And the famous letter Fritz was talked into writing to Caroline about vowingn to only marry her daughter I recalled as naming Amelia as well, but now I'm not sure anymore. Miiiiiiildred - could it have been Anne? (Until her marriage to yet another William of Orange, that is.)
I'm only two paragraphs into your write-up because I had to stop here and do some detective work. Because whaaaaat?
I recall Amelia being named in that letter too! Yep, Mitchell--admittedly reporting decades later, but you wouldn't expect him to get it wrong--names Amelia when he has Fritz saying he shouldn't have written that letter.
Oncken definitely quotes from primary sources naming Amelia. One is Hotham, and one--I think, my German isn't quite up to reading as quickly as I'm being forced to right now, I'd get it if I slowed down--Reichenbach. That's in addition to Oncken's summaries of primary sources naming Amelia.
Koser also names Amelia. Once in a direct quote from a letter from Seckendorff to Eugene, which is in Förster. Yep, there it is, right there in Förster, July 1733, when the English decided they wanted the marriage after all, just as Fritz was getting married to EC: "que le Roy d'Angleterre donnera la main au marriage de Son Altesse Royale avec la Princess Amelie."
Also, Wilhelmine certainly thinks it's Amelia, and I'd think she would know! Even writing 10-20 years later, she's not likely to forget the double marriage project. [ETA: Yep, she's another source for the famous letter. She quotes from a followup letter at length, and reports Fritz writing, "I have already pledged my word of honor to your majesty never to marry any other but the princess Amelia your daughter."]
So I'm going to go with it being Amelia and resume reading your write-up.
I didn't know this, though! According to Wikipedia:
In 1725, a potential marriage contract between Anne and King Louis XV of France was considered.
1725, for those of you who need chronology reminders, is the year the seven-year-old Spanish princess who was supposed to marry Louis was sent back in favor of getting him married to someone who could start making babies sooner, and the Spanish sent the French princess back in return. The fact that a royal marriage was considered between France and England is also related to the part where England and France were allies between 1716 and 1731, unusually so.
Maybe Dennison is confusing the marriage to Louis XV that didn't happen with the marriage to Fritz that didn't happen?
Re: The First Iron Lady: A life of Caroline of Ansbach - I: Cinderella
I'm only two paragraphs into your write-up because I had to stop here and do some detective work. Because whaaaaat?
I recall Amelia being named in that letter too! Yep, Mitchell--admittedly reporting decades later, but you wouldn't expect him to get it wrong--names Amelia when he has Fritz saying he shouldn't have written that letter.
Oncken definitely quotes from primary sources naming Amelia. One is Hotham, and one--I think, my German isn't quite up to reading as quickly as I'm being forced to right now, I'd get it if I slowed down--Reichenbach. That's in addition to Oncken's summaries of primary sources naming Amelia.
Koser also names Amelia. Once in a direct quote from a letter from Seckendorff to Eugene, which is in Förster. Yep, there it is, right there in Förster, July 1733, when the English decided they wanted the marriage after all, just as Fritz was getting married to EC: "que le Roy d'Angleterre donnera la main au marriage de Son Altesse Royale avec la Princess Amelie."
Also, Wilhelmine certainly thinks it's Amelia, and I'd think she would know! Even writing 10-20 years later, she's not likely to forget the double marriage project. [ETA: Yep, she's another source for the famous letter. She quotes from a followup letter at length, and reports Fritz writing, "I have already pledged my word of honor to your majesty never to marry any other but the princess Amelia your daughter."]
So I'm going to go with it being Amelia and resume reading your write-up.
I didn't know this, though! According to Wikipedia:
In 1725, a potential marriage contract between Anne and King Louis XV of France was considered.
1725, for those of you who need chronology reminders, is the year the seven-year-old Spanish princess who was supposed to marry Louis was sent back in favor of getting him married to someone who could start making babies sooner, and the Spanish sent the French princess back in return. The fact that a royal marriage was considered between France and England is also related to the part where England and France were allies between 1716 and 1731, unusually so.
Maybe Dennison is confusing the marriage to Louis XV that didn't happen with the marriage to Fritz that didn't happen?