William of Orange ([personal profile] cahn: William III of England, of William-and-Mary) wanted to take Tiny Terror FW (okay, 12-yo FW) home and adopt him as his heir and future king of England?!
An overlooked key turning point of European history, I'd say. Now given FW was F1's only child and heir, and F1 would never have made his Schwedt half brothers or their kids his heirs, what with his belief his stepmother had poisoned his other brothers to achieve just this, I'm assuming FW would have remained King of Prussia as well as being King of England, just as the Georges were also Electors of Hannover.
...so instead of the money spending Georges who have no problem with letting their PMs do most of the de facto governing, Britain two micromanaging control freak workoholics right after the other. Bad news for Händel, for starters; supposedly FW liked at least some of his music (Händel is named among the very few composers he could identify, at least), but I very much doubt he'd have been a patron the way Georges 1 - 3 were. As for encouraging opera per se... yeah, no. And if the English aristocracy was upset that G1 showed up with no Queen and German mistress(es), which meant no employement for the ladies, and most of the good court positions for the gentlemen also taken, well. Welcome to FW's austerity program, Britain! And tall British men, watch out! Welcome to the army.
Presumably the Jacobite uprisings would still have happened, meaning FW would have had to go to war. He'd have liked being the head of the Anglican Church but would have started by telling the bishops what they did wrong and how to be better Protestants. One look at Anglocatholicism, and FW goes "No popery!"
Assuming all of this doesn't result in Britain deposing FW and going for the Hannovers (or Stuarts) after all, the father-son clash could play out very differently. Because in rl, there was no lack of father-son clashes among the Georges (and one Fritz), remember, and all the Princes of Wales were in a mutual benefit relationship with the opposition. Maybe Britain would have seen a regency far, far sooner, especially if FW as has been speculated did have Porpyria, same as G3. So instead of Küstrin and dead Katte, you may have gotten locked up as insane FW and Regent Fritz, to become King Fritz after a decade of regency.
...who then gets to deal with the 45 uprising and Culloden. Um. Also, if his life dates still remain the same, he's King when the Colonials start their uprising. Old Fritz vs George Washington?
FW beats up cousin George when he's 12/13 and George is 17/18. Shortly after F1's coronation.
I can see why G2 never got over it. To be beaten up by a (small) 12 years old if you're 17 has to be extra humiliating. Also, now I wonder whether FW didn't mind his mother making him pose for that David painting after all, what with the David and Goliath possible analogy.
Re: No Pity for the Sons readthrough - young FW
An overlooked key turning point of European history, I'd say. Now given FW was F1's only child and heir, and F1 would never have made his Schwedt half brothers or their kids his heirs, what with his belief his stepmother had poisoned his other brothers to achieve just this, I'm assuming FW would have remained King of Prussia as well as being King of England, just as the Georges were also Electors of Hannover.
...so instead of the money spending Georges who have no problem with letting their PMs do most of the de facto governing, Britain two micromanaging control freak workoholics right after the other. Bad news for Händel, for starters; supposedly FW liked at least some of his music (Händel is named among the very few composers he could identify, at least), but I very much doubt he'd have been a patron the way Georges 1 - 3 were. As for encouraging opera per se... yeah, no. And if the English aristocracy was upset that G1 showed up with no Queen and German mistress(es), which meant no employement for the ladies, and most of the good court positions for the gentlemen also taken, well. Welcome to FW's austerity program, Britain! And tall British men, watch out! Welcome to the army.
Presumably the Jacobite uprisings would still have happened, meaning FW would have had to go to war. He'd have liked being the head of the Anglican Church but would have started by telling the bishops what they did wrong and how to be better Protestants. One look at Anglocatholicism, and FW goes "No popery!"
Assuming all of this doesn't result in Britain deposing FW and going for the Hannovers (or Stuarts) after all, the father-son clash could play out very differently. Because in rl, there was no lack of father-son clashes among the Georges (and one Fritz), remember, and all the Princes of Wales were in a mutual benefit relationship with the opposition. Maybe Britain would have seen a regency far, far sooner, especially if FW as has been speculated did have Porpyria, same as G3. So instead of Küstrin and dead Katte, you may have gotten locked up as insane FW and Regent Fritz, to become King Fritz after a decade of regency.
...who then gets to deal with the 45 uprising and Culloden. Um. Also, if his life dates still remain the same, he's King when the Colonials start their uprising. Old Fritz vs George Washington?
FW beats up cousin George when he's 12/13 and George is 17/18. Shortly after F1's coronation.
I can see why G2 never got over it. To be beaten up by a (small) 12 years old if you're 17 has to be extra humiliating. Also, now I wonder whether FW didn't mind his mother making him pose for that David painting after all, what with the David and Goliath possible analogy.