Oddly (or perhaps not oddly), the biography I was reading this in cites this as a true fact with no reference to the fact that estranged!Voltaire is not the most reliable source on Fritz. That said, I'm finding that the majority of history I read has the same MO: just state things from the primary sources without critically evaluating them. Leaving you frustrated if you have any familiarity with the sources at all, or even have just read other books that selectively cited different material from the sources.
REGARDLESS. I can imagine Fritz reading this and thinking, "Damn, I missed my chance! That's a great line, can't believe I didn't think of it. It's not too late, is it? Quick, someone go fuck a donkey or a horse so I can pardon you with freedom of the penis." (He always admired Voltaire's way with words, all his life, even when he was busy denigrating him as a person and having him arrested and stuff. When Old Fritz was rapidly approaching his deathbed and having his favorite authors read to him in the evenings to distract him from the pain, in the last month of his life, our sources record that the very last piece of literature read to him was something by Voltaire. Ultimate frenemies. <3)
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REGARDLESS. I can imagine Fritz reading this and thinking, "Damn, I missed my chance! That's a great line, can't believe I didn't think of it. It's not too late, is it? Quick, someone go fuck a donkey or a horse so I can pardon you with freedom of the penis." (He always admired Voltaire's way with words, all his life, even when he was busy denigrating him as a person and having him arrested and stuff. When Old Fritz was rapidly approaching his deathbed and having his favorite authors read to him in the evenings to distract him from the pain, in the last month of his life, our sources record that the very last piece of literature read to him was something by Voltaire. Ultimate frenemies. <3)