Career
George, Prince of Wales This was an attempt to improve relations with Prussia, as Sophie Caroline was a niece of Frederick II of Prussia and George II needed Prussian troops to help offset the alliance between France and Austria that had occurred as a result of the Diplomatic Revolution. The prince"s mother Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, thwarted George II"s plans, however, which increased tensions within the British royal family. The Prince of Wales himself, influenced by his mother, was vehemently opposed to the match, declaring he would not be "bewolfenbuttelled".
Soon after becoming king in 1760, George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz instead the following year, in what was to become a happy marriage.
George and his mother"s refusal also reflected another changing reality in British foreign policy: the relationship with the Electorate of Hanover. George II and his father George I were both descended from the House of Hanover, and thus held the electorate very dear to their hearts.
As a daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Sophie Caroline was ancestrally related to neighboring Hanover. Good relations between the electorate and its neighbors were vital to its continuing security, particularly when another war was soon expected.
The Prince of Wales and his mother however did not possess the same attachment to Hanover, thus influencing their decision to reject a match with Sophie Caroline.
