If this show of authority somewhat alarmed Moltke and his placemen, the inexperienced King at first did nothing to displace them. For the first few months of his reign Christian VII. ruled through a triumvirate, composed of Moltke, Bernstorff and Reventlow. The triumvirate, though they detested each other, united in an attempt to discourage the King from governing. If Christian expressed an opinion on any matter of state, they either raised difficulties, or embarked on wearisome discussions. Baffled and discouraged at every turn the young King resolved not to yield without a struggle to his dictators. He knew that the affairs of the nation were in confusion, and he asked a distinguished servant of the state, Count Frederick Danneskjold-Samsöe,[45] to draw up for him an independent report of the condition of the kingdom. Danneskjold-Samsöe performed his task with alacrity, and painted an appalling picture of the distress of the people, the corruption and mismanagement in the great spending departments of the state, and the misgovernment of ministers. He inveighed against the whole policy of the ministers, and especially against that of Bernstorff, whom he regarded as chiefly responsible for the marriage arranged between the King and the English Princess Matilda. This marriage he boldly declared was displeasing to the nation. But in this respect he met with no success; the King showed no inclination to hurry into matrimony, but the betrothal remained unaltered. So far as could be judged Christian inherited his father's liking for England. "I am told," wrote the English envoy, "that he has a predilection towards England. He often talks in private of the British blood in his veins, and often intimates the satisfaction it would give him to lead his army in person in the cause of Great Britain."[46] [45] Count Frederick Danneskjold-Samsöe was a grandson of Christian V. The first Count was Christian V.'s son by Sophie Amalie, daughter of Paul Mothe, an apothecary. His daughter by his first marriage, Frederica Louise, married in 1720 Christian Augustus, Duke of Holstein-Sondeburg-Augustenburg. This marriage played an important part in the interminable Schleswig-Holstein question as affecting the legitimacy of the Pretender. Christian, the late Duke of Augustenburg, and his brother Prince Frederick, also married daughters of the house of Danneskjold-Samsöe. The mother of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein was a Countess Danneskjold-Samsöe. [46] Titley's despatch, Copenhagen, May 13, 1766.