Ah, glancing at the 19th century conspiracy book, two findings:
1. "König Moltke" is absolutely what his contemporaries called him and not something made up by Barz. (I know this has no bearing on whether people thought he was in danger of making a literal bid for the throne, but I was wondering. And if it's true, and if that remark by Christian is true, it provides some additional context.)
2. According to this book, Christian held a grudge against Moltke because Moltke kept him out of state affairs. Danish law said that the king was competent to rule at age 14, and since Frederik was clearly dying, Christian felt he should have been allowed to play an active part in the government, but Moltke made sure Christian wasn't included or trained at all, and Bernstorff didn't dare oppose his powerful protector.
Now that I believe, as very few powerful rulers do bring themselves to train a successor during their lifetimes. Moltke specifically avoided joining council sessions so he could spend all his time making sure he was one step away from the easy-to-influence Frederik, not arguing with people who might not listen to him. Why on earth would he give up being König Moltke in favor of Christian a moment sooner than he had to?
So yeah, I see even more grounds for resentment and claims of selfishness here. (Should a mentally ill 14-year-old be allowed to rule a country, well, Moltke, I might actually be on your side here, but I see how it created bad blood, even beyond the abusive tutor situation.)
Re: Danish kings and their favorites: Frederik V and Moltke
1. "König Moltke" is absolutely what his contemporaries called him and not something made up by Barz. (I know this has no bearing on whether people thought he was in danger of making a literal bid for the throne, but I was wondering. And if it's true, and if that remark by Christian is true, it provides some additional context.)
2. According to this book, Christian held a grudge against Moltke because Moltke kept him out of state affairs. Danish law said that the king was competent to rule at age 14, and since Frederik was clearly dying, Christian felt he should have been allowed to play an active part in the government, but Moltke made sure Christian wasn't included or trained at all, and Bernstorff didn't dare oppose his powerful protector.
Now that I believe, as very few powerful rulers do bring themselves to train a successor during their lifetimes. Moltke specifically avoided joining council sessions so he could spend all his time making sure he was one step away from the easy-to-influence Frederik, not arguing with people who might not listen to him. Why on earth would he give up being König Moltke in favor of Christian a moment sooner than he had to?
So yeah, I see even more grounds for resentment and claims of selfishness here. (Should a mentally ill 14-year-old be allowed to rule a country, well, Moltke, I might actually be on your side here, but I see how it created bad blood, even beyond the abusive tutor situation.)