In German, it's not just the prince, it's "der Erbprinz", which makes it easier to differentiate him from a couple of other princes. There's also the problem that in German we can differentiate between "Fürst" and "Prinz", whereas in English, and I think in French, too, it's all the same word.
Fritz is "my brother" until he and AW and Algarotti visit her in Bayreuth, at which point she says she's now switching to calling AW - whom she hasn't seen since he was still a kid and is amazed to find all grown up etc. - "my brother" and Fritz "the King" to avoid confusion. Of course, using first names for everyone would be even less confusing, but such was not the habit of the times. (Have read the memoirs of G1's mother, for example, and she does the same frustrating to Readers thing.)
Of course, first names don't always help. It took me a few letters to check that "Prince Ferdinand" in Fritz' letters to Heinrich during the 7 Years War is actually not their brother but their brother-in-law, EC's brother Ferd (aka the one who won't die in his war). Ferdinand of Hohenzollern is either "my/our brother" (once AW is dead), "my/our brother Ferdinand" or just Ferdinand.
Later on, "the princes my/our nephews" can mean AW's sons, but it can also mean Charlotte's sons. Why oh why does the ancien regime have a thing against first names!
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Re: Wilhelmine's visit home
Date: 2020-01-10 07:09 am (UTC)Fritz is "my brother" until he and AW and Algarotti visit her in Bayreuth, at which point she says she's now switching to calling AW - whom she hasn't seen since he was still a kid and is amazed to find all grown up etc. - "my brother" and Fritz "the King" to avoid confusion. Of course, using first names for everyone would be even less confusing, but such was not the habit of the times. (Have read the memoirs of G1's mother, for example, and she does the same frustrating to Readers thing.)
Of course, first names don't always help. It took me a few letters to check that "Prince Ferdinand" in Fritz' letters to Heinrich during the 7 Years War is actually not their brother but their brother-in-law, EC's brother Ferd (aka the one who won't die in his war). Ferdinand of Hohenzollern is either "my/our brother" (once AW is dead), "my/our brother Ferdinand" or just Ferdinand.
Later on, "the princes my/our nephews" can mean AW's sons, but it can also mean Charlotte's sons. Why oh why does the ancien regime have a thing against first names!