Not quite Queen of England, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, 1666 - 1726Sophia Dorothea was born on 15th Se

Not quite Queen of England, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, 1666 - 1726Sophia Dorothea was born on 15th September 1666, the daughter of George William, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and his mistress, Eleonore d'Esmier d'Olbreuse. George eventually married Sophia Dorothea’s mother in 1667. It was originally planned that Sophia Dorothea would marry the future King of Denmark or the Duke of Wolfenbuttel, but it was finally settled that she would marry her cousin, George Louis. Upon hearing the news, she shouted that she would not marry the ‘pig snout’, a nickname George had picked up in Hanover. She fainted when she was presented to him for the first time.George and Sophia Dorothea were married on 22nd November 1682 and their marriage was an unhappy one. George’s family disliked his new wife and saw it only as a way to gain money. The couple often had loud arguments, which only calmed a little after the birth of their first two children, George Augustus and Sophia. At this time George took a mistress and kept her openly, even though his family urged him to be discreet, to keep the peace and the money from the marriage intact. It was into this environment that Philip-Christoph von Konigsmark returned, on 1st March 1688. He had known Sophia Dorothea when they were younger and had flirted mildly then. Philip stayed in Hanover for two years and became very close to her. Nothing appears to have happened between the couple until after he returned from an unsuccessful campaign in 1690, when they started sending intimate love letters to each other, which suggest they were having a sexual relationship.In 1692, the letters were discovered and shown to Sophia Dorothea’s father in law. He had Philip sent out to join the army, but Philip left and returned to Hanover. He was then exiled, to put a stop to the affair. George’s reaction to the affair was violent. He criticised her for the affair and she argued that he had also had an affair first, the argument ended with George flying at his wife, tearing at her hair and strangling her to the point that he left bruises and had to be pulled off by attendants. Sophia Dorothea attempted to escape Hanover around 1694, and it is thought that Philip returned to help her. It is believed that he was killed around this time, as several servants admitted to being involved in later years. George divorced Sophia Dorothea but despite this he had her imprisoned in Ahlden Castle for the remainder of her life. George Louis became King George I of Great Britain in 1714 and left Hanover for England. Sophia’s son would eventually become George II, although she would never see him again. From the time of her imprisonment to her death, she was banned from seeing her children or her father. His mothers captivity was one of the main reasons that George Augustus had such a bad relationship with his father. Sophia was also banned from remarriage and could not go outside unsupervised, however she had some perks such as being allowed to keep her servants, ride outside in a carriage and have an income to pay for some luxuries. Sophia Dorothea became ill in August 1726, she wrote her husband a harsh letter before dying in her bed on 13th November. She was 60 years old and had spent 33 years imprisoned. She was buried alongside her parents in her home country of Celle. George would not allow mourning for her death and was furious when he discovered that their daughter’s court was wearing black. George himself died only 4 weeks after his ex wife.  -- source link

More pics about