Fainting spell: well, George I. died in 1727, so presumably he was already in less than peak condition. Re: Wilhelmine's fluency in English, I would be a bit sceptical if her memoirs were all we had on this, but there are contemporary reports from envoys and visitors backing her up which Oster quotes. Given that SD refers to her intended marriage and destiny as Queen of England for the first time when Wilhelmine is all of six months old (Oster quotes that letter as well) and Fritz didn't exist yet, and her entire education was aimed at this one goal (which SD could do because FW didn't much care what Wilhelmine learned as long as religious instructions were included, unlike Fritz), I can well believe it. (Wilhelmine also says in her memoirs that she came hate the sound "Duke of Gloucester" (i.e. future Fritz of Wales; future G2 was still Prince of Wales at this point) because her mother kept saying "the Duke of Gloucester wouldn't like these manners" or "this isn't good enough for the Duke of Gloucester" when she disapproved of something. And eventually realising it had all been for nothing, and worse, because trying to please her mother by clinging to this plan had greatly contributed to making her a target for FW must have been incredibly bitter.
(Meanwhile in England: Lord Hervey in his memoirs doesn't even mention Wilhelmine and only in one single sentence refers to the story that here may have been some talk about marrying Fritz of Wales to a Prussian princess or the other. To be fair, he generally regards German politics as a waste of time, but still, the whole marriage project was never as important to the Brits as it was to SD, and while there was some minor effort to make Fritz/Emily-Amalie happen because Fritz was the future King lasting into 1730, Wilhelmine/Fritz of Wales was dropped early on.)
Since Fritz wasn't actually supposed to reside in England (but in Hannover), I think his English lessons were more limited, and of course he wasn't urged to practice constantly, leaving aside FW was running him ragged with military education once he was older than 7.
and her entire education was aimed at this one goal (which SD could do because FW didn't much care what Wilhelmine learned as long as religious instructions were included, unlike Fritz), I can well believe it.
Oh wow -- that hadn't really occurred to me.
And eventually realising it had all been for nothing, and worse, because trying to please her mother by clinging to this plan had greatly contributed to making her a target for FW must have been incredibly bitter.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: G1 state visit as per Wilhelmine
Date: 2021-02-22 07:36 am (UTC)(Meanwhile in England: Lord Hervey in his memoirs doesn't even mention Wilhelmine and only in one single sentence refers to the story that here may have been some talk about marrying Fritz of Wales to a Prussian princess or the other. To be fair, he generally regards German politics as a waste of time, but still, the whole marriage project was never as important to the Brits as it was to SD, and while there was some minor effort to make Fritz/Emily-Amalie happen because Fritz was the future King lasting into 1730, Wilhelmine/Fritz of Wales was dropped early on.)
Since Fritz wasn't actually supposed to reside in England (but in Hannover), I think his English lessons were more limited, and of course he wasn't urged to practice constantly, leaving aside FW was running him ragged with military education once he was older than 7.
Re: G1 state visit as per Wilhelmine
Date: 2021-02-26 05:18 am (UTC)Oh wow -- that hadn't really occurred to me.
And eventually realising it had all been for nothing, and worse, because trying to please her mother by clinging to this plan had greatly contributed to making her a target for FW must have been incredibly bitter.
:( I feel so bad for Wilhelmine. (Yet again.)