Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
Sophie Dorothea arrived in St Petersburg that September, converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, and took the name Maria Feodorovna. She married Paul on 26 September 1776. In spite of her husband's difficult character, Maria Feodorovna made a success of her marriage. During the long reign of her mother-in-law, the Russian Empress, Catherine II, Maria and Paul were completely excluded from any political influence, as mother and son mistrusted each other. Maria Feodorovna sided with her husband and lost the initial affection Catherine II had for her. Paul and Maria were forced to live in isolation at Gatchina, but they were devoted to each other and had ten children including: Tsar Alexander I, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Queen Catherine of Wurttemberg and Queen Anna Pavlovna of the Netherlands.
William Henry Wilkins
At Lund University in Sweden Wilkins discovered in 1897 the unpublished correspondence between Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the consort of George I, and her lover, Count Philip Christopher Königsmarck. This research, backed up from the archives of Hanover and elsewhere, led to "The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, Queen Sophie Dorothea, Consort of George I", which appeared in 2 vols. in 1900 (revised edit. 1903). His "Caroline the Illustrious, Queen Consort of George II" (2 vols. 1901; new edit. 1904), had less claim to originality. "A Queen of Tears" (2 vols. 1904), a biography of Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and sister of George III of England, used research at Copenhagen and superseded the previous biography by Frederic Charles Lascelles Wraxall. For his last work, "Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV" (1905, 2 vols.), Wilkins had access, by Edward VII's permission, for the first time to the Fitzherbert papers at Windsor Castle, besides papers belonging to Maria Fitzherbert's family. Wilkins argued for the marriage with George IV.