By the way, I turned up the original source (aside from Wilhelmine's more elliptical account) for the forced intoxication episode, or at least a German translation of what I assume was the original French. It's Suhm* writing a report to his boss August the Strong**.
* Saxon envoy to Berlin at the time, later to St. Petersburg. The same Suhm who was later Fritz's close friend at Rheinsberg, whose translation of Wolff for Fritz was set on fire by Fritz's monkey. Fritz's nickname for him was "Diaphane", which one of my sources says may be a play on "Durchlaucht", usually translated "Serene Highness" in English and used for minor German princes, but we're not sure.
** He of the 354 supposed illegitimate children, father of Orzelska.
Anyway, translation mine with help from the internet (Google Translate and some dictionaries). I've bracketed a few places where I could use clarification.
"October 21, 1728,
"Finally the St. Hubert's Hunt came. Etiquette dictates that the Crown Prince sit opposite the King at the table and act as host. I sat next to him and also across from the Queen. All the companions at table had to keep pace with the King in drinking; only I [And here I need either a clearer translation or else some cultural context for how Suhm got out of this requirement: 'nur mir liess er etwas darin nach, weil ich dazu begnadigt worden war, als ich nach Beendigung der Jagd die Taufe erhalten hatte']...
"The Crown Prince drank a lot, but only against his will [any further nuance of 'mit Widerwillen' would be appreciated], as he later confided to me. It meant that he would be sick the next day. Finally the wine began to have an effect on him. He spoke quite loudly of all the grounds that he had for being unhappy with his lot in life. The queen kept waving at me to signal me to make him be quiet, and I did everything I could. I asked him to use what little sense he had left.
"But it didn't help at all: on the contrary, he turned all the way toward me and said everything that came to his tongue...
"Suddenly, the King asked me, 'What is he saying?'
"I replied that the Crown Prince was drunk and couldn't stop himself any more.
"The King answered, 'Oh, he's just pretending. But what's he saying?'
"I replied that he had squeezed my arm the whole time and said that although the King made him drink too much, he still loved him.
"The King repeated that the Crown Prince was only pretending to be drunk. I replied that I could testify that he really was: he had squeezed me so hard in the arm that I couldn't move it.
"Then the Crown Prince suddenly became very serious about that. Then the wine got the upper hand again, and he started to talk again. The Queen was so embarrassed she left the table. Everyone stood up, but only to sit down again. General Keppel and I asked the Crown Prince to go to bed, since he really couldn't hold himself upright any more.
"To this, the Crown Prince began to cry ['schreien'] that he wanted to kiss the King's hand first. The others called out that this was right. The King laughed, when he saw the condition the Prince was in, and held out his hand across the table. But the Crown Prince also wanted to have the other, and he kissed them both, one after another, swore that he loved him with all his heart, and had the King bend over so he could hug him.
"Everyone called, 'Long live the Crown Prince!' This got the Crown Prince even more worked up; he stood up, walked around the table, embraced the King intimately, sank onto one knee, and stayed a long time in that position, all the while talking to the King.
"His Majesty was deeply affected and kept saying, 'Now, that's very good, just be an honest fellow, just be honest,' and so on. The whole proceeding was extremely moving and moved most of those present to tears.
"Finally, the Prince was lifted up. The King lifted up the table. ['hob die Tafel auf'--What? Why? Does this mean he released everyone by standing up?] Herr von Keppel, I, and several officers carried the Prince to his room and put him to bed."
Footnote in my source: "Eyewitnesses expressed the not entirely unfounded opinion that Friedrich's performance was a cleverly calculated comedy."
Okay, eyewitnesses. It's painful to think about either way.
Go home, Fritz, you're drunk
* Saxon envoy to Berlin at the time, later to St. Petersburg. The same Suhm who was later Fritz's close friend at Rheinsberg, whose translation of Wolff for Fritz was set on fire by Fritz's monkey. Fritz's nickname for him was "Diaphane", which one of my sources says may be a play on "Durchlaucht", usually translated "Serene Highness" in English and used for minor German princes, but we're not sure.
** He of the 354 supposed illegitimate children, father of Orzelska.
Anyway, translation mine with help from the internet (Google Translate and some dictionaries). I've bracketed a few places where I could use clarification.
"October 21, 1728,
"Finally the St. Hubert's Hunt came. Etiquette dictates that the Crown Prince sit opposite the King at the table and act as host. I sat next to him and also across from the Queen. All the companions at table had to keep pace with the King in drinking; only I [And here I need either a clearer translation or else some cultural context for how Suhm got out of this requirement: 'nur mir liess er etwas darin nach, weil ich dazu begnadigt worden war, als ich nach Beendigung der Jagd die Taufe erhalten hatte']...
"The Crown Prince drank a lot, but only against his will [any further nuance of 'mit Widerwillen' would be appreciated], as he later confided to me. It meant that he would be sick the next day. Finally the wine began to have an effect on him. He spoke quite loudly of all the grounds that he had for being unhappy with his lot in life. The queen kept waving at me to signal me to make him be quiet, and I did everything I could. I asked him to use what little sense he had left.
"But it didn't help at all: on the contrary, he turned all the way toward me and said everything that came to his tongue...
"Suddenly, the King asked me, 'What is he saying?'
"I replied that the Crown Prince was drunk and couldn't stop himself any more.
"The King answered, 'Oh, he's just pretending. But what's he saying?'
"I replied that he had squeezed my arm the whole time and said that although the King made him drink too much, he still loved him.
"The King repeated that the Crown Prince was only pretending to be drunk. I replied that I could testify that he really was: he had squeezed me so hard in the arm that I couldn't move it.
"Then the Crown Prince suddenly became very serious about that. Then the wine got the upper hand again, and he started to talk again. The Queen was so embarrassed she left the table. Everyone stood up, but only to sit down again. General Keppel and I asked the Crown Prince to go to bed, since he really couldn't hold himself upright any more.
"To this, the Crown Prince began to cry ['schreien'] that he wanted to kiss the King's hand first. The others called out that this was right. The King laughed, when he saw the condition the Prince was in, and held out his hand across the table. But the Crown Prince also wanted to have the other, and he kissed them both, one after another, swore that he loved him with all his heart, and had the King bend over so he could hug him.
"Everyone called, 'Long live the Crown Prince!' This got the Crown Prince even more worked up; he stood up, walked around the table, embraced the King intimately, sank onto one knee, and stayed a long time in that position, all the while talking to the King.
"His Majesty was deeply affected and kept saying, 'Now, that's very good, just be an honest fellow, just be honest,' and so on. The whole proceeding was extremely moving and moved most of those present to tears.
"Finally, the Prince was lifted up. The King lifted up the table. ['hob die Tafel auf'--What? Why? Does this mean he released everyone by standing up?] Herr von Keppel, I, and several officers carried the Prince to his room and put him to bed."
Footnote in my source: "Eyewitnesses expressed the not entirely unfounded opinion that Friedrich's performance was a cleverly calculated comedy."
Okay, eyewitnesses. It's painful to think about either way.