“Our Envoy must then declare to the Princess who he himself is, and by whose authority he has come, and he must sound her as to whether she be free from all other engagements, and if so he must discover if her heart be inclined towards our son. Our Envoy, however, must mention, but not in such a way as to suggest that the Princess of Ansbach is a pis aller for our son, that this matter would have been broached sooner on our side, if negotiations for our son’s marriage had not been going on in Sweden, as was perhaps known in Ansbach, the result of which had necessarily to be awaited. Besides we had previously to make sure whether the Princess of Ansbach was likely to entertain the King of Spain’s suit.
“If the Princess should reply that she is engaged to another, or if she should behave in such a way as to lead our Envoy to suppose that she was desirous of avoiding the proposal of marriage from our son, our Envoy is charged to beg the Princess not to make the slightest mention of the matter to any one, and, under pretext that he has received news that his travelling companions have at last reached Nuremberg, he is to take leave of the Court of Ansbach, and return hither at once as secretly as he left.
“But should the Princess, in answer to our Envoy’s proposition, declare, as we hope she will, that she is free from any other matrimonial engagement, and is inclined to an alliance with our House, our Envoy will inquire of the Princess, first, whether she would agree to his having an audience with her brother, the Margrave, and then, on behalf of our son, he will ask her hand in marriage. Also, because this matter must be formally dealt with, and a contract of marriage drawn up, he must find out what trustees, persons well disposed towards the marriage, he shall ask the Margrave to nominate, or whether the Princess would prefer herself to nominate them. The Princess will probably require time to consider the matter, in which case our Envoy will request her to think over the question by herself. Should the Princess delay in coming to a decision, our Envoy, in the most polite and delicate manner possible, will remind her that he must guard in every way against the Princess having any kind of communication with the Court of Berlin until such time as this project of marriage is so far established as to prevent any possibility of its being upset; and to this end our Envoy will most strongly urge that only trustworthy persons favourably disposed towards this marriage be employed in the drawing up of the contract. Our Envoy will point out that any communication on this subject with the Court of Berlin would only create difficulties and loss of time. Our Envoy knows full well that the sooner our son is married the better. It is, therefore, most important to prevent any whisper reaching Berlin, and to keep in ignorance all those persons who would surely speak against this marriage, and seek to delay it, in the hope of eventually preventing it altogether. Our Envoy can suggest to the Princess that an explanation could easily be given to the Court of Berlin later (with apologies for not having acquainted it before), to the effect that she was so hard pressed by our Envoy for a decision, she could not well refrain from accepting at once, the more especially as it was an offer she had no reason to refuse. Her brother, the Margrave, could say that he knew nothing of the matter until the Princess announced that she had chosen our son.”
Privy Councillor von Eltz to the Elector of Hanover.
“Ansbach, June 23rd, 1705.
“On arriving here yesterday evening I went at once to the Court, and was presented to the Margrave and her Highness the Princess, under the name of ‘Steding,’ by Court Marshal von Gerleheim. I was most graciously received by them both. The Princess commanded me to be shown to her private apartments, and gave me audience in her own chamber. There was no one else present, except at first Fräulein von Genninggen, who stood discreetly apart, and with her back turned to us; she afterwards, at my suggestion, left the room. I then took the opportunity to carry out the mission with which I had been graciously entrusted by your Electoral Highness. I asked first whether her Highness was free of all other matrimonial engagements, and in that event whether she was favourably disposed to the Electoral Prince’s suit?
“Her Highness at first seemed to be surprised and agitated. But she soon composed herself, and said that I could rest assured that she was entirely free from any engagements, as the negotiations between herself and the King of Spain had been completely broken off. Nevertheless, she added, my proposition came to her very unexpectedly, as (I quote her own words) ‘she had never flattered herself that any one in Hanover had so much as thought about her’. That they should have done so, she could only ascribe to the will of God and the goodness of your Electoral Highness, and she hoped that you would not find yourself deceived in the favourable opinion you had formed of her from what others had told you. This much, at least, she would admit, that she would infinitely prefer an alliance with your Electoral House to any other; and she considered it particular good fortune to be able to form fresh and congenial ties to compensate for the loss she had suffered by the death of the high-souled Queen of Prussia, and of her own step-brother. In the meantime, as she was absolutely dependent on her brother, the present Margrave, she could not formally give her consent to my proposal until she had spoken with him on the subject. But she did not doubt that he would consider your Electoral Highness’s request in a favourable light, and would willingly give his consent in all things as she wished.
“Having expressed my profound thanks to her Highness for her favourable reception of my proposal, I then strongly urged upon her the most absolute secrecy, especially with regard to the too early announcement of this betrothal to the Court of Berlin. Her Highness at once declared that this was the very request she herself had been on the point of making to me, as the King of Prussia took upon himself to such an extent to command her to do this, that and the other, that her brother and she were obliged to be very circumspect, and to be careful of everything they said and did. Her brother, the Margrave, would most certainly be discreet, and the Princess was glad that Privy Councillor von Breidow was even now going to Berlin to represent the Court of Ansbach at the funeral of the late Queen.[14] Her Highness also undertook to inquire of her brother what settlements she should ask for, and who should be entrusted with the drawing up of the marriage contract, at the same time remarking that she had complete trust in Councillor von Voit, who, although he had originally advised her to accept the proposal of the King of Spain, yet, when she could not make up her mind to change her religion, had not turned against her, and was still her friend, and deeply attached to her brother. In conclusion, her Highness said that it would be best for me to retain the name of Steding for the present, and to come to Court in that name whenever I wished to drive out with her. Thereupon, so as not to create remark by too long an interview, and also to be able to expedite this despatch, I returned to my lodging at once. Tomorrow I shall repair to Court again and learn what his Highness the Margrave has to say, whereupon I shall not fail to send my report.”
Privy Councillor von Eltz to the Elector of Hanover.
“Ansbach, June 25th, 1705.