in 1700 [or 1714-1727 (another source)]
a.k.a. born Sophie Caroline Eva Antoinette von Offeln
Daughter of Jobst Moritz von Uffeln and Anna Sabina von Schilder.
Wife of Ernst August, Graf von Platen-Hallermund, mar 1697.
"Electress Sophia's husband, the Herzog und Kurfurst, Ernst August, sometime Prince-Bishop of Osnabruck, was a splendour-loving and expensive Herr, loose in his life, but with an old-world gallantry of manner towards women. His permanent mistress was the Countess von Platen, who, in so far as Sophia would let her, practically ruled Hanover. The Countess von Platen was one of the two famous von Meissenberg sisters, both splendid and seductive women, belonging to the highest rank of married strumptocracy. Her complaisant husband, Franz Ernst, Graf von Platen, was Hofmarschall, and President of the Secret Council, a man of influence in the State. The sister of the Countess was the mistress of the Erbprinz, George Ludwig, and the whole thing was a compact little family arrangement, productive of comfort and advantage to several of the persons engaged in it." (The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol 273: 375)
Personal & family background.
"The daughter of Jobst Moritz von Offeln, in 1697 she married Ernst August, Count von Platen-Hallermund, who, according to serious historians, was the son of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover which made him the possible half-brother of the future George I, King of Great Britain. Her husband's sister, Sophie Charlotte, Countess von Kielmansegg, as mistress of King George I became Countess of Darlington."(Brigitte Gastel Ancestry)
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| Mary, Lady Hervey |
6. Mary Lepell (1700-1768)
Lady Hervey
Lover in 1720s.
English courtier.
Maid-of-Honour to Caroline as Princess of Wales
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline.
Also known as:
Mary Lepel
Mary Leppel
Mary Hervey
Mary, Lady Hervey.
Daughter of Brigadier-General Nicholas Wedig Lepell, page of honour to Prince George of Denmark, & Mary Brooke, daughter and co-heiress of John Brooke of Rendlesham, Suffolk, mar 1698
Wife of John Hervey, Lord Hervey of Ickworth, mar 1720.
"Mary Lepel, so celebrated at the Court of the first George for her beauty and wit, was a daughter of Brigadier-General Nicholas Lepel. She was born on the 26th of Seotember, 1700; and at an early age was named one of the Maids of Honour to Queen Caroline, then Princess of Wales, to whom, on her accession to the throne, was appointed Mistress of the Robes." (Memoirs of the Court of England, Vol 2: 384)
George I's wife's jealousy of Lady Hervey.
"Hervey was in the bloom of youth, Lady Mary in the zenith of her age, when they became rivals: Lady Mary had once excited the jealousy of Queen Caroline when Princess of Wales. 'How becomingly Lady Mary is dressed to-night,' whispered George II to his wife, whom hr had called up from the card-table to impart to her that important conviction. 'Lady Mary always dresses well,' was the cold and curt reply." (George Villiers: 190)
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Lady Mary stands at the head of this famous trio. She was very handsome, very lively, very quick, very well informed; but she wanted heart; and one great souce of attraction to womankind was therefore deficient. . . ." (The Queens of Society: 288)
"Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey, whose attractions, great as they were, proved insufficient to rivet the exclusive admiration of the accomplished Hervey, had become his wife in 1720, some time before her husband had been completely enthralled with the gilded prison doors of a court. She was endowed with that intellectual beauty calculated to attract a man of talent: she was highly educated, of great talent; possessed of savoir faire, infinite good temper, and a strict sense of beauty. She also derived from her father, Brigadier Lepel, who was of an ancient family in Sark, a considerable fortune. Good and correct as the various intimacies formed during the course of their married life by his lordship." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 188)
"Whilst he lived on terms with is wife which is described even by the French as being a 'Menage de Paros,' Lord Hervey, found in another quarter the sympathies which, as a husband, he was too well-bred to require. It is probable that he always admired his wife more than any other person, for she had qualities that were quite congenial to the tastes of a wit and a beau in those times. Lady Hervey was not only singularly captivating, young, gay, and handsome; but a complete model also of the polished, courteous, high-bred woman of fashion. Her manners are said by Lady Louisa Stuart to have 'had a foreign tinge, which some called affected; but they were gentle, easy, and altogether exquisitely pleasing.' . . . ." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 190)
7. Anne Brett (1665?-1745)
Lover in 1726-1727.
British royal mistress
Also known as:
British royal mistress
Also known as:
born Anne Maria Brett
Anna Margherita Brett
Lady Anne Brett
the Sultana.
Daughter of: Henry Brett, British army officer, Member of Parliament & Ann Mason, daughter of Sir Richard Mason & divorced wife of Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, mar 1720
Wife of: Sir William Leman, 2nd Baronet (d.1743)
George I's first English mistress.
Daughter of: Henry Brett, British army officer, Member of Parliament & Ann Mason, daughter of Sir Richard Mason & divorced wife of Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, mar 1720
Wife of: Sir William Leman, 2nd Baronet (d.1743)
George I's first English mistress.
"After her father's death, Brett's daughter, Anna Margherita Brett, who appears to have been the sole issue of the marriage, and who is described as a dark, Spanish-looking beauty, became the recognised mistress - the first English one - of King George I, then in his sixty-fifth year, by whom she is believed to have had no children. The young lady's ambition and prospects of a coronet were disappointed through the death of the king in 1727, and she subsequently married Sir William Leman, 2nd baronet, of Northaw or Northall, Hertfordshire, and died without issue in 1743." (Wikipedia)
" . . . The only time that George I did the English the honour of choosing one of the beauties of the nation for his mistress was during the last year of his reign. The object of his choice was Anne Brett, the eldest daughter of the infamous Countess of Macclesfield by her second husband. The neglect of Savage, the poet, her son, was merely one passage in the iniquitous life of Lady Macclesfield. Endowed with singular taste and judgment, consulted by Colley Cibber on every new play he produced, the mother of Savage was not only wholly destitute of all virtue, but of all shame. One day, looking out of the window, she perceived a very handsome man assaulted by some baillifs who were going to arrest him: she paid his debt, released, and married him. The hero of this story was Colonel Brett, the father of Anne Brett." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 222)
" . . . The only time that George I did the English the honour of choosing one of the beauties of the nation for his mistress was during the last year of his reign. The object of his choice was Anne Brett, the eldest daughter of the infamous Countess of Macclesfield by her second husband. The neglect of Savage, the poet, her son, was merely one passage in the iniquitous life of Lady Macclesfield. Endowed with singular taste and judgment, consulted by Colley Cibber on every new play he produced, the mother of Savage was not only wholly destitute of all virtue, but of all shame. One day, looking out of the window, she perceived a very handsome man assaulted by some baillifs who were going to arrest him: she paid his debt, released, and married him. The hero of this story was Colonel Brett, the father of Anne Brett." (The Wits and Beaux of Society: 222)
"To console himself for this affront after his own peculiar fashion, George I immediately took a new mistress. This person was the half sister of the starving poet Savage; and her mother was the repudiated wife of the Earl of Macclesfield, who afterward married Colonel Brent. Unlike all the other concubines of the monarch, Miss Brent was allowed to reside in the palace at St. James. Their intercourse continued until it was unexpectedly terminated by the death of the king, who had intended---notwithstanding the intense disgust which was already expressed by the British nobility and populace at the honors which he had previously conferred upon his ridiculous mistresses---to elevate this woman to the peerage, and thus inflict upon it another disgrace. . . Nevertheless, Miss Brent remained supreme and triumphant in her influence, until the departure of the king on his last visit to the continent." (A History of the Four Georges, Kings of England: 79)
"Maybe the death o fhte wife who had long ceased to mean anything to the old King gave him a new lease of life. Within a few weeks he had taken another mistress in addition to 'the Schulenberg'. Anne Brett, the daughter of the divorced Countess of Macclesfield by her second marriage to Colonel Brett. Perhaps the monarch was more ready to admit to th evirues -- or one might say the attractions -- of his adopted nation than he was prepared to admit. Evidently keen to feather her nest, and perhaps aware that her elderly beau might not last for much longer, she was soon demanding a title as the price of her favours. He installed her in a suite of rooms at St. James's Palace, awarded her a pension, and promised her that she would have her title when he returned from his imminent visit to Hanover." (King George II and Queen Caroline)
"As Melusine aged, she feared the King might replace her by a younger mistress. Despite being ugly, George I did have the allure of royalty and the ability to dispense titles and jewels. The promiscuous young lady Lady Anne Brett, daughter of the Countess of Macclesfield, and several other ladies of the court, competed for the monarch's affection. Finally the King succeeded in bedding Lady Anne after giving her jewels from the late Queen Anne's collection. . . ." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
Anne Brett's physical appearance & personal traits.
" . . . Later on, he took another mistress, Anne Brett, who had such black hair and dark skin that she became known as 'The Sultana'. . . . " (Monarchs, Murders & Mistresses: A Calendar of Royal Days:1)
"On the other hand, it was not till the last year or two of his reign that their foreign sovereign paid the nation the compliment of taking openly an English mistress. That personage was Anne Brett, eldest daughter of the earl of Macclesfield, the unnatural mother of Savage the poet. Miss Brett was very handsome, but dark enough by her eyes , complexion, and hair for a Spanish beauty. Abishag was lodged in the palace under the eyes of Bathsheba, who seemed to maintain her power, as other favorite sultanas have done, by suffering partners in the sovereign's affections. When his majesty should return to England, a countess's coronet was to have rewarded the young lady's compliance, and marked her secondary rank. She might, however, have proved a troublesome rival, as she seemed so confident of the power of her charms, that, whatever predominant ascendant the duchess might retain, her own authority in the palace she thought was to yield to no one else. . . ."(Reminiscences: 25)
Royal affair's benefit to Anne Brett.
"The Duchess of Kendal, the king's mistress, had rooms in the palace, and, toward the close of his reign, George I assigned apartments there on the ground floor to a fresh favorite, Miss Anne Brett. When the king left for Hanover, Miss Brett had a door opened from her rooms to the royal gardens, which the king's granddaughter, Princess Anne, who was residing in the palace, indignantly ordered to be walled up. Miss Brett had it opened a second time, and the quarrel was at its height when the news of the king's death put an end to the power of his mistress. . . ." (Various Authors: 48)
8) Mustafa & Mehemet (d.1726).
Favourites in 1686-1727.
Mustafa (Mustapha) de Mistra, captured at Mistra in the Morea by the Swedish officer Balthasar von Klinkowstrom, from 1703 in George's service as Kammerdiener." (George I: 406)
"Mehemet (d.1726), George's Turkish body servant, captured as a child at Koron where his father was a provincial governor, successively groom and keeper of closet, keeper of George's private accounts. . . ." (George I: 405)
Mustafa was Keeper of the King's Closet while Mehmet remained a body servant (Ger. Liebdiener)
" . . . As personal attendants on George two Turks, Mehemet and Mustafa, held long-established positions though they were, and remained, body-servants without political influence. Contrary to popular legend neither had been captured by George during his Hungarian campaigns: English historiography would seem to have confused them with a young Turkish boy whom George did capture and send home to his mother. Mehemet was brought to Hanover by an officer under George's command, and Mustafa -- after a period in the service of the Swedish officer who had captured him -- was transferred to that of George. Of the two, both so much a fixture at George's court in England that they were depicted in the murals of Kensington Palace, Mehemet held the more responsible position and was in charge of George's private accounts, the Schatullengen or Quitlungen from 1699 until his death in 1726. The surname he adopted on his ennoblement in 1716, von Konigstreu (lit. true to the king), can be assumed to have been chosen by himself -- since self-advertisement was against George's temperament -- and tells us something of his attitude to his master." (George I: 100)
" . . . Percival notes in his diary for 26 Jan. 1715 . . . the libel that 'the King keeps two Turks for abominable uses'; from this presumably derives the legend, still repeated in English works, that George had 'depraved tastes' or, more ambiguously, that the 'backstairs duty' of Mehemet and Mustafa was 'to organise the King's strenuous sex life' (Howard, The Royal Palace, 155)." (George I: 133)
References:
King George II and Queen Caroline @Google Books
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