as I haven't yet read a biography of G3, though I mean to in the long run.
Please do, and please summarize for salon when you do!
Fritz of Wales would die three years later and as this letter is a "just in case I'm not around when you reach your majority" thing, might have had an inkling he wasn't the healthiest?
Oof, it sounds like it. Wikipedia tells me he probably died of a pulmonary embolism, so yeah, maybe. Sad.
Some fascinating details: G1 is referred to by Fritz of Wales as "my Grand-Father, and Best Friend", and the monarch future G3 is supposed to model himself after. Now given that Fritz of Wales actually did see his grandfather during his childhood and youth, as opposed to his parents, when growing up in Hannover because G1 went visiting ever so often, it makes sense they had a relationship
It is not uncommon in dysfunctional families for people who don't get along with their parents to either get along better with their grandparents if they're alive, or to romanticize them if they're not. The lure of the alternate parental figure is strong.
Which leads me to Fritz. He may have trashed F1 in his history books and praised his father, but I'm willing to bet that if F1 had been king while Fritz was growing up, and FW had just been crown prince...F1 would have been the new SD.
Fritz of Wales mentions he gives this letter to his wife, G3's mother, and the mention here and in other parts is always affectionate, so hopefully despite the fact he put her through a ghastly birth to annoy his parents, he otherwise proved to be an okay husband.
Let's hope! Of course, deranged alcoholic Frederik V of Denmark wrote some very affectionate letters to his Moltke...
If you can be without War, let not Your ambition draw you into it. A good deal of the National Debt must be pay’d off, before England enters into a War:
Don't worry, Fritz of Wales! Your son will learn all about the national debt thanks to the Seven Years' War (which I note that his father and his father's government were the ones who got Britain into), and attempts to pay it off will cost him and his government some colonies (thirteen, to be precise).
Also, this got me wondering what year this was written: 1748/9. So just at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. Makes sense!
cahn, the 1748/49 means 1748 in the Julian calendar (which Britain was on until 1752) and 1749 on the Gregorian calendar (which most other European countries were on by that point--Russia and Sweden being notable exceptions). Since the calendars were not only offset by 12 days, but the new year started March 25 in Britain and January 1 elsewhere, January 13, 1748 in Britain was January 25, 1749 elsewhere. This was frequently marked by listing both years in the "1748/9" style.
Certainly G2 never got over his suspicion Fritz of Prussia might get grabby with Hannover one day, and there was that RP between Heinrich and AW where Heinrich played Fritz and did just that...
Yep, that's a significant theme in 1750s foreign policy! At one point in 1752, G2 was giving his troops orders about what to do in case of a Prussian invasion. And even in the 1760s, Fritz is supposed (according to Joseph) to have told Joseph that they didn't need to worry about Britain, because Hanover could always be invaded at need.
Our gangster with good PR.
But all in all, Fritz of Wales comes across as someone who has definite ideas and ideals about how to be King who are anything but silly or frivolous; a counterpoint to his image in vengeful Hervey's memoirs, I'd say.
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Re: Fritz of Wales to G3
Date: 2024-06-01 02:07 pm (UTC)as I haven't yet read a biography of G3, though I mean to in the long run.
Please do, and please summarize for salon when you do!
Fritz of Wales would die three years later and as this letter is a "just in case I'm not around when you reach your majority" thing, might have had an inkling he wasn't the healthiest?
Oof, it sounds like it. Wikipedia tells me he probably died of a pulmonary embolism, so yeah, maybe. Sad.
Some fascinating details: G1 is referred to by Fritz of Wales as "my Grand-Father, and Best Friend", and the monarch future G3 is supposed to model himself after. Now given that Fritz of Wales actually did see his grandfather during his childhood and youth, as opposed to his parents, when growing up in Hannover because G1 went visiting ever so often, it makes sense they had a relationship
It is not uncommon in dysfunctional families for people who don't get along with their parents to either get along better with their grandparents if they're alive, or to romanticize them if they're not. The lure of the alternate parental figure is strong.
Which leads me to Fritz. He may have trashed F1 in his history books and praised his father, but I'm willing to bet that if F1 had been king while Fritz was growing up, and FW had just been crown prince...F1 would have been the new SD.
Fritz of Wales mentions he gives this letter to his wife, G3's mother, and the mention here and in other parts is always affectionate, so hopefully despite the fact he put her through a ghastly birth to annoy his parents, he otherwise proved to be an okay husband.
Let's hope! Of course, deranged alcoholic Frederik V of Denmark wrote some very affectionate letters to his Moltke...
If you can be without War, let not Your ambition draw you into it. A good deal of the
National Debt must be pay’d off, before England enters into a War:
Don't worry, Fritz of Wales! Your son will learn all about the national debt thanks to the Seven Years' War (which I note that his father and his father's government were the ones who got Britain into), and attempts to pay it off will cost him and his government some colonies (thirteen, to be precise).
Also, this got me wondering what year this was written: 1748/9. So just at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. Makes sense!
Certainly G2 never got over his suspicion Fritz of Prussia might get grabby with Hannover one day, and there was that RP between Heinrich and AW where Heinrich played Fritz and did just that...
Yep, that's a significant theme in 1750s foreign policy! At one point in 1752, G2 was giving his troops orders about what to do in case of a Prussian invasion. And even in the 1760s, Fritz is supposed (according to Joseph) to have told Joseph that they didn't need to worry about Britain, because Hanover could always be invaded at need.
Our gangster with good PR.
But all in all, Fritz of Wales comes across as someone who has definite ideas and ideals about how to be King who are anything but silly or frivolous; a counterpoint to his image in vengeful Hervey's memoirs, I'd say.
Indeed! Thank you for sharing.