BERLIN (AP) — The mysterious disappearance of a Swedish count reputed to have had an affair with the wife of George Ludwig of Hannover, later King George I of Great Britain, may soon be solved.
German authorities are planning to test DNA taken from human remains found beneath Hannover's Leine Palace earlier this month to determine whether they belong to Count Philipp Christoph von Koenigsmarck.
German news agency dpa quoted Hannover prosecutor Thomas Klinge saying Friday that determining the identity and the cause of death may confirm whether von Koenigsmarck was murdered when he vanished without a trace on July 1, 1694.
The alleged affair between the dashing young soldier and Sophie Dorothea of Celle prompted the future George I to divorce her the same year. She was imprisoned until her death in 1726.