Frogs: belatedly, I have a new theory, based on a) Stratemann early on, in the 1728, mentioning how much little AW loves fireworks and how FW indulges him in this, and b) the factthat firecrackers are called “Knallfrösche” in modern German - maybe “Fröschlinge” was the Rokoko term, and what FW did was allow firecrackers lighted in the antechambre to amuse the kids? (Cleaning staff: thanks, your majesty!)
Seating chart: footnote also for future reference: Princes Wilhelm and Heinrich aren’t AW and our Heinrich respectively, they are the Schwedt cousins. AW and our Heinrich are “2nd Royal Prince” and “3rd Royal Prince” respectively.
Ferdinand’s wetnurse: chosen about a month before SD gave birth via comitee consisting of favored court ladies, there were so many other passages I wanted to translate that I abandoned it. Still can do it, though, since I assume this is how it worked for the other royal children as well. (Except Amalie, if Wilhelmine didn’t make it up about SD not realising/being in denial about being pregnant again until shortly before the birth; I imagine that meant the wetnurse for Amalie had to be found really quickly.)
Even the favorite kid had it rough, man.
Quite. And at Christmas, too. Let’s hope he had at least fun with the firecrackers, if I’m right about this.
Contemporaries getting it wrong: My favourite example of a contemporary being utterly wrong remains Zimmermann’s theory about the escape attempt being that Fritz was on his way to Austria to marry MT, and that later FS showed up at his engagement party to gloat over his defeated rival.
Incidentally, I do find it interesting that Stratemann is so superdiscreet and cryptic about what concerns his boss most- Fritz being so super unkeen on EC. As a point of comparison, Seckendorff the Field Marshall in his letters to Prince Eugene and to the Emperor’s office of course reports what FW, SD and Fritz say at any given point about the Emperor (or other members of the imperial family). And Mitchell reports Fritz being uncomplimentary about Mr.Pitt as it happens. And Podewils of course gives Fritz any voiced MT opinion on himself. Maybe this reflects that Braunschweig, while one of the large, important duchies within the HRE, was still not in a league with Prussia, or maybe Stratemann didn’t want to test how much his Duke wanted that marriage to happen by reporting some of the things not just Fritz but SD and Charlotte said about poor EC at different times. It also goes against the way he consistently tries to put the best spin on the royal family and their behavior. There’s no way to spin “so I hear the Queen and our future Duchess in front of the servants talked about Princess EC has fistula in her anus”.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Braunschweig Perspective: Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine
Date: 2020-10-06 03:21 am (UTC)Seating chart: footnote also for future reference: Princes Wilhelm and Heinrich aren’t AW and our Heinrich respectively, they are the Schwedt cousins. AW and our Heinrich are “2nd Royal Prince” and “3rd Royal Prince” respectively.
Ferdinand’s wetnurse: chosen about a month before SD gave birth via comitee consisting of favored court ladies, there were so many other passages I wanted to translate that I abandoned it. Still can do it, though, since I assume this is how it worked for the other royal children as well. (Except Amalie, if Wilhelmine didn’t make it up about SD not realising/being in denial about being pregnant again until shortly before the birth; I imagine that meant the wetnurse for Amalie had to be found really quickly.)
Even the favorite kid had it rough, man.
Quite. And at Christmas, too. Let’s hope he had at least fun with the firecrackers, if I’m right about this.
Contemporaries getting it wrong: My favourite example of a contemporary being utterly wrong remains Zimmermann’s theory about the escape attempt being that Fritz was on his way to Austria to marry MT, and that later FS showed up at his engagement party to gloat over his defeated rival.
Incidentally, I do find it interesting that Stratemann is so superdiscreet and cryptic about what concerns his boss most- Fritz being so super unkeen on EC. As a point of comparison, Seckendorff the Field Marshall in his letters to Prince Eugene and to the Emperor’s office of course reports what FW, SD and Fritz say at any given point about the Emperor (or other members of the imperial family). And Mitchell reports Fritz being uncomplimentary about Mr.Pitt as it happens. And Podewils of course gives Fritz any voiced MT opinion on himself. Maybe this reflects that Braunschweig, while one of the large, important duchies within the HRE, was still not in a league with Prussia, or maybe Stratemann didn’t want to test how much his Duke wanted that marriage to happen by reporting some of the things not just Fritz but SD and Charlotte said about poor EC at different times. It also goes against the way he consistently tries to put the best spin on the royal family and their behavior. There’s no way to spin “so I hear the Queen and our future Duchess in front of the servants talked about Princess EC has fistula in her anus”.