anything, as the matter was avoided by both George I and his ministers. When she returned to Berlin, Frederick William was so discontent with her failure that he had the passage between their apartments walled up (it remained so for six weeks). Frederick, Prince of Wales, sent his agent La Motte to ask whether she would permit a secret visit by him to see his intended bride, Wilhelmine. The queen agreed, but made the mistake of saying so to the British ambassador Dubourguai, which obliged him to inform George I. George recalled Frederick to England, and had La Motte arrested and imprisoned. All this damaged the queen and the prospect of the marriage alliance in the eyes of the king, causing a great row between them. From 1726 until 1735, Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff was the Austrian ambassador in Berlin and the king's favorite. He came to be the main opponent of the queen, due to his opposition to the British-Prussian marriage alliance. The animosity between the queen and Seckendorff was well known and commented on by the king: "My wife and the whole world are against him; the Prince of Anhalt and my Fritz hate him like the pest, but he is a brave fellow, and loves me." In 1729, negotiations for the British marriage alliance were disrupted by the activities of Frederick William's army recruiters. Frederick William wanted tall soldiers for his army; his agents went all over Germany paying or even kidnapping such men. They snatched men from Hanover, whose ruler was also the king of Great Britain. This caused diplomatic incidents, and Frederick William stopped all negotiations. But the queen renewed them. When Grumbkow revealed her independent negotiations to the king, the king stated that he would marry Wilhelmine to either a prince of Schwedt or Weissenfels, and that Sophia could consent or be imprisoned for life. She was advised by Borck to suggest Prince Frederick of Bayreuth as an alternative, which she did. Then she wrote to the queen of Great Britain, claiming illness. The reply was unsatisfactory, and the king learned of her pretense. Frederick William beat Wilhelmine in Sophia's presence, and Sophia agreed to drop the British marriage, provided that Wilhelmine was married to Frederick of Bayreuth, not the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. She fell genuinely ill shortly afterward, and successfully asked him to reconcile with their eldest son and daughter, and afterwards beat