Not happily so, as I recall. Is this before or after he drafts the Finnish Sex Machine for reproductive help?
Oh, good question. *checks* Before! Finnish sex machine was 1775.
Hang on. He used to do this where, exactly?
*checks* Altona, in Denmark. I am taking the author's word for it, and he does screw up marriage dates even for his protagonists, so.
Now, Lehndorff is working for Juliana's older sister, so it's not surprising this is how he heard the story. I recall some quotes from the Anna Amalia biography where her mother Charlotte mentions these events; again, Charlotte is married to Juliana's older brother, so she, too, has heard it this way. And Lessing works directly for Charlotte as a librarian. He gets his income from her.
Oh, good catch. Of course he does.
On the other hand, you have a number of enterprising Russian royal ladies in this very century who did manage a coup: Anna Ivanova, Elizabeth and Catherine.
Very true, and the "Struensee and Caroline Matilda are going to pull a Catherine-Orlov!" rumors are flying high during the build-up to Struensee's fall. It had been less than 10 years!
Especially considering that the free Danish press, while it existed, had presented Struensee as THE WORST, so it's not just Juliana who is saying this.
Yeah, also true, and good point about Voltaire initially believing the Calas story. Poor Struensee. The deck was really just stacked against him. (And he didn't prioritize Christian! I mean, Christian sounds super annoying, and with the chance to Do Good, I totally get it. But still. Bad move in hindsight.)
Re: Danish kings and their favorites: Struensee
Oh, good question. *checks* Before! Finnish sex machine was 1775.
Hang on. He used to do this where, exactly?
*checks* Altona, in Denmark. I am taking the author's word for it, and he does screw up marriage dates even for his protagonists, so.
Now, Lehndorff is working for Juliana's older sister, so it's not surprising this is how he heard the story. I recall some quotes from the Anna Amalia biography where her mother Charlotte mentions these events; again, Charlotte is married to Juliana's older brother, so she, too, has heard it this way. And Lessing works directly for Charlotte as a librarian. He gets his income from her.
Oh, good catch. Of course he does.
On the other hand, you have a number of enterprising Russian royal ladies in this very century who did manage a coup: Anna Ivanova, Elizabeth and Catherine.
Very true, and the "Struensee and Caroline Matilda are going to pull a Catherine-Orlov!" rumors are flying high during the build-up to Struensee's fall. It had been less than 10 years!
Especially considering that the free Danish press, while it existed, had presented Struensee as THE WORST, so it's not just Juliana who is saying this.
Yeah, also true, and good point about Voltaire initially believing the Calas story. Poor Struensee. The deck was really just stacked against him. (And he didn't prioritize Christian! I mean, Christian sounds super annoying, and with the chance to Do Good, I totally get it. But still. Bad move in hindsight.)