Sophia Charlotte von Kielmansegg, Countess of Darlington and Countess of Leinster (1675–1725) was a German-born courtier. A half-sister of

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. ...

, to whom she was close, she moved to England in 1714 shortly after the

Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

, where she became an influential figure of his court.

Background

She was the daughter of Clara Elisabeth von Meysenburg, married to Franz Ernst, Count von Platen-Hallermund, a court official, but mistress of

Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ernest Augustus (; 20 November 1629 – 23 January 1698), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was Prince of Principality of Calenberg, Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of George I of Great Britain. He was appointed as the ninth prince-ele ...

, married to Sophia of the Palatine who was in the line of succession of the kingdoms of England and Scotland. At the court of Ernest Augustus, her status was as an illegitimate daughter of the Elector, who was the father of George Louis, Elector of Hanover from 1698 and the future British king, with whom she shared a close loyalty and abiding friendship. In 1701 she married Baron Johann Adolph von Kielmansegg (1668–1717), with who she had two children: Georg Ludwig (1705–1785) and Maria Sophia Charlotte (1703–1782), who married

Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe Emanuel Scrope Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe (c. 1700 – 29 March 1735), of Langar Hall, Nottinghamshire, was a British politician and colonial administrator. Life His father was Scrope Howe, a Whig Member of Parliament from whom he inherited t ...

and had issue.

In England

At the London court of George I, Sophia von Kielmansegg vied with Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, George's mistress. Her title Countess of Darlington in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

, with the

subsidiary title A subsidiary title is a title of authority or title of honour that is held by a royal or noble person but which is not regularly used to identify that person, due to the concurrent holding of a greater title. United Kingdom An example in the Uni ...

of Baroness of Brentford, was given by the king in 1722, following a title of Countess of Leinster in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1721. Her blood relationship to George I was not well known in Britain, and it was widely assumed that she, like the Duchess of Kendal, was the King's mistress. On one occasion, a confectioner in the royal household was dismissed after being caught using "indecent expressions concerning the King & Madam Kielmansegg". Her access to the king meant her favour was sought with many gifts, particularly around the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. She died at home in London on 20 April 1725.

Description

Gaining the nickname "the Elephant and Castle” after her arrival in England in 1714, she is said to have been a very large woman.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

says of her:

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of 1675 births 1725 deaths Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain People from Osnabrück Sophia Life peeresses created by George I Irish countesses

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Daughters of dukes Daughters of prince-electors