In 1837 his mother became queen consort of Hanover. Shortly before her death in 1841 his step-father, King Ernest Augustus, a member of the British royal family, succeeded in pressuring Friedrich to make a monetary arrangement with his wife and three children for a "de facto" royal annulment. Luise and her children were ennobled in the Grand Duchy of Hesse under the name "von Schönau" on 25 March 1841. The family was further ennobled in 1912 with the surname "von Schönau de Solms".