Pretty sure this is where Lavisse is getting the idea that Fritz was unhappy because Wilhelmine wasn't going to be a queen and that was the beginning of his lifelong coolness toward her.
That, and there's actually an early letter in Volz (No.7, dated Küstrin 1731, no more definite than that) where Fritz writes to Wilhelmine: As you want to hear my opinion about your marriage, I have to tell you: It pains me deeply that your beautiful qualities shan't be able to sparkle in front of Europe, for only in England you can be who you were meant to be. HOWEVER, the letter then continues: But if the Heriditary Prince is good looking, as you write, you may be able to live more peaceful there than elsewhere, and I can see you whenever I want, without having to ask for the agreement of an haughty and proud parliament.
(Mantteufel reports later that Fritz has a higher opinion of his Braunschweig brother-in-law (the one married to Charlotte, not EC's other brothers) than of his Bayreuth one, but that's in 1737, years after having gotten to know both. (Though a Braunschweig Duke certainly outranks a Bayreuth Margrave by far.) Anyway, aside of everything else, it would be surprising if Fritz had escaped the constant SD doctrine as given to both her oldest children, that only the Hannover cousins and the British throne are worthy, and a minor German noble is really below par. (Btw, completley wrong, this is not, from a contemporary pov - both Wilhelmine and sisters Sophie & Friedrike Louise, all of whom ended up with Margraves, were married off below rank and cheaply, even taking into account the Hohenzollern were upstarts as royalty.)
OMG, FW and Grumbkow, make up your mind! "Have boundaries!" "Not that many boundaries!"
Oh, I think their minds are completely made up. To "separate those two by any means, ensure they both look to the King, not each other, for validation", so Fritz gets told the King will be displeased if he doesn't keep a distance to Wilhelmine, and Wilhelmine gets told it's all due to Fritz and the King is really rooting for her.
Which also fits with FW writing in the autumn of 1730 already that Fritz is to be told no one in Berlin asks about him or cares what happens to him, including his mother, and that Wihelmine is locked in her rooms and won't be let go (apparantly at this point "Wilhelmine doesn't ask, either" is not yet deemed credible), and in their big reunion scene with Fritz completley submitting in the August of 1731 says himself (according to Grumbkow's protocol of the event as written for Seckendorff) "no one in Berlin asked for you or cares whether you live or die". It's a very deliberate policy to isolate those two, who have been each other's closest person, emotionally, especially from each other and make them question each other, at least till Wilhelmine is away in Bayreuth, at which point Grumbkow and FW probably figure that marriage and motherhood will do the rest.
In terms of contemporary documents: this is also where the letter from Fritz which I quoted in the last post from December 1731 comes in, where he says he noticed she's doubting him but swears he loves her and the Queen alone.
Even within the memoirs, written at a point where Wilhelmine is constructing for herself a narrative of post-Küstrin progressive enstrangement, do contain the description of their reunion the following year, though (during her disastrous visit home post birth of child), in which Fritz gets described as a loving brother again, and their letters from the mid 30s certainly sound like they're back to complete frankness (they include Fritz' only criticial references to SD ever), and to joking with each other. (One big difference between memoir writer Wilhelmine and letter writer Wilhelmine is that the letters showcase her sense of humor far more, which is due to the nature of the genre, I suppose.)
So: I think the best one can say is that Grumbkow & FW temporarily succeeded in that they did introduce some emotional enstrangement, but they never managed complete separation, and eventually the two found each other again.
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Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine
Date: 2020-03-09 05:16 am (UTC)That, and there's actually an early letter in Volz (No.7, dated Küstrin 1731, no more definite than that) where Fritz writes to Wilhelmine: As you want to hear my opinion about your marriage, I have to tell you: It pains me deeply that your beautiful qualities shan't be able to sparkle in front of Europe, for only in England you can be who you were meant to be. HOWEVER, the letter then continues: But if the Heriditary Prince is good looking, as you write, you may be able to live more peaceful there than elsewhere, and I can see you whenever I want, without having to ask for the agreement of an haughty and proud parliament.
(Mantteufel reports later that Fritz has a higher opinion of his Braunschweig brother-in-law (the one married to Charlotte, not EC's other brothers) than of his Bayreuth one, but that's in 1737, years after having gotten to know both. (Though a Braunschweig Duke certainly outranks a Bayreuth Margrave by far.) Anyway, aside of everything else, it would be surprising if Fritz had escaped the constant SD doctrine as given to both her oldest children, that only the Hannover cousins and the British throne are worthy, and a minor German noble is really below par. (Btw, completley wrong, this is not, from a contemporary pov - both Wilhelmine and sisters Sophie & Friedrike Louise, all of whom ended up with Margraves, were married off below rank and cheaply, even taking into account the Hohenzollern were upstarts as royalty.)
OMG, FW and Grumbkow, make up your mind! "Have boundaries!" "Not that many boundaries!"
Oh, I think their minds are completely made up. To "separate those two by any means, ensure they both look to the King, not each other, for validation", so Fritz gets told the King will be displeased if he doesn't keep a distance to Wilhelmine, and Wilhelmine gets told it's all due to Fritz and the King is really rooting for her.
Which also fits with FW writing in the autumn of 1730 already that Fritz is to be told no one in Berlin asks about him or cares what happens to him, including his mother, and that Wihelmine is locked in her rooms and won't be let go (apparantly at this point "Wilhelmine doesn't ask, either" is not yet deemed credible), and in their big reunion scene with Fritz completley submitting in the August of 1731 says himself (according to Grumbkow's protocol of the event as written for Seckendorff) "no one in Berlin asked for you or cares whether you live or die". It's a very deliberate policy to isolate those two, who have been each other's closest person, emotionally, especially from each other and make them question each other, at least till Wilhelmine is away in Bayreuth, at which point Grumbkow and FW probably figure that marriage and motherhood will do the rest.
In terms of contemporary documents: this is also where the letter from Fritz which I quoted in the last post from December 1731 comes in, where he says he noticed she's doubting him but swears he loves her and the Queen alone.
Even within the memoirs, written at a point where Wilhelmine is constructing for herself a narrative of post-Küstrin progressive enstrangement, do contain the description of their reunion the following year, though (during her disastrous visit home post birth of child), in which Fritz gets described as a loving brother again, and their letters from the mid 30s certainly sound like they're back to complete frankness (they include Fritz' only criticial references to SD ever), and to joking with each other. (One big difference between memoir writer Wilhelmine and letter writer Wilhelmine is that the letters showcase her sense of humor far more, which is due to the nature of the genre, I suppose.)
So: I think the best one can say is that Grumbkow & FW temporarily succeeded in that they did introduce some emotional enstrangement, but they never managed complete separation, and eventually the two found each other again.