In January 1698, Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, died. Thanks to his hard-headed decision to bring in primogeniture, his title and territories were inherited by his eldest son, the now divorced George Louis. Though he was now Elector of Hanover, it wasn’t until 1701 that the Act of Settlement set George Louis’ future and that of Great Britain in stone. The act ruled that the line of succession to the English and Irish crowns could only be occupied by Protestant heirs, with no exceptions. With only William III, Princess Anne, and the Electress Sophia now standing between him and the throne, it was almost a foregone conclusion that George Louis would one day reign in England. He would do so with no queen at his side, for Melusine was in no way a suitable wife for a man who had been raised as George Louis had, no matter how much he loved her or how loyal she was. Few royal mistresses ever made it to the altar to marry their patrons.
Often dismissed as cold and unloving, in fact George Louis could be quite the opposite when the mood took him, but it required very specific circumstances to bring out his warmer side. He didn’t like to be challenged and he hated being laughed at, as proven by his enraged attack on Sophia Dorothea when Königsmarck mocked Melusine at the Dresden court. Melusine, however, was something of a natural diplomat. Maybe it was because of the security she felt in her role, or perhaps it was the fact that, unlike Clara, she really only sought an easy life and wasn’t interested in gaining power and leverage. Whatever the reason, Melusine was a lady who people seemed to like. Not for her Countess von Platen’s furious scrabble for scandal. Instead it seemed to nobles such as her future son-in-law, Albrecht Wolfgang, Count von Schaumburg-Lippe, that Melusine sought only “to do all the good she can”. Simplistic, perhaps, but that might go some way to explaining how she held the top spot beside George Louis for as long as she did. A reign of more than three decades was not to be sniffed at.
Yet with Sophia Dorothea confined to Ahlden and her name forbidden at court, it was the placid Melusine who still sat at George Louis’ side, wife or not. Together they spent their leisure time not in the palaces where George Louis’ former wife had once paced and fretted, but in a brand new, purpose-built hunting lodge at Göhrde. The couple’s new sanctuary cost more than 80,000 thalers and was designed by George Louis’ court architect, Louis Remy de la Fosse, and Johann Christian Böhm. The lodge became one of the most magnificent buildings in the region and was particularly celebrated for its hunting parties, whilst in the evenings, guests could enjoy performances in its private theatre. It was a secluded haven for the couple, and they escaped to Göhrde whenever they could.
Though he might not have been the sort to shout about it, George Louis needed Melusine more than ever in 1705 when his sister, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, died unexpectedly of a ruptured stomach. George Louis was bereft, and his mood was hardly helped by his frosty relationship with his own son, George Augustus. The young man had been unable to forgive his father for having Sophia Dorothea imprisoned at Ahlden and the bad feeling would seethe for years, driving a wedge between the two for as long as George Louis lived. Though things between the elector and his heir were tense, George Louis enjoyed far easier relationships with his legitimate daughter Sophia Dorothea and the children he shared with Melusine. By this time they were parents to three daughters, all of them claimed by Melusine’s siblings but each loved by their true parents even if their real paternity wasn’t acknowledged. The court of Hanover had become a family home once more.
George Louis and Melusine’s three daughters were well-known and well-liked figures at court, but it was Gertrud, who was known by all as Trudchen, who was by far her father’s favourite. She was a spirited and tomboyish girl who often accompanied George Louis on hunting parties and nursed dreams of one day becoming a soldier. Her gender meant that those ambitions could never be realised and instead Trudchen flourished as one of the favourites of the Hanoverian court, as celebrated for her sparky character and lively nature as she was for her good looks. Whether she considered a life at court a fair substitute for serving in the military is, of course, unconfirmed.
Just as George Louis had his favourite amongst his children, so too did Melusine. She had a particularly strong bond with Petronella Melusina, who was known to all as Young Melusine. Just like her mother, the inoffensive Young Melusine served as a maid of honour to Electress Sophia and was as gently unassuming as Trudchen was enthusiastic and sociable. Young Melusine would be her mother’s constant companion through the decades to come, continuing to stay by her side even after her own marriage.
In many ways the lives of the three girls were considerably easier than those of George Louis’ legitimate children precisely because they had no official standing. There was no rush to find royal husbands for the three illegitimate girls but in the case of Luise, the eldest of the trio, that lack of urgency in making a dynastic marriage led the family into trouble. When she was just 15, Luise asked her mother and father for their permission to marry Ernst August Philipp von dem Bussche-Ippenburg, a senior officer in Celle’s military and a member of a highly influential family. It wasn’t what her parents had hoped for but despite their reservations, they eventually acquiesced to her repeated demands. Unfortunately the marriage was not a happy one, and by 1714 the couple had parted ways thanks to Luise having “had a thousand lovers, and [being] catched in bed with a man [and] been divorced from her husband upon it.”21 Never one to bite his tongue, the gossipy Baron Hervey even accused Luise of having an affair not only with George I – her father, let’s not forget – but with his son, George II, and his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales. “Which was one generation more,” he noted waspishly, “than the Duchess of Valentinois could boast of in France.”22 It’s safe to say that there was no truth in that allegation. Unfounded rumours of incest just seemed to follow George Louis around.
The lack of official acknowledgement for the girls was of particular importance to the Dowager Electress Sophia, who valued rank and propriety above most things. She had lobbied the late Ernest Augustus long and hard for the right to bring her own nieces and nephews to Hanover after the death of her brother, Charles Louis, Elector Palatine, and each time he had refused, citing the difficulties their presence might cause when it came to precedence between them and George Louis’ children – illegitimate or otherwise. This, along with Melusine’s original position as a humble lady-in-waiting, did nothing to improve her standing in Sophia’s eyes. She would never acknowledge Melusine as anything other than her inferior no matter how long she remained at the side of George Louis. Decades might pass but for the Dowager Electress of Hanover, time served was no substitute for rank. Instead Sophia would always regard Melusine as the mawkin, an inoffensive figure to be tolerated at best and mocked at worst. It didn’t matter how much George Louis loved Melusine or how steadying her influence was, let alone how good a mother to his children she might be, the Dowager of Hanover would never warm to La Schulenberg.