SD focused all of her verbal abuse on her daughter and Fritz got off light from her
That's my theory, not least because of the difference in gender. Fritz was the longed for surviving son and heir. He also was SD's key to future happiness, freedom and respect once FW was dead. And he moved out of her sphere and into her husband's after early childhood, which meant his visits in her household were treasured occasions where he could relax, enjoy art. He did not live in her proximity on a day to day basis.
Whereas Wilhelmine did. She also started out as a disappointment simply due to being a daughter, not a son, something that wasn't true so much for her younger sisters since at that point sons were already there. And then I think she became to SD a second chance to get the life SD herself wanted to have, second hand: Queen of England, not stuck in tiny Prussia with this awful, weird husband whose mannerisms make him the laughing stock of European princes. If she could accomplish that, then SD's life would not have been wasted. So anything that made it look like Wilhelmine wasn't 100% on board with becoming the second SD, the one who gets to be Queen of a powerful nation and live in style and admiration was a personal attack and betrayal.
(Note that Ulrike, the only one of the daughters who actually did become a Queen - of Sweden, granted, less glamorous than England, to be sure, but still, Queen - was also SD's favourite. Validation at last!)
To me, one of the most telling details remains that it needed Fritz' first governess to point out to SD that Leti was physically abusing Wilhelmine and would cripple her for life is this went on much longer. That Wilhelmine didn't feel she could tell this to her mother is of course not that uncommon in abuse situations, because the child is ashamed and feels it's her/his fault, and that doesn't necessarily signify how good or bad the parent/child situation is. Especially in a social situation where parents aren't the one doing the actual hands-on child raising but leave that to servants. But still. If an employee who is actually in charge of another kid is able to notice, I feel judgmental enough to say SD should have.
Re: Wilhelmine
That's my theory, not least because of the difference in gender. Fritz was the longed for surviving son and heir. He also was SD's key to future happiness, freedom and respect once FW was dead. And he moved out of her sphere and into her husband's after early childhood, which meant his visits in her household were treasured occasions where he could relax, enjoy art. He did not live in her proximity on a day to day basis.
Whereas Wilhelmine did. She also started out as a disappointment simply due to being a daughter, not a son, something that wasn't true so much for her younger sisters since at that point sons were already there. And then I think she became to SD a second chance to get the life SD herself wanted to have, second hand: Queen of England, not stuck in tiny Prussia with this awful, weird husband whose mannerisms make him the laughing stock of European princes. If she could accomplish that, then SD's life would not have been wasted. So anything that made it look like Wilhelmine wasn't 100% on board with becoming the second SD, the one who gets to be Queen of a powerful nation and live in style and admiration was a personal attack and betrayal.
(Note that Ulrike, the only one of the daughters who actually did become a Queen - of Sweden, granted, less glamorous than England, to be sure, but still, Queen - was also SD's favourite. Validation at last!)
To me, one of the most telling details remains that it needed Fritz' first governess to point out to SD that Leti was physically abusing Wilhelmine and would cripple her for life is this went on much longer. That Wilhelmine didn't feel she could tell this to her mother is of course not that uncommon in abuse situations, because the child is ashamed and feels it's her/his fault, and that doesn't necessarily signify how good or bad the parent/child situation is. Especially in a social situation where parents aren't the one doing the actual hands-on child raising but leave that to servants. But still. If an employee who is actually in charge of another kid is able to notice, I feel judgmental enough to say SD should have.