EXCERPT: "Melusine***, Duchess of Kendal and mistress of George I was a woman at the apex of British politics and court life. With George, she successfully presided over the transition from Stuart (Scottish) to Hanoverian (German) monarchy in Britain. She intrigued, she took bribes, she practiced diplomacy, she was courted by the glitterati and she involved the country in breathtaking scandal. Most importantly, very little, if anything, was done by the king's ministers without her say so. Robert Walpole, Britain's charismatic first Prime Minister, said that she was, "As much Queen of England as any ever was." But for a mistress, Melusine was unusual; she was not particularly decorative. ...Her detractors, mostly the Tories and the Jacobite press, were vicious, accusing her of meddling, of avarice, and of sexual depravity; she is the most vilified mistress in British history because, her foreign birth aside, few could understand the king's attraction to her. But George thought of Melusine as his wife, whether or not they married in secret, and she fulfilled all the functions of a queen consort and held enormous sway. She was clever and witty, amusing George for hours with paper cut outs of the new English ministers he deplored, and the pair were devoted to one another. Through her lover, Melusine held power until his death in 1727. No English mistress or queen consort would ever be as powerful again."
*** Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg
No comments:
Post a Comment