them only in private. Matters changed when the British ambassador Hotham arrived and officially suggested marriage between Wilhelmine and the Prince of Wales, providing the king agreed to marriage between Crown Prince Frederick and Amelia of Great Britain, and the dismissal of his favorite, the anti-British Grumbkow, whom they accused of treason against him. The king agreed to the terms, if proof of Grumbkow's guilt was shown, and if his son was appointed governor of Hanover. Grumbkow allied with Seckendorff to prevent the marriage alliance and thus his own fall, while the latter informed the king that the British suggestion was a result of the queen's intrigues to depose him in favor of his son and make Prussia a de facto British province through "the vain and haughty English daughter-in-law", whose extravagance would ruin the state. When ambassador Hotham returned with the proof of Grumbkow's guilt, the king reportedly flew into a rage and beat the ambassador. The queen had the crown prince write to Hotham and unsuccessfully ask him to reconcile with the king; before departing Prussia, however, he left the evidence against Grumbkow with the queen. Escape attempt of the Crown Prince Sophia Dorothea spent many days talking to her eldest son in the library, and was informed of his plans to escape from his father's custody. In August 1730, during a tour he made with his father through the provinces, Frederick tried to escape from Prussia, and was brought back a prisoner. The king informed the queen of the event through Sophie de Kamecke before their arrival. There were compromising letters by the queen and princess Wilhelmine in Frederick's portefeuille, which was forwarded to them by a friend after the arrest of Frederick's accomplice Katte. They burned the letters and replaced them with fabricated and uncompromising ones. However, "as there were near fifteen hundred of the originals, although we worked very hard, not more than six hundred or seven hundred could be completed in the time". The portefeuille was also filled with ornamental articles. When the portefeuille was later opened, Frederick did not recognize its content. Grumbkow immediately suspected what had transpired and stated: "These cursed women have outwitted us!" When the king returned, he told the queen that her son was dead. She replied: "What! Have you murdered your son?" When given the reply: "He was not my son, he was only a miserable deserter," she