:) Well, your enthusiasm is an inspiring incentive for reading and summarizing. Speaking of Readers: Alas, though, Catt's diary as opposed to the introduction to same is in French, and I'm not up to hundreds of pages in French, though if and when I find the time, I might do some tiny compare and contrast of individual events. For lo, the German editor in his introduction thinks our Swiss memoirist is, well, just the teensiest bit prone to, well, hear for yourself:
When the news about the death of the Prince of Prussia arrives, Catt's memoirs claim he was the first whom the brother talks to about his pain; according to the diaries, however, the reader wasn't even received by the King during the four days after said news arrived at camp. When a three months later the sister, the margravine of Bayreuth dies, the King according to the memoirs at once needs to see Catt, who gets woken up at 2 am for that purpose, doesn't get dismissed again until three hours later; he then sends at once a condolence letter which since he's already given his condolences face to face seems to be superflous, which moves its recipient to call its writer back again fifteen minutes after receiving it, and then, during the third day after receiving the news, for another four hours. In the diary, however, Catt first sends the condolence letter, which makes sense, and isn't received by the King until their usual hour.
Thus says the German introduction. I'm also still Browsing through the English translated memoirs in parallel, and incidentally, disapproving English translator, Lord Rosebery, has a name that sounded vaguely familiar to me, from an Oscar Wilde context. To wit: Oscar's homme fatal, Lord Alfred Douglas, aka Bosie, had had an older brother, Lord Drumlanring, who'd worked as Rosebery's private secretary, may or may not have had a sexual relationship with him and may or may not have shot himself because of it (official explanation: hunting accident), which contributed to the Marquess of Queensberry going extra beserk on poor OW later). Links:
Also, the date of the translation's publication, 1916, makes it the middle of WWI, so no wonder the Fritz loathing is powerful in the introduction and Rosebery tells us that it was his heritage that led straight to the current catastrophe etc.
Re: One admiring reader comments
When the news about the death of the Prince of Prussia arrives, Catt's memoirs claim he was the first whom the brother talks to about his pain; according to the diaries, however, the reader wasn't even received by the King during the four days after said news arrived at camp. When a three months later the sister, the margravine of Bayreuth dies, the King according to the memoirs at once needs to see Catt, who gets woken up at 2 am for that purpose, doesn't get dismissed again until three hours later; he then sends at once a condolence letter which since he's already given his condolences face to face seems to be superflous, which moves its recipient to call its writer back again fifteen minutes after receiving it, and then, during the third day after receiving the news, for another four hours. In the diary, however, Catt first sends the condolence letter, which makes sense, and isn't received by the King until their usual hour.
Thus says the German introduction. I'm also still Browsing through the English translated memoirs in parallel, and incidentally, disapproving English translator, Lord Rosebery, has a name that sounded vaguely familiar to me, from an Oscar Wilde context. To wit: Oscar's homme fatal, Lord Alfred Douglas, aka Bosie, had had an older brother, Lord Drumlanring, who'd worked as Rosebery's private secretary, may or may not have had a sexual relationship with him and may or may not have shot himself because of it (official explanation: hunting accident), which contributed to the Marquess of Queensberry going extra beserk on poor OW later). Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Primrose,_5th_Earl_of_Rosebery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Douglas,_Viscount_Drumlanrig
Also, the date of the translation's publication, 1916, makes it the middle of WWI, so no wonder the Fritz loathing is powerful in the introduction and Rosebery tells us that it was his heritage that led straight to the current catastrophe etc.