Wooooow to Caroline's letter and to FW only knowing about SD's letter, I can just see how that could lead to a disaster of epic proportions!
Oncken flatly states this is a complete and utter lie on Knyphausen's part and can't have happened because "The King never hated his son"
I may have yelled a little at the screen here. Okay, I'm not the scholar you guys are, so my reaction was less about his scholarship and more on the order of "?????? This is, like, the one thing I know about FW!" (Well, I know a little more about him now, but. STILL.)
The ideal solution, though it will take a few arguments and years more for them to say it out loud, is for FoW to die without an heir, so Bill of Cumberland becomes the next crown prince. I'm not saying this was coldbloodedly plotted out, but it might be behind dragging out any - not just the one with Wilhelmine - potential marriage projects for Fritz of Wales in his parents' subconscious.
This is fascinating and rings true (especially since you are implying they did eventually think/say it out loud?) if also, as mildred says, DYSFUNCTION EVERYWHERE.
especially since you are implying they did eventually think/say it out loud?)
For the repeated times Caroline later said out loud she wished Fritz of Wales was dead, see my write-up of Hervey's memoirs. The Victorian editor of which also footnotes with the tale of how George and Caroline already started to try and find a way to circumvent the laws of primogeniture and let Bill of Cumberland get at least part of the Kingdom before Fritz of Wales ever came to Britain, i.e. when he was still growing up in Hannover with no chance to either please or disgust them; one of the ideas was to split up Britain and Hannover again and give one to FoW and the other to Bill. AS I recall, one of the ministers even advised G1, who was still alive at the time, that he should bring over Fritz (of Gloucester at that point, since future G2 was still Prince of Wales) to Britain within his life time or else he'd never get there the way the Prince and Crown Princess were acting.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: English marriage intrigues
Date: 2021-03-20 05:12 am (UTC)Oncken flatly states this is a complete and utter lie on Knyphausen's part and can't have happened because "The King never hated his son"
I may have yelled a little at the screen here. Okay, I'm not the scholar you guys are, so my reaction was less about his scholarship and more on the order of "?????? This is, like, the one thing I know about FW!" (Well, I know a little more about him now, but. STILL.)
The ideal solution, though it will take a few arguments and years more for them to say it out loud, is for FoW to die without an heir, so Bill of Cumberland becomes the next crown prince. I'm not saying this was coldbloodedly plotted out, but it might be behind dragging out any - not just the one with Wilhelmine - potential marriage projects for Fritz of Wales in his parents' subconscious.
This is fascinating and rings true (especially since you are implying they did eventually think/say it out loud?) if also, as mildred says, DYSFUNCTION EVERYWHERE.
Re: English marriage intrigues
Date: 2021-03-20 06:14 am (UTC)For the repeated times Caroline later said out loud she wished Fritz of Wales was dead, see my write-up of Hervey's memoirs. The Victorian editor of which also footnotes with the tale of how George and Caroline already started to try and find a way to circumvent the laws of primogeniture and let Bill of Cumberland get at least part of the Kingdom before Fritz of Wales ever came to Britain, i.e. when he was still growing up in Hannover with no chance to either please or disgust them; one of the ideas was to split up Britain and Hannover again and give one to FoW and the other to Bill. AS I recall, one of the ministers even advised G1, who was still alive at the time, that he should bring over Fritz (of Gloucester at that point, since future G2 was still Prince of Wales) to Britain within his life time or else he'd never get there the way the Prince and Crown Princess were acting.