Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst

Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst (1743–1800) (ˈkapˈhɛŋst) was a Major in the Prussian Army, an adjutant, close friend, and lover of Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of Frederick the Great.

[2] Thiébault portrayed him in his memoirs as «a tall, cheerful, courageous and witty man of extraordinary physical strength, who could make any company laugh».

[3] Kaphengst exploited the very short prince's interest in him to lead a dissipated, wasteful life at Schloss Meseberg, an estate not far from Rheinsberg Palace which Henry had bought for him and given him as a present in 1774, for which he had sold 29 paintings from his collection to Catherine the Great.

The king tolerated his brother's love affairs, sometimes even pursuing them with jealousy,[7] but despised Kaphengst and brusquely refused his promotion to colonel whereupon the latter took his leave.

[8] But Kaphengst then married and fathered five children, limited to the modest earnings and taxes of the occupants of his manorial estate while the king refused him a pension.