Ah, excellent, thanks. Really the question I was asking was "how did Carl August turn out so well," which you have answered :) (And... a great deal of my childrearing philosophy does in fact turn on that same principle, so I feel for Anna Amalia!) Well, that and "was that actually Charlotte she was talking about, and was Charlotte actually that awful." :)

Holy cow, I hadn't realized that Maria Theresia's ascension, er, took quite so long -- thank you for this, this is fascinating. And I would never have figured out that "the Queen of Hungary" referred to her, so I'm glad you clarified that :)

(Also, yay Franz Stefan!!)