He is! Frustratingly, he only seems to have been able to observe Voltaire from a distance, i.e. his reports on the whole Voltaire vs Maupertuis, Voltaire vs Fritz disaster come from court talk, and he never met Voltaire himself. (Now that I think of it, does Voltaire ever mention being presented to unfortunate EC? We all know he met and interacted with the sisters, but EC? I guess not, there wasn't really any reason.
He does, however, faithfully report this gem:
Juli 11th. I'm busy with reading until 5, and then I escort the Queen to the theatre. They play Amelie by Voltaire. It is a bit odd that while the poet has been arrested in Frankfurt, at the King's insistence, we keep being presented with his plays here, also at the King's insistence.
For "odd", substitute "Fritzian", Lehndorff. Your monarch sees no contradiction there at all. Hasn't he always insistent Voltaire is scum and he only cares about his genius? (It's not like he'll write "letters and greetings are no substitution for Voltaire, if one has had him in persona", oh no.)
Lehndorff's comments on the Voltaire implosion in general amount to "WTF? I mean, WTF?" in the polite Rokoko way, of course.
Re: One admiring reader comments
He does, however, faithfully report this gem:
Juli 11th. I'm busy with reading until 5, and then I escort the Queen to the theatre. They play Amelie by Voltaire. It is a bit odd that while the poet has been arrested in Frankfurt, at the King's insistence, we keep being presented with his plays here, also at the King's insistence.
For "odd", substitute "Fritzian", Lehndorff. Your monarch sees no contradiction there at all. Hasn't he always insistent Voltaire is scum and he only cares about his genius? (It's not like he'll write "letters and greetings are no substitution for Voltaire, if one has had him in persona", oh no.)
Lehndorff's comments on the Voltaire implosion in general amount to "WTF? I mean, WTF?" in the polite Rokoko way, of course.