Philip Christoph von Königsmarck

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Philip Christoph von Königsmarck or Philipp Christoph Königsmarck, (4 March 1665^[1] – 2 July 1694)^[2] was a Swedish count^[3] and soldier.^[2] He was the lover of Sophia, Princess of Zelle, the wife of George I of Great Britain.^[4]It is alleged that two of those involved in his death made confessions years later^[5]

On the morning of July 2, 1694, after a meeting with Sophia, he disappeared and his body was never found. He was probably murdered at the instigation of George I, who paid a courtier a large sum of money to do so. It is most likely his body was dumped in a river.^[4] {Leine {?}

Königsmarck was grandson to the Swedish Field Marshal Hans Christoff von Königsmarck and nephew to the Swedish Field Marshal Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck. His sister Aurora von Königsmarck was later mistress to August II of Poland, with whom she had the son Maurice de Saxe, the brilliant French military commander. His brother [Charles John Konigsmarck] {Carl Johan Konigsmarck} is alleged to have hired three assassins in the death February 12, 1681 of Thomas Thynne, Esq. - husband of heiress Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset whom Königsmarck had been wooing. The assassins were hanged on March 10, 1682. The "Count" was acquitted.

Most of the letters between Königsmarck and Sophia were published by W.H. Wilkins, "The love of an uncrowned queen" (2 parts, 1900).

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