Countess Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Countess of Yarmouth, born Amalie von Wendt (1 April 1704 – 19 or 20 October 1765) was the principal mistress of King George II from the mid-1730s until his death in 1760. Born into a prominent family in the

Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...

, and married into another, in 1740 she became a naturalised subject of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and was granted a peerage for life, with the title of "Countess of Yarmouth", becoming the last royal mistress to be so honoured. She remained in England until the death in 1760 of King George II, who is believed to have fathered her second son,

Johann Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn Johann Ludwig Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn (22 April 1736 in Hanover – 10 October 1811 in Hanover) was a Germans, German lieutenant-general and art collector. Life Wallmoden was an illegitimate son of George II of Great Britain by his ...

. She returned to Hanover for the rest of her life, surviving the king for nearly five years.

Biography

She was born Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wendt on 1 April 1704, the daughter of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

ian General Johann Franz Dietrich von Wendt (1675-1748) and his wife, Friderike Charlotte von dem Bussche-Ippenburg (1684-1762). Her aunt was

Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, Duchess of Munster (25 December 166710 May 1743) was a longtime mistress to King George I of Great Britain. Early life She was born at Emden in the Duchy of Magdeburg. She was a daught ...

. She entered into the House of Wallmoden in 1727 with her marriage to Count Gottlieb Adam von Wallmoden-Gimborn (1704-1752), son of Count Ludwig Achaz von Wallmoden-Gimborn (d. 1730) and his wife, Anna Elisabeth von Heimburg (1697-1738). Together, they had one son, Count Franz Ernst von Wallmoden (1728-1776). She was described in 1738 in a letter to Charles, Viscount Townshend as being a brunette with "fine black eyes", "very well shaped, not tall, nor low; has no fine features, but very agreeable in the main." George II was first attracted to the Countess Wallmoden in 1735, during a visit to Hanover, where she lived with her husband. In 1736, she bore a son, called Johann Ludwig Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn, said to be the unacknowledged illegitimate child of the king. By 1738, George II's visits to Hanover to see his mistress were so numerous as to invite satire by

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

in the poem "London". The king ended the necessity of those visits after the death of his wife

Caroline of Ansbach , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pa ...

in November 1737, sending for the Countess Wallmoden to join him in England, but it did not put an end to Johnson's disapproval. In 1739, Johnson wrote scathingly of the king's relationship with Wallmoden, "his tortured sons shall die before his face / While he lies melting in a lewd embrace". In 1739, Amalie von Wallmoden divorced her husband. In 1740, she was naturalised and given the non-heritable title of Countess of Yarmouth, the last royal mistress to be so honoured. She was officially designated Amalie Sophie von Wallmoden to obscure the question of her marital status.

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lea ...

indicated that her primary focus was on pleasing the king, although she was also said to be interested in the bestowing of

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

s, reputedly playing a part in the creation of a

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

y for Stephen Fox-Strangways in 1741 and in the newly created title of Viscount Folkestone for Jacob des Bouverie in 1747. After the death of the king on 25 October 1760, Amalie von Wallmoden returned to Hanover. She died on 19 or 20 October 1765 from breast cancer, aged 61.Profile
oxforddnb.com; accessed 30 April 2014.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarmouth, Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of 1704 births 1765 deaths People from Hanover Mistresses of George II of Great Britain Life peeresses created by George II British countesses Deaths from cancer in Germany Deaths from breast cancer Earls of Yarmouth