1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. If you've 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: learned anything about the princesses and queens of history, particularly 4 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: from this podcast, you know that, regardless of where they're from, 5 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,319 Speaker 1: their stories are almost always leaps and bounds away from 6 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: the lives we imagine of princesses and queens in fairy tales, 7 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: if a woman isn't in line for the throne of 8 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: her own country, her origin story typically follows a format 9 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: we hear time and time again. A girl is chosen 10 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: as a suitable marriage candidate at a young age. She 11 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: is promptly separated from her family and her country and 12 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: shipped to the court of another nation. She is expected 13 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: to adapt to their customs, perhaps even their language, under 14 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: the scrutiny of not only the court but the country 15 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: at large. I think of Marie Antoinette in the Sophia 16 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: Coppola film. There's a scene pulled directly from history. In 17 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: the forest at the edge of the Austrian French border. 18 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,639 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette's beloved pug is taken from her arms as 19 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: she's told that when she gets to Versailles. She can 20 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: have as many French dogs as she likes. If you 21 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: found that movie scene as heartbreaking as I did, take 22 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: comfort in the fact that in real life Marie Antoinette 23 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: did eventually get her beloved Mops to meet her in 24 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: France after the ceremonial aspect was complete. But the scene 25 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: is dramatic and emblematic of the practice of all but 26 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: shipping princesses abroad to marry strangers for diplomatic purposes. That 27 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: was common that princesses would arrive in a foreign land 28 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: for a wedding, but most didn't marry their husbands six 29 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: hours after their arrival. That is a situation almost unique 30 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: to the then seventeen year old Sophia Charlotte or Charlotte 31 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: of Mecklenburg Strelitz, or the soon to be Queen Charlotte 32 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: of Great Britain and Ireland. As a friend of the 33 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: real life Marie Antoinette, I imagine that scenario was something 34 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: that the pair could have bonded over if they were 35 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: ever to have let their minds wander back to what 36 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: it must have been like to have been a young 37 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: and terrified bride to be. Charlotte had begun her journey 38 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: from her native Germany to England an August seventeenth, seventeen 39 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: sixty one, and arrived on September eighth, after a grueling 40 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: sea voyage, during which the crew encountered three storms. As 41 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: I'm sure we're all in agreement on, nothing screams romance 42 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: like still being seasick during your vows, especially when they're 43 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: being given in a language you don't understand. Charlotte spoke 44 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: no English upon her arrival, and naturally, due to the timing, 45 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,679 Speaker 1: she would not learn it until after her marriage was official. 46 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: You may be surprised, then, to learn that Charlotte and 47 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: her husband George ended up in what is potentially as 48 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: happy a marriage as is possible for the British monarchy. 49 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: It was not a relationship without its trials, almost certainly 50 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: due to the King's battles later in life with mental 51 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: and physical illness. But it is because of those struggles 52 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: that we know just how deeply Charlotte cared or and 53 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: loved her husband. The couple have remained important cultural figures 54 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: to this day, in part because of an ongoing fascination 55 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: we have with the Regency period, and recently, in larger 56 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: part due to Netflix's Bridgerton, in which Charlotte is the 57 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: only major character with a real life historical counterpart. In May, 58 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: Netflix will release the prequel series Queen Charlotte, a Bridgerton 59 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: story portraying the origin story of the Ton's beloved Queen, 60 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: seemingly focused on her courtship with George. One thing that 61 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: makes the real Queen Charlotte such an interesting character to 62 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: have included in the television show is that the Bridgerton 63 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: imagination of an integrated regency society cleverly aligns with a 64 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: real long standing theory that Queen Charlotte was of mixed race. 65 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: The reality behind that theory, as we will see, is 66 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: in fact a bit more complicated, but it is interesting 67 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: and it was an interesting nod for the show. Much 68 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: of what we know of the real Charlotte's life provides 69 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: the material for the case of her as a romantic heroine, 70 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: but the knowledge we have of her outside of her 71 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: relationship to George is more complex, that of a woman 72 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: who was sheltered but intellectually curious, a patron of the arts, 73 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: devoted to her husband and her children, and almost England's regent. 74 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: I'm Danis Schwartz. And this is noble blood. Before we 75 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: speak about Charlotte, we have to speak a little more 76 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: broadly about the Hanovers. When Queen Anne died without any heirs. 77 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: The Germanic House of Hanover began their monarchic rain when 78 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: George the First was crown in seventeen fourteen, and their 79 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: reign would end with the death of Queen Victoria in 80 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: nineteen o one. The Hanover Royal House had its origins 81 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: in Germany, and they remained very much a German dynasty 82 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: throughout their rule. Even Victoria spoke with a German accent. 83 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: Their germanness was preserved through the sports draft that was 84 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: royal matchmaking. Every Hanover heir married German princes or princesses, 85 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: and George the Third was no exception. When it came 86 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: time for that match to be arranged, however, George was 87 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: being rather stubborn. As the then Prince of Wales, he 88 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: told Lord Bute, a favorite of the Prince and his 89 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: future Prime Minister, that he would never marry whilst this 90 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: old man lives. The old man in question was his grandfather, 91 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: also known as George the Second. George the First and 92 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: George the Second did not care for each other, and 93 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: George the Third did not care for either of them. 94 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: Number three's are towards his grandfather and great grandfather was 95 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: largely in part due to behavior he considered immoral. George 96 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: the First famously divorced his wife for adultery and then 97 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: locked her in a castle for the rest of her life. 98 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: George the Second had a better relationship with his wife 99 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: than that, but kept a number of mistresses in rotation openly. 100 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: He stayed true to his word and didn't marry While 101 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: his grandfather reigned, but the youngest George's rebellion was forced 102 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: to come to an end when George the Second died 103 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: unexpectedly in October of seventeen sixty at twenty two years old. 104 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: George the Third assumed the throne and was no longer 105 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: in a position to avoid choosing a queen. The first 106 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: Hanover king born in England, George was also arguably the 107 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: first Hanover sovereign to be widely well liked, so even 108 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: the public got involved in the search, although their lack 109 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: of knowledge on the subject of minor German princesses meant 110 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: that they weren't much help. Fortunately, the extended Hanover family 111 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: had been preparing for this for as long as their 112 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: dynasty had reigned, and so a number of names were 113 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: being thrown around among the royal court. One name eventually 114 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: stood out, Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, a small 115 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: North German duchy. She was the eighth child and second 116 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: surviving daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz. 117 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:47,439 Speaker 1: Her older sister, Princess Christianne, was a spinsterly twenty five 118 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: and thus obviously out of the marriage market for George. 119 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: Christianne was actually about to make a match with an 120 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:59,479 Speaker 1: English peer, but the King's intentions toward her sister ultimately 121 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,559 Speaker 1: forbade her from marrying one of his subjects. The buzz 122 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: in court was that Charlotte, the younger daughter, had an 123 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: admirable character and was well raised by her mother, But 124 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: George's advisers worried that since she was from such a 125 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: small duchy, she wouldn't have been able to receive the 126 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: kind of education that she would require to thrive in 127 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: British court life. Mecklenburgh was small and overgrown. The Scottish 128 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: essayist Thomas Carlyle once described it as a view of 129 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 1: quote serene highness fallen into sleepy hollow. And it was 130 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: true that by royal standards her education was lacking, but 131 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: she received one comparable to that of the daughter of 132 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: a country lord. She was competent in French, excellent in music, 133 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: and she was educated in botany and natural sciences. The priority, however, 134 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: in her education, had been religion household management. Still we 135 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: know she was passionate about literature from an early age. 136 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: A surviving letter from when she was around fifteen tells 137 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: us she had been recently reading the memoirs of an 138 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: unnamed man of quality, but would not be continuing with 139 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: the works of Voltaire, whom she did not consider such 140 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: an homme de quality. Emissaries were dispatched to Germany to 141 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: look into accounts of Charlotte and her two strongest rivals 142 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: in the race to be English queen. The report returned 143 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: finding that one of the rivals was quote stubborn and 144 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: ill tempered to the greatest degree, which eliminated her, and 145 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: the other had a father who had seemingly fallen victim 146 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: to a classic scam from visionnaire who claimed to put 147 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: him in contact with the spirit world. All in all, 148 00:10:55,280 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: embarrassing and a bad look for the family. Reports on Charlotte, however, 149 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: came back positive. These informants did not find her beautiful, 150 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: but argued that she had quote enough charms for plane 151 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: and quote the best heart in the world. With his 152 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: candidate essentially chosen, George told Lord Bute that quote a 153 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: little England's heir will soon give her the deportment necessary 154 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: for a British queen end quote. And at the beginning 155 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: of June seventeen sixty one, one Colonel Graham of the 156 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: Scottish Brigade was dispatched to Germany at the behest of 157 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: Lord Bute to meet with Charlotte's family, carrying a letter 158 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: to Charlotte's mother. The Dowager Duchess could not actively join 159 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: in the discussions, as she was afflicted with quote violent cramps, 160 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: which have sometimes deprived her of speech but without affecting 161 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: her judgment end quote. She had recently had a particular 162 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: early violent bout and was confined to bed her husband. 163 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: Charlotte's father had died almost ten years earlier, which meant 164 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: Charlotte's brother, Adolphus Frederick was the new Duke. Charlotte had 165 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: not yet been told that the colonel was there because 166 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: the decision had been made. Her family had decided that quote, 167 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: having no disturbance in her mind, she would converse more 168 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 1: freely end quote. So after dinner with the Colonel and 169 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: her siblings, Charlotte was called to the Duchess's bedside, where 170 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:41,079 Speaker 1: her mother informed her of her matrimonial destiny. With that, 171 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: the Duchess signed her reply to George historians today, noting 172 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: that it must have been done with a very feeble hand. 173 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: Twelve days later she would be dead. With the Duchess's reply, 174 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: the Colonel sent his own description of Charlotte back to England, 175 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: the most detailed one we had yet to see. She 176 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: was quote delicate and fine, with an abundance of red, 177 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: not to be called a high bloom, but sufficient to 178 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: relevate the luster of a very fine white. He goes 179 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: on to describe the size and shape of her features 180 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: in detail, such as her nose being quote good and 181 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: not flat emphasis his. And if you were wondering if 182 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: he would give his opinion on her body, you are, 183 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: of course in luck. As he remarks, it was quote 184 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: not quite that of a woman fully formed, though the 185 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: bosom full enough for her age In the same vein 186 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: as earlier reports. He decides that she's not a great beauty, 187 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: but her face quote rather agreeable than otherwise end quote. 188 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: I note these descriptions because they're earlier indicators of what 189 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: would become a long obsession with Charlotte's features. For a 190 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: variety of reasons. Take Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, 191 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: which lets us know very early on that quote there 192 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: was a king with a large jaw and a queen 193 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: with a plain face on the throne of England end quote. 194 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: But we see that before she was even in the country, 195 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: this was the prevailing opinion for every detail shared about her. 196 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: We know very little of Charlotte's in her life at 197 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: this point. How she felt about her mother's death, her marriage, 198 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: her move to England practically lost to time. According to 199 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: the colonel, she confided in him quote with flowing tears, 200 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: that her mother's last words were a wish for her happiness, 201 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: and that even during her grief, she was ready to 202 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: quote render herself worthy of the station designed for her 203 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: end quote. Was a good thing. She had apparently steeled 204 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: herself because wedding plans were already under way. Her departure 205 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: was to be delayed for a few weeks, the minimum 206 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: propriety required for her mourning, but the court in England 207 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: had already been buzzing for some time with preparations. The 208 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: Colonel passed on Charlotte inquiry as to whether she would 209 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: be allowed to quote carry with her any of the 210 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: women who had been hithrow about her, and the King 211 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: made it clear that England did not employ foreigners in 212 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: service of their queen, and that the most she could 213 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: bring was one or two women, if they were of 214 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: the quiet sort. George the Third was a distrustful man, 215 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: stemming from the behaviors of his grandfather and great grandfather. 216 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: The clothing and jewels of the new Queen were all 217 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: to be sourced in England, so very little of Charlotte's 218 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: familiar life would be making the trip with her. On 219 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: July twenty third, George held a ceremony to rename the 220 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: Royal Caroline yacht as the Royal Charlotte, and it would 221 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: be this charlotte duty to carry the human Charlotte to England. 222 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: Two months after Colonel Graham's arrival, the Royal Charlotte docked 223 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: on the coast of Stade and its company set off 224 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: for Strellette to pick up a future queen. The group 225 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: was led by the first Earl of Harcourt, who carried 226 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: with him a gift for Charlotte from the King, his 227 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: own picture quote richly and prettily set round with diamonds 228 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: and a diamond rose. George was already in possession of 229 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: a portrait of his future queen and was said to 230 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: be quote mighty fond of it, but won't let any 231 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: mortal look at it. Charlotte was not used to finery. 232 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: She had no sin to be, but she would have 233 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 1: to adjust quickly for the voyage. She provided the outerwear 234 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: of a heron plume and capassine or hooded cape lined 235 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: with ermine for the queen. She was to travel with 236 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: the party sent by the King, along with her brother, 237 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: the Duke, and Colonel Graham, who was appointed secretary to 238 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: the new Queen and with whom she seemed to have 239 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: formed a bond. Every step of their journey, the almost 240 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: queen would be met with parades and celebrations. When she 241 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 1: made her first stop, not too far from her home, 242 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: twelve young girls in white dresses and floral wreaths presented 243 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: her with wreaths of Myrtle, which would incidentally later become 244 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: the Royal bouquet flower of choice after the wedding of 245 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: Victoria and Albert. At Charlotte's next stop, she would bid 246 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 1: her final farewell to her childhood country. Boarding the boat 247 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: as it sailed to England, the Princess met Duchesses, who 248 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: would be her travel companion to the rest of the way, 249 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: but was warned by the colonel to quote not attach 250 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: herself strongly to any of the ladies, as was the 251 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: King's decree. As mentioned earlier, the trip was not smooth sailing, 252 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: strong gale's hail, thunder lightning, pouring rain, the kind of 253 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: tempest that would land you on an island with Caliban. 254 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: But Charlotte, thankfully was not to suffer the same fate 255 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: as Miranda. The naval correspondent for Scott's magazine Imagine what 256 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: a position reported that quote the Queen was not at 257 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: all affected with the storm and bore the sea like 258 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: a truly British queen. Almost a month after her initial departure, 259 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: on September seventh, the truly British Queen to be would 260 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: finally step foot on British oil. She spent one night 261 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: in Essex before the royal procession carried her from the 262 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: coast to London, as crowds gathered to catch a glance 263 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: of their future queen in her carriage. As crowds gathered 264 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 1: to catch a glimpse of their future queen in her carriage. 265 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: At three thirty pm the next day, she arrived at 266 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: Saint James's Palace, where the king was waiting. An eyewitness 267 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: described their meeting as as plain as possible, but it 268 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: appears that through a telephone a game like series of 269 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,360 Speaker 1: accounts we end up with this recorded breakdown. The King 270 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: himself opened the gate and Charlotte was presented by her brother, 271 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: upon which she threw herself at the King's feet. He 272 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: raised her up and led her through the garden up 273 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: the steps into the palace. Charlotte's first order of business 274 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: was to meet her future family, but the time for 275 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: introductions would be brief. The king had already put the 276 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: plans in motion to be married that very night. He 277 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: led Charlotte to the apartments where his wedding gifts a 278 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 1: set of jewels, including a fairylike crown, were waiting, along 279 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: with her wedding dress, her wedding rings, were also waiting 280 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: for her. There three in total, including one to be 281 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: worn on her little finger, featuring a likeness of the king. 282 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: A full report of her wedding attire details that she 283 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: was dressed in quote a silver tissued, stiffened bodied gown, 284 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: embroidered and trimmed with silver. On her head, a little 285 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: cap of purple velvet, quite covered with diamonds, a diamond 286 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: ai jette in the form of a crown, three dropped 287 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,439 Speaker 1: diamond ear rings, diamond necklace, diamond sprigs of flowers on 288 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: her sleep, and to clasp back her robe, a diamond stomacher. 289 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: Her purple velvet mantle was laid with gold and lined 290 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: with ermine. It was fastened on the shoulders with large 291 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: tussles of pearls end quote for a girl not used 292 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: to finery, this was an exceptionally heavy outfit, and the 293 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,439 Speaker 1: night was the hottest of the year. According to a 294 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: poet in London, on that point, I can actually relate 295 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: exactly two hundred and sixty one years and one day later. 296 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: I got married on a day where temperatures in Los 297 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: Angeles hovered around a hundred and ten degrees, which, of course, 298 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: given that I was also wearing a velvet robe and 299 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: velvet hat and diamonds and ermine. It was frankly quite 300 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:56,719 Speaker 1: a challenge, but we persevere. The Duke of York was 301 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: set to escort Charlotte to the chapel, and as Charlotte 302 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: began to feel constricted by the weight of her clothes 303 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: and no doubt that temperature, he held her trembling hands 304 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: and repeated courage. Princess. Mon Dieu was apparently the princess's 305 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: first remark upon seeing the bridesmaid assembled, her first glimpse 306 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: of the ceremony to come. At ten o'clock in the evening, 307 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: those bridesmaids carried her purple train down the aisle, her 308 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: diamond eggret sparkling as she walked. Moments later, she was 309 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: married to George the Third by the Archbishop, officially beginning 310 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: her life as Queen of England, only hours after she 311 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: had arrived in the country for the very first time. 312 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: The marriage of George and Charlotte was nearly instantly a 313 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 1: happy one. Quote every hour more and more convinces me 314 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: of the treasure I have got, George said to Lord 315 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 1: Bute in the day's following. The next step was the coronation. 316 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: While George had already been king for all intents and 317 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: purposes for some time, the official deal wasn't to be 318 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: sealed until after the marriage. On September twenty second, rosebuds 319 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: and autumn bloods were tossed from baskets and Charlotte walked 320 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: upon them as she made her way to Westminster Abbey. 321 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: She wore her hair in curls without adornment, as was 322 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: custom for the coronation, waiting for the crown to be 323 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: placed upon her head. The abbey it was packed to 324 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:46,159 Speaker 1: capacity with spectators eager to see their new elegant queen 325 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: and favorable king. With that business out of the way, 326 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: it was finally time for the queen to adjust to 327 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: life at Saint James's. This included learning English, which she 328 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 1: said to have quickly picked up, though she would speak 329 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: with a strong German accent. For life, still she struggled 330 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 1: for a time. Even with her understanding French, which was 331 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: spoken in court, she became the subject of some unfavorable gossip. 332 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: She was also able to continue her musical studies, taking 333 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: singing lessons three times a week from John Christian Bach, 334 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: the son of the composer You might have heard of. 335 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 1: Every Wednesday, the Queen performed for the family, playing the 336 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: harpsichord and singing. The King would not join her in 337 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: performing on these occasions, but when the couple was alone, 338 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: he was known to accompany her on the German flute. 339 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: Their married life was comfortable, but the Queen was not 340 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: forming social connections outside of her husband, but that was 341 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: his design. She later wrote that she followed her quote 342 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: dear Great King's strictness at my arrival in England to 343 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: prevent my making acquaintances. You might have suspected as much 344 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: when he didn't allow her to bring her own lady's 345 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: maids from Germany his reasoning, Charlotte remarked that he was 346 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: constantly reminding her to know quote there never could be 347 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: kept up a society without party, which was always dangerous 348 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: for any woman to take part in, but particularly so 349 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: for the royal family. This was a reflection of the 350 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: King's distrustfulness and hints of paranoia, behavior encouraged by his mother, 351 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: the Princess of Wales. George's brother, Prince William, once stated 352 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: that George was quote raised to have a bad opinion 353 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: of the world and dread human honor, and upon the 354 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: queen's arrival, he was quote delighted with having entirely under 355 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: his own training, a young innocent girl of seventeen determined 356 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: she would be wholly devoted to him alone and should 357 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: have no other friend in society. End quote wooh, there 358 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: is certainly, let's say allah to unpack there. But the 359 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: King's warnings that socializing and frivolity could and badly for 360 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: the royals, while taken to a far extreme with his wife, 361 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: weren't without merit. Court politics were a messy, petty game 362 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: that Charlotte was completely innocent too. While the King's possessiveness 363 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,679 Speaker 1: was isolating, Charlotte soon learned she did need to be 364 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: careful as to who she could place her trust into. 365 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,640 Speaker 1: Nearly thirty years after her rival, she still wrote that 366 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: she avoided quote meddling in politics, which I abore equal 367 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: to sin. Charlotte and George grew closer over shared passions, 368 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: particularly the arts. He threw balls so they could dance. 369 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: Other attendees would remark how much enjoyment she took in 370 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: dancing and in snuff boxes, a love that would persist. 371 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: He made sure that his queen would regularly attend the 372 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,479 Speaker 1: theater much ado about Nothing, being the first show they 373 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: attended together, and in Charlotte's private life she became known 374 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: as an extensive patron of local arts. About a month 375 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,959 Speaker 1: shy of their first wedding anniversary, Charlotte gave birth to 376 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: the couple's first child, George, Prince of Wales. It was 377 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,919 Speaker 1: reported that the Queen quote had had a very good time, 378 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: which may be the only time in history that phrase 379 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: was associated with giving birth, particularly giving birth in the 380 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,640 Speaker 1: eighteenth century and all of the medical technology at their 381 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: disposal at that time. Young George would be the first 382 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: birth out of fifteen, so maybe Charlotte actually did enjoy it. 383 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: She was only eighteen years old at this point, but 384 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 1: in a year of her life, Charlotte was married, became 385 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: the Queen, and gave the nation its future king check 386 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: check check. Earlier in the year, George had acquired a 387 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: new property, a little place known as Buckingham House, which 388 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 1: they called the Queen's House, intended as a private residence 389 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: for Charlotte before the birth of her second child, Frederick 390 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: a year later in seventeen sixty three. Charlotte wished to 391 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: spend the pregnancy there for its open air and relative privacy. 392 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: It wouldn't be long before the family transitioned the space 393 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: to their full time residence. Year. She would build an 394 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: extensive library over the years, mainly curated by the Queen herself. 395 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: Books on law, natural sciences, theology, history, and geography all 396 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: expressed the Queen's desire to learn across subjects. Voltaire, however, 397 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: was notably absent from her shelves beyond books for her 398 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: own literary tastes. She would over the years acquire a 399 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: number of educational treatises and works of children's literature in 400 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: an effort to pass on her love of reading to 401 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: her children. She wasn't only interested in the success of 402 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: her own children. Around the time of Frederick's birth, she 403 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: also began to support an eight year old pianist by 404 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The story goes that 405 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: he sat at the palace's organ and accompanied the Queen 406 00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: when she sang in aria. She also began her lifelong 407 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,719 Speaker 1: investment in charity around this time. In eighteen o nine, 408 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: she would fund the General Lying In Hospital for Expecting Mothers, 409 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: which was subsequently renamed the Queen's Lying In Hospital and 410 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: operates today as Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, one of 411 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 1: the country's oldest maternity hospitals. While Charlotte kept out of politics, 412 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 1: she began a royal precedent for exercising power in monetarily 413 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: supporting women and children's welfare. It was in seventeen sixty 414 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: five that George experienced the first episode of the mental 415 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: illness that would come to define his life and reputation. 416 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: While he was indisposed, George's mother attempted to hide the 417 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: illness from Charlotte. Charlotte's closest confidante, Madame Schwellenberg, one of 418 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: the two bedchamber women she was permitted to employ from Germany, 419 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: challenged the dowager Princess on this decision. When George recovered, 420 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: he shared the same opinion as his mother in regards 421 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 1: to meddling women. He threatened to send Madame Schwellenberg back 422 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: to Germany. We don't know exactly how aware Charlotte was 423 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: of her husband's condition, but we do know that behind 424 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: her back, talks of regency were being put into motion. 425 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: The king had already publicly declared that in the case 426 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: of his death, he wished for the Queen to be 427 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: appointed as regent. Until his successor was eighteen. The Minority 428 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: of Heir to the Crown Act of seventeen sixty five 429 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: was passed in Parliament and Charlotte became the Regent elect. 430 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: The king soon recovered this bout of madness was temporary, 431 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 1: and Charlotte's time as regent did not come. One year later, 432 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty six, Queen Charlotte gave to her first daughter, 433 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: Charlotte in a classic Loralai Gilmore, naming her daughter Loralai 434 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: Gilmore move George and Frederick were now old enough that 435 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: they were in care of governors for their education, but 436 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: the education of the young daughter, Charlotte and the Queen's 437 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: other future daughters would be a responsibility she took on herself. 438 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: The children's library mentioned earlier was likely designed with the 439 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 1: girls in mind. The Queen was making sure their education 440 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: would go beyond what was typically required of young ladies, 441 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: what her childhood education had been. The Queen was building 442 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: a life for herself in England, but she was undoubtedly 443 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: lonely and homesick. After a visit from her brother and 444 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: did in seventeen seventy one, she solemnly wrote to him 445 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: that quote her pleasures are over for the year, and 446 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 1: that she dreaded the upcoming departure of one of her 447 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: other brothers. By this point, she had been nearly constantly 448 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 1: pregnant since seventeen sixty two, Eight of her fifteen children 449 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 1: already born, and the births of her later children would 450 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 1: come to be associated with tragedy. The seventeen eighties would 451 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: be a difficult period for the Queen. During her pregnancy 452 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: with Prince Albert, her oldest son, the Prince of Wales 453 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: was engaging in bouts of public headenism that would send 454 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: her into a depression. This was followed by the loss 455 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: of her musical tutor, John Christian Bach, who had been 456 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: with the Queen since her earliest days at the palace. 457 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: She paid for his funeral costs and provided a sum 458 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: for his widow. The next death the Queen would face 459 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: would possibly be the most devastating she could imagine. Prince Alfred, 460 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: her son, had been sickly since his birth, and the 461 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: Queen tried a number of remedies, but it was evident 462 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: that he was not going to survive past infancy. In 463 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty two, aged only one year old, Prince Alfred 464 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: died due to complications with his small pox inoculation. He 465 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: was not the first child the King and queen would lose. 466 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:26,920 Speaker 1: Only a year later, Alfred's elder brother, Prince Octavius, would 467 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: die due to the same complications at age four. The 468 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,359 Speaker 1: queen would mourn her sons for a long time, her 469 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: quote two dear little angels, as she called them. We 470 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 1: don't have much in the way of the Queen's own 471 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,720 Speaker 1: writing at this time, beyond an instruction to her brother 472 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: on the subject of Octavius's death quote, do not mention it. 473 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: It is likely that Octavius's death would also contribute to 474 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 1: triggering a spiral that the king would not recover from. 475 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,879 Speaker 1: At the time of Octavius's death, Charlotte was pregnant for 476 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: the final time, and her depression persisted. She complained to 477 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: her brother that all she had was her children and 478 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:19,840 Speaker 1: that life outside them was monotonous and burdensome. The birth 479 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,640 Speaker 1: of her final child seemed to have eased the queen 480 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,319 Speaker 1: of some of her pain, and she began to reinvest 481 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: in her patronage and passion for Botany. Her relationship with 482 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:36,480 Speaker 1: her husband George had remained strong over the years. There's 483 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:40,080 Speaker 1: an anecdote from seventeen eighty six from a woman in 484 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: the Queen's service that reads quote, the Queen endeavored to 485 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: kiss his the King's hand as he held them. He 486 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: would not let her, but made an effort to kiss hers. 487 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: I saw instantly in her eyes a forgetfulness that anyone 488 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,920 Speaker 1: was present. While drawing her hand away, she presented him 489 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,000 Speaker 1: her cheek. He accepted her kindness with the same frank 490 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: affection that she offered it end quote. Very sweet. Tragic 491 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: days for the couple were soon to return, though. Seventeen 492 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:19,800 Speaker 1: eighty eight marked a major decline in the King's mental 493 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:25,360 Speaker 1: and physiological health. One afternoon, attending a sermon with the 494 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: Queen and their daughters, the king quote started up, seemed 495 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,360 Speaker 1: to have lost all power over himself, embraced the Queen 496 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:40,359 Speaker 1: and princesses, and then burst into tears. He asked the princess, Elizabeth, 497 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,360 Speaker 1: you know what it is to be nervous, but was 498 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:47,400 Speaker 1: you ever so bad as this? She responded yes, and 499 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,880 Speaker 1: he fell quiet. The King's control over his own mind 500 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: would only deteriorate from here. He soon became delusional and 501 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: hostile towards Charlotte. He would accuse her of adultery, while 502 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: simultaneously believing he himself was in fact in love with 503 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,719 Speaker 1: one of her ladies of the bedchamber, even though the 504 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,640 Speaker 1: King had never, in their long marriage ever taken a mistress. 505 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 1: We understand today that the King was suffering from paranoid delusions, 506 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:25,840 Speaker 1: likely the effect of the metabolic disorder porphyria, but Charlotte 507 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 1: had no such reassurances at the time. Over the course 508 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: of the king's decline, Charlotte's own mental health suffered and 509 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 1: her hair turned prematurely gray. The same lady's maid who 510 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 1: once recounted the scene of Charlotte and George's little love 511 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:48,800 Speaker 1: kiss exchange later wrote that quote, the Queen is almost 512 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:53,200 Speaker 1: overpowered with some secret terror today. As she gave up 513 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: the conflict when I was alone with her and burst 514 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:00,439 Speaker 1: into a violent fit of tears. It was very, very 515 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 1: terrible to see and quote. It was assumed that the 516 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,880 Speaker 1: King's illness was grave. He was not going to regain 517 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: his capacities as he once did. In seventeen sixty five, 518 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:18,520 Speaker 1: Parliament was once again forced to assemble to discuss the 519 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:23,400 Speaker 1: inevitable regency and decide who would be appointed the regent, 520 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:28,719 Speaker 1: Charlotte or the Prince of Wales. Charlotte was weary of 521 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:33,799 Speaker 1: her son's ambitions, and, unlike others, held out hope that 522 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:38,799 Speaker 1: her husband would recover. The Prince was ultimately declared the 523 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 1: Regent elect, but the resulting bill was designed to limit 524 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,480 Speaker 1: his ability to consolidate power around him and gave Charlotte 525 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 1: control over the king's person and household. Charlotte's hope was 526 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:57,279 Speaker 1: ultimately fruitful. The King did recover to a degree. That 527 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:01,000 Speaker 1: same year. He assured his wife that his delusions were 528 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,080 Speaker 1: nothing more than that, and they were able to reconcile. 529 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:10,360 Speaker 1: Charlotte and her eldest son's relationship, however, was permanently altered. 530 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:15,840 Speaker 1: Charlotte herself was permanently altered. Reports say she became angry, 531 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:20,200 Speaker 1: even toward her beloved daughters, who she relied on increasingly 532 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:25,280 Speaker 1: in her later years. The King's recovery was also only brief. 533 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:29,640 Speaker 1: The illness would return in eighteen oh one, and then 534 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 1: again in eighteen o four. The next bout of illness 535 00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:38,879 Speaker 1: in eighteen eleven marked the beginning of George's true and 536 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: final decline, and in the last years of her life, 537 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:48,400 Speaker 1: Charlotte would live effectively as a widow. Her husband confined 538 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:54,360 Speaker 1: to separate apartments. The Regency Act of eighteen eleven followed 539 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:59,320 Speaker 1: similar conditions to the one designed years earlier, only now 540 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 1: her son was officially the acting Prince Regent. Charlotte devoted 541 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,240 Speaker 1: the last years of her life to aiding the Prince 542 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,960 Speaker 1: in his rule as much as he would allow her. 543 00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: Her joy in later years was greatly derived from planning 544 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:20,759 Speaker 1: royal marriages, first of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, with whom 545 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,879 Speaker 1: she was the closest, and that of the only granddaughter 546 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,279 Speaker 1: she lived to meet, Princess Charlotte. If you've listened to 547 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,799 Speaker 1: this podcast since its beginning, you might remember an episode 548 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:38,360 Speaker 1: on the poor, beloved, Doomed Princess Charlotte. This Princess Charlotte 549 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:42,840 Speaker 1: also happens to be a major character in my newest novel, Immortality, 550 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:48,400 Speaker 1: a Love Story. In eighteen seventeen, the Queen developed hydropaxy 551 00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:52,400 Speaker 1: or dropsy of the chest, which affected her in bouts. 552 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,560 Speaker 1: Her last public appearance was April twenty ninth, eighteen eighteen, 553 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,920 Speaker 1: a visit to the Egyptian Hall, the Mansion House in 554 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,640 Speaker 1: London for a prize ceremony for children taught by the 555 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:10,040 Speaker 1: National Society for Promoting Education of the poor. In November 556 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 1: that same year, Charlotte died at q Palace, survived by 557 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:21,200 Speaker 1: her husband, who likely never knew of her death. Charlotte 558 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:24,960 Speaker 1: was subjected to a number of tragedies throughout her life, 559 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: but beyond those, all surviving records painted the portrait of 560 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 1: a woman who found passion beyond it all in her studies, 561 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:46,480 Speaker 1: her hobbies, her children, and in love. That's the story 562 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,520 Speaker 1: of Queen Charlotte. But stick around to hear a bit 563 00:41:49,560 --> 00:42:05,600 Speaker 1: more on the theory of her possible Black ancestry. As 564 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:10,680 Speaker 1: I noted earlier, England maintained a fervent obsession with the 565 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:15,000 Speaker 1: looks of Queen Charlotte. One report from her physician in 566 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:19,680 Speaker 1: her later years is notable for a particular description quote 567 00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:25,239 Speaker 1: small and crooked, with a true mulatto face. Apologies for 568 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,360 Speaker 1: that word, but I think in this context it's important 569 00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:33,360 Speaker 1: to understand that descriptions like these spurred interest, and a 570 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,880 Speaker 1: historian by the name of Mario de Valdes Equcombe is 571 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:42,040 Speaker 1: known for formulating the theory that Charlotte was of African ancestry, 572 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: a theory that gave us the Bridgerton Charlotte we know today. 573 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:51,040 Speaker 1: The grounds for the theory are questionable. Based on a 574 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 1: portrait of the seventeen year old Charlotte by the official 575 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:59,759 Speaker 1: royal painter Alan Ramsay, the historian argues that the queen possesses, 576 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:04,920 Speaker 1: which he perceives as quote, subtleties in coloring and facial 577 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: bone structure of individuals of African descent and quote. This 578 00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:13,959 Speaker 1: is supported by his argument that the queen was, as 579 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:18,240 Speaker 1: described in the Guardian quote, directly descended from a black 580 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:22,480 Speaker 1: branch of the Portuguese royal family related to Margherita de 581 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:27,480 Speaker 1: Castro a Susa, a fifteenth century Portuguese noble woman nine 582 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:33,280 Speaker 1: generations removed whose ancestry she traces from the thirteenth century 583 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:38,000 Speaker 1: ruler Alphonso the Third and his lover Madragana, whom Val 584 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,760 Speaker 1: takes to have been a more and thus a black 585 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:48,000 Speaker 1: African end quote. Historians today note that such an ancestral 586 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:53,560 Speaker 1: connection would be incredibly far removed on top of already 587 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 1: thin evidence that Madragana was even black in the thirteenth century. 588 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: With the theories roots in a racist comment from a 589 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:08,080 Speaker 1: nineteenth century physician, perceived African features in a portrait, and 590 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:13,720 Speaker 1: an incredibly distant ancestral connection that cannot be proven. Most 591 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: historians share the consensus that when it comes to the 592 00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:22,760 Speaker 1: question of Queen Charlotte being black, the answer is maybe, 593 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:47,279 Speaker 1: very very distantly possible, but incredibly unlikely. Noble Blood is 594 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:51,240 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. 595 00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:55,840 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Swartz. Additional writing 596 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:59,960 Speaker 1: and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mira Hayward, 597 00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by 598 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:09,000 Speaker 1: rema Il Kaali, with supervising producer Josh Thaine and executive 599 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:13,279 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more 600 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 601 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,440 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.