1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. If you've 3 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: learned anything about the princesses and queens of history, particularly 4 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: from this podcast, you know that, regardless of where they're from, 5 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: their stories are almost always leaps and bounds away from 6 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: the lives we imagine of princesses and queens in fairy tales, 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: if a woman isn't in line for the throne of 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: her own country, her origin story typically follows a format 9 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: we hear time and time again. A girl is chosen 10 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: as a suitable marriage candidate at a young age. She 11 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: is promptly separated from her family and and her country 12 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: and shipped to the court of another nation. She is 13 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: expected to adapt to their customs, perhaps even their language, 14 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: under the scrutiny of not only the court but the 15 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: country at large. I think of Marie Antoinette in the 16 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: Sophia Coppola film. There's a scene pulled directly from history. 17 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: In the forest at the edge of the Austrian French border. 18 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette's beloved pug is taken from her arms as 19 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: she's told that when she gets to Versailles, she can 20 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: have as many French dogs as she likes. If you 21 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: found that movie scene as heartbreaking as I did, take 22 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: comfort in the fact that in real life Marie Antoinette 23 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: did eventually get her beloved Mops to meet her in 24 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: France after the ceremonial aspect was complete. But the scene 25 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: is dramatic and emblematic of the practice of all all 26 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: but shipping princesses abroad to marry strangers for diplomatic purposes. 27 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: That was common that princesses would arrive in a foreign 28 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: land for a wedding, but most didn't marry their husband's 29 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: six hours after their arrival. That is a situation almost 30 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: unique to the then seventeen year old Sophia Charlotte or 31 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, or the soon to be Queen 32 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: Charlotte of Great Britain and Ireland. As a friend of 33 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: the real life Marie Antoinette, I imagine that scenario was 34 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: something that the pair could have bonded over if they 35 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: were ever to have let their minds wander back to 36 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: what it must have been like to have been a 37 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: young and terrified bride to be Charlotte had begun her 38 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: journey from her native Germany to England on August seventeenth, 39 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty one, and arrived on September eighth, after a 40 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: grueling sea voyage, during which the crew encountered three storms. 41 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: As I'm sure we're all in agreement on, nothing screams 42 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: romance like still being seasick during your vows, especially when 43 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: they're being given in a language you don't understand. Charlotte 44 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: spoke no English upon her arrival, and naturally, due to 45 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: the timing, she would not learn it until after her 46 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: marriage was official. You may be surprised, then, to learn 47 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: that Charlotte and her husband George ended up in what 48 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: is potentially as happy a marriage as is possible for 49 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: the British monarchy. It was not a relationship without its trials, 50 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: almost certainly due to the King's battles later in life 51 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: with mental and physical illness. But it is because of 52 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: those struggles that we know just how deeply Charlotte cared 53 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: for and loved her husband. The couple have remained important 54 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: cultural figures to this day, in part because of an 55 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: ongoing fascination we have with the regency period and recently 56 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: in larger part due to Netflix's Bridgerton, in which Charlotte 57 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: is the only major character with a real life historical counterpart. 58 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: In May, Netflix will release the prequel series Queen Charlotte, 59 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: a Bridgerton story portraying the origin story of the tons 60 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: beloved Queen, seemingly focused on her courtship with George. One 61 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: thing that makes the real Queen Charlotte such an interesting 62 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: character to have included in the television show is that 63 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: the Bridgerton imagination of an integrated regency society cleverly aligns 64 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: with a real long standing theory that Queen Charlotte was 65 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: of mixed race. The reality behind that theory, as we 66 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: will see, is in fact a bit more complicated, but 67 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: it is interesting and it was an interesting nod for 68 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: the show. Much of what we know of the real 69 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: Charlotte's life provides the material for the case of her 70 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: as a romantic heroine, but the knowledge we have of 71 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: her outside of her relationship to George is more complex, 72 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: that of a woman who was sheltered but intellectually curious, 73 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: a patron of the arts, devoted to her husband and 74 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: her children, and almost England's regent. I'm Danish Schwartz, and 75 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: this is noble blood. Before we speak about Charlotte, we 76 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: have to speak a little more broadly about the Hanovers. 77 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: When Queen Anne died without any heirs, the Germanic House 78 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: of Hanover began their monarchic reign when George the First 79 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: was in seventeen fourteen, and their reign would end with 80 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: the death of Queen Victoria in nineteen oh one. The 81 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: Hanover Royal House had its origins in Germany, and there 82 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:16,119 Speaker 1: remained very much a German dynasty throughout their rule. Even 83 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: Victoria spoke with a German accent. Their germanness was preserved 84 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: through the sports draft that was royal matchmaking. Every Hanover 85 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 1: heir married German princes or princesses, and George the Third 86 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 1: was no exception. When it came time for that match 87 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: to be arranged, however, George was being rather stubborn as 88 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: the then Prince of Wales, he told Lord Bute, a 89 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: favorite of the Prince and his future Prime Minister, that 90 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: he would never marry whilst this old man lives. The 91 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: old man in question was his grandfather, also known as 92 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: George the Second. George the First and George the Second 93 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: did not care for each other, and George the Third 94 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: did not care for either of them. Number Three's ire 95 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: towards his grandfather and great grandfather was largely in part 96 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: due to behavior he considered immoral. George the First famously 97 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: divorced his wife for adultery and then locked her in 98 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: a castle for the rest of her life. George the 99 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: Second had a better relationship with his wife than that, 100 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: but kept a number of mistresses in rotation openly. He 101 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: stayed true to his word and didn't marry while his 102 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: grandfather reigned, but the youngest George's rebellion was forced to 103 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: come to an end when George the Second died unexpectedly 104 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: in October of seventeen sixty at twenty two years old. 105 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: George the Third assumed the throne and was no longer 106 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: in a position to avoid choosing a queen. The first 107 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: Hannover king born in England, George was also arguably the 108 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: first Hanover sovereign to be widely well liked, so even 109 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: the public got involved in the search, although their lack 110 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: of knowledge on the subject of minor German princesses meant 111 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: that they weren't much help. Fortunately, the extended Hanover family 112 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: had been preparing for this for as long as their 113 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: dynasty had reigned, and so a number of names were 114 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: being thrown around among the royal court. One name eventually 115 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: stood out, Princess Sophias Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, a small 116 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: North German duchy. She was the eighth child and second 117 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: surviving daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelits. 118 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: Her older sister, Princess Christianne, was a spinsterly twenty five 119 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 1: and thus obviously out of the marriage market for George. 120 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: Christian was actually about to make a match with an 121 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: English peer, but the King's intentions toward her sister ultimately 122 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: forbase her from marrying one of his subjects. The buzz 123 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: in court was that Charlotte, the younger daughter, had an 124 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: admirable character and was well raised by her mother, But 125 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: George's advisers worried that since she was from such a 126 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: small duchy, she wouldn't have been able to receive the 127 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: kind of education that she would require to thrive in 128 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: British court life. Mecklenburg was small and overgrown. The Scottish 129 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: essayist Thomas Carlyle once described it as a view of 130 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: quote serene highness fallen into sleepy hollow. And it was 131 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: true that by royal standards her education was lacking, but 132 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: she received one comparable to that of the daughter of 133 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: a country lord. She was competent in French, excellent in music, 134 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: and she was educated in botany and natural sciences. The priority, however, 135 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: in her education, had been religion and and household management. 136 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: Still we know she was passionate about literature from an 137 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: early age. A surviving letter from when she was around 138 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,239 Speaker 1: fifteen tells us she had been recently reading the memoirs 139 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: of an unnamed man of quality, but would not be 140 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: continuing with the works of Voltaire, whom she did not 141 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: consider such an oms de quality. Emissaries were dispatched to 142 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: Germany to look into accounts of Charlotte and her two 143 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: strongest rivals in the race to be English queen. The 144 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: report returned finding that one of the rivals was quote 145 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: stubborn and ill tempered to the greatest degree, which eliminated her, 146 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: and the other had a father who had seemingly fallen 147 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: victim to a classic scam from visionnaire who claimed to 148 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: put him in contact with the spirit world. All in 149 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: all embarrassing and a bad look for the family. Reports 150 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: on Charlotte, however, came back positive. These informants did not 151 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: find her beautiful, but argued that she had quote enough 152 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: charms for plane and quote the best heart in the world. 153 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: With his candidate essentially chosen, George told Lord Butte that 154 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: quote a little England's heir will soon give her the 155 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: deportment necessary for a British queen end quote. And at 156 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: the beginning of June seventeen sixty one, one Colonel Graham 157 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: of the Scottish Brigade was dispatched to Germany at the 158 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: behest of Lord Butte to meet with Charlotte's family, carrying 159 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: a letter to Charlotte's mother. The Dowager Duchess could not 160 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: actively join in the discussions, as she was afflicted with 161 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: quote violent cramps which have sometimes deprived her of speech 162 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: but without affecting her judgment end quote. She had recently 163 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: had a particularly violent bout and was confined to bed 164 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: her husband. Charlotte's father had died almost ten years earlier, 165 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: which meant Charlotte's brother, Adolphus Frederick was the new Duke. 166 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: Charlotte had not yet been told that the colonel was 167 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: there because a decision had been made. Her family had 168 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: decided that quote, having no disturbance in her mind, she 169 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: would converse more freely end quote. So after dinner with 170 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: the Colonel and her siblings, Charlotte was called to the 171 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:39,959 Speaker 1: Duchess's bedside, where her mother informed her of her matrimonial destiny. 172 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: With that, the Duchess signed her reply to George historians today, 173 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: noting that it must have been done with a very 174 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: feeble hand. Twelve days later she would be dead. With 175 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: the Duchess's reply, the Colonel sent his own description of 176 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: Charlotte back to England, the most detailed one we had 177 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: yet to see. She was quote delicate and fine, with 178 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: an abundance of red, not to be called a high bloom, 179 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: but sufficient to relevate the luster of a very fine white. 180 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: He goes on to describe the size and shape of 181 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,439 Speaker 1: her features in detail, such as her nose being quote 182 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 1: good and not flat emphasis his. And if you were 183 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: wondering if he would give his opinion on her body, 184 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: you are, of course in luck. As he remarks, it 185 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: was quote not quite that of a woman fully formed, 186 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: though the bosom full enough for her age in the 187 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: same vein as earlier reports. He decides that she's not 188 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: a great beauty, but her face quote rather agreeable than 189 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:57,319 Speaker 1: otherwise end quote. I note these descriptions because they are 190 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: earlier indicators of what would become a long obsession with 191 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: Charlotte's features. For a variety of reasons. Take Charles Dickens's 192 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: A Tale of Two Cities, which lets us know very 193 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: early on that quote there was a king with a 194 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: large jaw and a queen with a plain face on 195 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: the throne of England end quote. But we see that 196 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: before she was even in the country, this was the 197 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: prevailing opinion for every detail shared about her. We know 198 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: very little of Charlotte's inner life at this point. How 199 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: she felt about her mother's death, her marriage, her move 200 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: to England practically lost to time. According to the colonel, 201 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: she confided in him quote with flowing tears, that her 202 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: mother's last words were a wish for her happiness, and 203 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: that even during her grief, she was ready to quote 204 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: render herself worthy of the station designed for her end quote. 205 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,119 Speaker 1: It was a good thing she had apparently steeled herself, 206 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: because wedding plans were already under way. Her departure was 207 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: to be delayed for a few weeks, the minimum propriety 208 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: required for her mourning, but the court in England had 209 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: already been buzzing for some time with preparations. The Colonel 210 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: passed on Charlotte inquiry as to whether she would be 211 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: allowed to quote carry with her any of the women 212 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: who had been hitthro about her, and the King made 213 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: it clear that England did not employ foreigners in service 214 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: of their queen, and that the most she could bring 215 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: was one or two women, if they were of the 216 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: quiet sort. George the Third was a distrustful man, stemming 217 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: from the behaviors of his grandfather and great grandfather. The 218 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: clothing and jewels of the new Queen were all to 219 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: be sourced in England, so very little of Charlotte's familiar 220 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: life would be making the trip with her. On July 221 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: twenty third, George held a ceremony to rename the Royal 222 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: Caroline yacht as the Royal Charlotte, and it would be 223 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: this charlotte duty to carry the human Charlotte to England. 224 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: Two months after Colonel Graham's arrival, the Royal Charlotte docked 225 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: on the coast of Stade and its company set off 226 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: for Strelitt to pick up a future queen. The group 227 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: was led by the first Earl of Harcourt, who carried 228 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: with him a gift for Charlotte from the King, his 229 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: own picture quote richly and prettily set round with diamonds 230 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: and a diamond rose. George was already in possession of 231 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: a portrait of his future queen and was said to 232 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: be quote mighty fond of it, but won't let any 233 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: mortal look at it. Charlotte was not used to finery, 234 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: she had no reason to be, but she would have 235 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: to adjust quickly for the voyage. She provided the outer 236 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: wear of a heron plume and capissine, or hooded cape 237 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: lined with ermine for the queen. She was to travel 238 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: with the party sent by the King, along with her brother, 239 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: the Duke, and Colonel Graham, who was appointed secretary to 240 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: the new Queen and with whom she seemed to have 241 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: formed a bond. Every step of their journey, the almost 242 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,719 Speaker 1: Queen would be met with parades and celebrations. When she 243 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: made her first stop, not too far from her home, 244 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: twelve young girls in white dresses and floral wreaths presented 245 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: her with wreaths of Myrtle, which would incidentally later become 246 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: the royal bouquet flower of choice after the wedding of 247 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: Victoria and Albert. At Charlotte's next stop, she would bid 248 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: her final farewell to her childhood country. Boarding the boat 249 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: as it sailed to England, the Princess met duchesses, who 250 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: would be her travel companions the rest of the way, 251 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: but was warned by the colonel to quote not attach 252 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: herself strongly to any of the ladies, as was the 253 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: King's decree. As mentioned earlier, the trip was not smooth sailing, 254 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: strong gales, hail, thunder lightning, pouring rain, the kind of 255 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: tempest that would land you on an island with Caliban. 256 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: But Charlotte thankfully was not to suffer the same fate 257 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: as Miranda. The naval correspondent for Scott's magazine Imagine what 258 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 1: a position, reported that quote, the Queen was not at 259 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: all affected with the storm and bore the sea like 260 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: a truly British queen. Almost a month after her initial departure, 261 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: on September seventh, the truly British Queen to be would 262 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: finally step foot on British so she spent one night 263 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: in Essex before the royal procession carried her from the 264 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: coast to London, as crowds gathered to catch a glance 265 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: of their future queen in her carriage. As crowds gathered 266 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: to catch a glimpse of their future queen in her carriage. 267 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: At three point thirty pm the next day, she arrived 268 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: at Saint James's Palace, where the King was waiting. An 269 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: eyewitness described their meeting as as plain as possible, but 270 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: it appears that through a telephone game like series of 271 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: accounts we end up with this recorded breakdown. The King 272 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: himself opened the gate and Charlotte was presented by her brother, 273 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 1: upon which she threw herself at the King's feet. He 274 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: raised her up and led her through the garden up 275 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,640 Speaker 1: the steps into the palace. Charlotte's first order of business 276 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: was to meet future family, but the time for introductions 277 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: would be brief. The King had already put to plans 278 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: in motion to be married that very night. He led 279 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: Charlotte to the apartments where his wedding gifts, a set 280 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 1: of jewels, including a fairy like crown, were waiting, along 281 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: with her wedding dress. Her wedding rings were also waiting 282 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: for her. There three in total, including one to be 283 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: worn on her little finger, featuring a likeness of the king. 284 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: A full report of her wedding attire details that she 285 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 1: was dressed in a silver tissued, stiffened bodied gown, embroidered 286 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: and trimmed with silver. On her head, a little cap 287 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 1: of purple velvet, quite covered with diamonds, a diamond ajette 288 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: in the form of a crown, three dropped diamond ear rings, 289 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: diamond necklace, diamond sprigs of flowers on her slip ve, 290 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: and to clasp back her robe, a diamond stomacher. Her 291 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: purple velvet mantle was laid with gold and lined with ermine. 292 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: It was fastened on the shoulders with large toussls of pearls. 293 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: End for a girl not used to finery, this was 294 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: an exceptionally heavy outfit, and the night was the hottest 295 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: of the year. According to a poet in London, on 296 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: that point, I can actually relate exactly two hundred and 297 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 1: sixty one years and one day later. I got married 298 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: on a day where temperatures in Los Angeles hovered around 299 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: one hundred and ten degrees, which, of course, given that 300 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: I was also wearing a velvet robe and velvet hat, 301 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: and diamonds and ermine. It was frankly quite a challenge, 302 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,239 Speaker 1: but we persevere. The Duke of York was set to 303 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: escort Charlotte to the chapel, and as Charlotte began to 304 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: feel constricted by the weight of her clothes and no 305 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: doubt that temperature, he held her trembling hands and repeated 306 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:16,360 Speaker 1: courage Princess. Mon Dieu was apparently the princess's first remark 307 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: upon seeing the bridesmaid assembled, her first glimpse of the 308 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: ceremony to come. At ten o'clock in the evening, those 309 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: bridesmaids carried her purple train down the aisle, her diamond 310 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: egrette sparkling as she walked. Moments later, she was married 311 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: to George Third by the Archbishop, officially beginning her life 312 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: as Queen of England, only hours after she had arrived 313 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 1: in the country for the very first time. The marriage 314 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: of George and Charlotte was nearly instantly a happy one. 315 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,679 Speaker 1: Quote every hour more and more convinces me of the 316 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: treasure I have got, George said to Lord Butte in 317 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,640 Speaker 1: the day's following. The next step was the coronation. While 318 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: George had already been king for all intents and purposes 319 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: for some time. The official deal wasn't to be sealed 320 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: until after the marriage. On September twenty second, rose buds 321 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: and autumn bloods were tossed from baskets and Charlotte walked 322 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: upon them as she made her way to Westminster Abbey. 323 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: She wore her hair in curls without adornment, as was 324 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: custom for the coronation, waiting for the crown to be 325 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: placed upon her head. The abbey was packed to capacity 326 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,479 Speaker 1: with spectators eager to see their new elegant queen and 327 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: favorable king. With that business out of the way, it 328 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: was finally time for the queen to adjust to life 329 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: at Saint James. This included learning English, which she said 330 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: to you have quickly picked up, though she would speak 331 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: with a strong German accent. For life, still she struggled 332 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: for a time. Even with her understanding French, which was 333 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: spoken in court, she became the subject of some unfavorable gossip. 334 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: She was also able to continue her musical studies, taking 335 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: singing lessons three times a week from John Christian Bach, 336 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,959 Speaker 1: the son of the composure you might have heard of. 337 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: Every Wednesday, the queen performed for the family, playing the 338 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,439 Speaker 1: harpsichord and singing. The King would not join her in 339 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: performing on these occasions, but when the couple was alone, 340 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: he was known to accompany her on the German flute. 341 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: Their married life was comfortable, but the Queen was not 342 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 1: forming social connections outside of her husband, but that was 343 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: his design. She later wrote that she followed her quote 344 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: dear Great King's strictness at d my arrival in England 345 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: to prevent my making acquaintances. You might have suspected as 346 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 1: much when he didn't allow her to bring her own 347 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: ladies maids from Germany his reasoning, Charlotte remarks that he 348 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: was constantly reminding her to know quote there never could 349 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: be kept up a society without party, which was always 350 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: dangerous for any woman to take part in, but particularly 351 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: so for the royal family. This was a reflection of 352 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: the King's distrustfulness and hints of paranoia, behavior encouraged by 353 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: his mother, the Princess of Wales. George's brother, Prince William, 354 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: once stated that George was quote raised to have a 355 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: bad opinion of the world and dread human honor, and 356 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: upon the queen's arrival, he was quote delighted with having 357 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: entirely under his own training, a young innocent girl of 358 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: seventeen determined she would be wholly devoted to him alone 359 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: and should have no other friend in society. End quote. Whew, 360 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: there is certainly, let's say allah to unpack there. But 361 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: the King's warnings that socializing and frivolity could end badly 362 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,679 Speaker 1: for the royals, while taken to a far extreme with 363 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: his wife, weren't without merit. Court politics were a messy, 364 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: petty game that Charlotte was completely innocent to, while the 365 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: King's possessiveness was isolating. Charlotte soon learned she did need 366 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: to be careful as to who she could place her 367 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: trust into. Nearly thirty years after her rival, she still 368 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,719 Speaker 1: wrote that she avoided quote meddling in politics, which I 369 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: abhor equal to sin. Charlotte and George grew closer over 370 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 1: shared passions, particularly the arts. He threw balls so they 371 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: could dance. Other attendees would remark how much enjoyment she 372 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: took in dancing and in snuff boxes, a love that 373 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: would persist. He made sure that his queen would regularly 374 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 1: attend the theater, much ado about nothing being the first 375 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 1: show they attended together, and in Charlotte's private life she 376 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:35,120 Speaker 1: became known as an extensive patron of local arts. About 377 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,400 Speaker 1: a month shy of their first wedding anniversary, Charlotte gave 378 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:44,400 Speaker 1: birth to the couple's first child, George, Prince of Wales. 379 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 1: It was reported that the Queen had had a very 380 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 1: good time, which may be the only time in history 381 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: that phrase was associated with giving birth, particularly giving birth 382 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,120 Speaker 1: in the eighteenth century and all of the medical technology 383 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: at their disposal at that time. Young George would be 384 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: the first berth out of fifteen, so maybe Charlotte actually 385 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: did enjoy it. She was only eighteen years old at 386 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: this point, but in a year of her life, Charlotte 387 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: was married, became the Queen, and gave the nation its 388 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: future king check check check. Earlier in the year, George 389 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: had acquired a new property, a little place known as 390 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: Buckingham House, which they called the Queen's House, intended as 391 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: a private residence for Charlotte before the birth of her 392 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: second child, Frederick a year later in seventeen sixty three. 393 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,959 Speaker 1: Charlotte wished to spend the pregnancy there for its open 394 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: air and relative privacy. It wouldn't be long before the 395 00:28:55,040 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: family transitioned the space to their full time residence. She 396 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: would build an extensive library over the years, mainly curated 397 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: by the Queen herself. Books on law, natural sciences, theology, history, 398 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: and geography all expressed the Queen's desire to learn across subjects. Voltaire, however, 399 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: was notably absent from her shelves beyond books for her 400 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: own literary tastes. She would over the years acquire a 401 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: number of educational treatises and works of children's literature in 402 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: an effort to pass on her love of reading to 403 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: her children. She wasn't only interested in the success of 404 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: her own children. Around the time of Frederick's birth, she 405 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: also began to support an eight year old pianist by 406 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 1: the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The story goes that 407 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: he sat at the palace's organ and accompanied the Queen 408 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: when she sang in aria. She also began her lifelong 409 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: investment in charity around this time. In eighteen o nine, 410 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: she would fund the General Lying In Hospital for Expecting Mothers, 411 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: which was subsequently renamed the Queen's Lying In Hospital and 412 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: operates today as Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital. One of 413 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: the country's oldest maternity hospitals. While Charlotte kept out of politics, 414 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: she began a royal precedent for exercising power in monetarily 415 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: supporting women and children's welfare. It was in seventeen sixty 416 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 1: five that George experienced the first episode of the mental 417 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: illness that would come to define his life and reputation. 418 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: While he was indisposed, George's mother attempted to hide the 419 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: illness from Charlotte. Charlotte's closest confidante, Madame Schwellenberg, one of 420 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: the two bedchamber women she was permitted to employ from Germany, 421 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: challenged the dowager Princess on this decision. When George recovered, 422 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: he shared the same opinion as his mother in regards 423 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: to meddling women. He threatened to send Madame Schwellenberg back 424 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: to Germany. We don't know exactly how aware Charlotte was 425 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: of her husband's condition, but we do know that behind 426 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: her back, talks of regency were being put into motion. 427 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: The king had already publicly declared that in the case 428 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: of his death, he wished for the Queen to be 429 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: appointed as regent until his successor was eighteen. The minority 430 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: of heir to The Crown Act of seventeen sixty five 431 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: was passed in Parliament and Charlotte became the Regent elect. 432 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: The king soon recovered this bout of madness was temporary, 433 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 1: and Charlotte's time as regent did not come. One year later, 434 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty six, Queen Charlotte gave birth to her first daughter, Charlotte, 435 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: in a classic Loralai Gilmore, naming her daughter Lorilai Gilmour. 436 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: Move George and Frederick were now old enough that they 437 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: were in care of governors for their education, but the 438 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: education of the young daughter, Charlotte and the queen's other 439 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: future daughters would be a responsibility she took on herself. 440 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: The children's library mentioned earlier was likely designed with the 441 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: girls in mind. The Queen was making sure their education 442 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: would go beyond what was typically required of young ladies 443 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: what her childhood education had been. The Queen was building 444 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: a life for herself in England, but she was undoubtedly 445 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: lonely and homesick. After a visit from her brother ended 446 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy one, she solemnly wrote to him that 447 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: her pleasures are over for the year, and that she 448 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: dreaded the upcoming departure of one of her other brothers. 449 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: By this point, she had been nearly constantly pregnant since 450 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty two, Eight of her fifteen children already born, 451 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: and the births of her later children would come to 452 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: be associated with tragedy. The seventeen eighties would be a 453 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: difficult period for the Queen. During her pregnancy with Prince Albert, 454 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,040 Speaker 1: her oldest son, the Prince of Wales was engaging in 455 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: bouts of public hedonism that would send her into a depression. 456 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 1: This was followed by the loss of her musical tutor, 457 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: John Christian Bach, who had been with the Queen since 458 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: her earliest days at the palace. She paid for his 459 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: funeral costs and provided a sum for his widow. The 460 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: next death the Queen would face would possibly be the 461 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: most devastating she could imagine. Prince Alfred, her son, had 462 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: been sickly since his birth, and the Queen tried a 463 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: number of remedies, but it was evident that he was 464 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:09,399 Speaker 1: not going to survive past infancy. In seventeen eighty two, 465 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: aged only one year old, Prince Alfred died due to 466 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: complications with his smallpox inoculation. He was not the first 467 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: child the king and queen would lose. Only a year later, 468 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: Alfred's elder brother, Prince Octavius, would die due to the 469 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:32,319 Speaker 1: same complications at age four. The queen would mourn her 470 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,920 Speaker 1: sons for a long time, her quote two dear little angels, 471 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: as she called them. We don't have much in the 472 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: way of the Queen's own writing at this time, beyond 473 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: an instruction to her brother on the subject of Octavius's 474 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:53,359 Speaker 1: death quote, do not mention it. It is likely that 475 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:58,960 Speaker 1: Octavius's death would also contribute to triggering a spiral that 476 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: the king would not recover from. At the time of 477 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: Octavius's death, Charlotte was pregnant for the final time, and 478 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: her depression persisted. She complained to her brother that all 479 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: she had was her children and that life outside them 480 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: was monotonous and burdensome. The birth of her final child 481 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,839 Speaker 1: seemed to have eased the queen of some of her pain, 482 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 1: and she began to reinvest in her patronage and passion 483 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: for Botany. Her relationship with her husband George had remained 484 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: strong over the years. There's an anecdote from seventeen eighty 485 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 1: six from a woman in the Queen's service. That reads. 486 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,399 Speaker 1: The Queen endeavored to kiss his the King's hand as 487 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: he held them. He would not let her, but made 488 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 1: an effort to kiss hers. I saw instantly in her 489 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: eyes a forgetfulness that anyone was present, while drawing her 490 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: hand away. If he presented him her cheek. He accepted 491 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:06,600 Speaker 1: her kindness with the same frank affection that she offered 492 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:12,360 Speaker 1: it end quote very sweet. Tragic days for the couple 493 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 1: were soon to return, though. Seventeen eighty eight marked a 494 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: major decline in the King's mental and physiological health. One afternoon, 495 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,560 Speaker 1: attending a sermon with the Queen and their daughters, the 496 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: king quote started up, seemed to have lost all power 497 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: over himself, embraced the Queen and princesses, and then burst 498 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:41,440 Speaker 1: into tears. He asked the princess, Elizabeth, you know what 499 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,120 Speaker 1: it is to be nervous, But was you ever so 500 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: bad as this? She responded yes, and he fell quiet. 501 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: The King's control over his own mind would only deteriorate 502 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: from here. He soon became delusional and hostile towards Charlotte. 503 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,839 Speaker 1: He would accuse her of adultery while simultaneously believing he 504 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: himself was in fact in love with one of her 505 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,799 Speaker 1: ladies of the bedchamber, even though the King had never, 506 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:16,360 Speaker 1: in their long marriage ever taken a mistress. We understand 507 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: today that the King was suffering from paranoid delusions, likely 508 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:26,080 Speaker 1: the effect of the metabolic disorder porphyria, but Charlotte had 509 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 1: no such reassurances at the time. Over the course of 510 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:34,839 Speaker 1: the king's decline, Charlotte's own mental health suffered and her 511 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:39,720 Speaker 1: hair turned prematurely gray. The same lady's maid who once 512 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:45,200 Speaker 1: recounted the scene of Charlotte and George's little love kiss exchange, 513 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: later wrote that the Queen is almost overpowered with some 514 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,400 Speaker 1: secret terror. Today. She gave up the conflict when I 515 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:57,959 Speaker 1: was alone with her and burst into a violent fit 516 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 1: of tears. It was very, very terrible to see. It 517 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: was assumed that the King's illness was grave. He was 518 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,320 Speaker 1: not going to regain his capacities as he once did. 519 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:16,759 Speaker 1: In seventeen sixty five, Parliament was once again forced to 520 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:22,040 Speaker 1: assemble to discuss the inevitable regency and decide who would 521 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:26,520 Speaker 1: be appointed the regent, Charlotte or the Prince of Wales. 522 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:32,120 Speaker 1: Charlotte was weary of her son's ambitions, and, unlike others, 523 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:36,920 Speaker 1: held out hope that her husband would recover. The prince 524 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:41,280 Speaker 1: was ultimately declared the Regent elect, but the resulting bill 525 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,760 Speaker 1: was designed to limit his ability to consolidate power around 526 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: him and gave Charlotte control over the king's person and household. 527 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:56,319 Speaker 1: Charlotte's hope was ultimately fruitful. The King did recover to 528 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 1: a degree. That same year. He assured his wife that 529 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,920 Speaker 1: his delusions were nothing more than that, and they were 530 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:08,440 Speaker 1: able to reconcile. Charlotte and her eldest son's relationship, however, 531 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:14,719 Speaker 1: was permanently altered. Charlotte herself was permanently altered. Reports say 532 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,680 Speaker 1: she became angry even toward her beloved daughters, whom she 533 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:23,440 Speaker 1: relied on increasingly in her later years. The King's recovery 534 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:28,160 Speaker 1: was also only brief. The illness would return in eighteen 535 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:32,520 Speaker 1: oh one, and then again in eighteen o four. The 536 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 1: next bout of illness in eighteen eleven marked the beginning 537 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,840 Speaker 1: of George's true and final decline, and in the last 538 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:46,320 Speaker 1: years of her life, Charlotte would live effectively as a widow, 539 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 1: her husband confined to separate apartments. The Regency Act of 540 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven followed similar conditions to the one designed years earlier, 541 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:03,840 Speaker 1: only now her her son was officially the acting Prince Regent. 542 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,720 Speaker 1: Charlotte devoted the last years of her life to aiding 543 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,400 Speaker 1: the Prince in his rule as much as he would 544 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:15,720 Speaker 1: allow her. Her joy in later years was greatly derived 545 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:20,239 Speaker 1: from planning royal marriages, first of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, 546 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 1: with whom she was the closest, and that of the 547 00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:28,799 Speaker 1: only granddaughter she lived to meet, Princess Charlotte. If you've 548 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,080 Speaker 1: listened to this podcast since its beginning, you might remember 549 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:37,239 Speaker 1: an episode on the poor, beloved, Doomed Princess Charlotte. This 550 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: Princess Charlotte also happens to be a major character in 551 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:46,200 Speaker 1: my newest novel, Immortality, a Love Story. In eighteen seventeen, 552 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:50,839 Speaker 1: the Queen developed hydropaxi, or dropsy of the chest, which 553 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:55,600 Speaker 1: affected her in Bounce. Her last public appearance was April 554 00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 1: twenty ninth, eighteen eighteen, a visit to the Egyptian Hall 555 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: at the Mansion House in London for a prize ceremony 556 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:07,480 Speaker 1: for children taught by the National Society for Promoting Education 557 00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:12,880 Speaker 1: of the Poor. In November that same year, Charlotte died 558 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 1: at Kew Palace, survived by her husband, who likely never 559 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,000 Speaker 1: knew of her death. Charlotte was subjected to a number 560 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: of tragedies throughout her life, but beyond those, all surviving 561 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: records paint the portrait of a woman who found passion 562 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:36,240 Speaker 1: beyond it all in her studies, her hobbies, her children, 563 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:48,000 Speaker 1: and in love. That's the story of Queen Charlotte. But 564 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:50,640 Speaker 1: stick around to hear a bit more on the theory 565 00:41:50,719 --> 00:42:07,880 Speaker 1: of her possible Black ancestry. As I noted earlier, England 566 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:12,640 Speaker 1: maintained a fervent obsession with the looks of Queen Charlotte. 567 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:16,080 Speaker 1: One report from her physician in her later years is 568 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:21,640 Speaker 1: notable for a particular description quote small and crooked with 569 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:26,400 Speaker 1: a true mulatto face. Apologies for that word, but I 570 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: think in this context it's important to understand that descriptions 571 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:34,600 Speaker 1: like these spurred interest, and a historian by the name 572 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,560 Speaker 1: of Mario de Valdes e co Combe is known for 573 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:42,520 Speaker 1: formulating the theory that Charlotte was of African ancestry, a 574 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:46,600 Speaker 1: theory that gave us the Bridgerton Charlotte we know today. 575 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:51,120 Speaker 1: The grounds for the theory are questionable, based on a 576 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,640 Speaker 1: portrait of the seventeen year old Charlotte by the official 577 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 1: royal painter Alan Ramsay. The historian argues that the queen 578 00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:04,400 Speaker 1: possesses what he perceives as quote subtleties in coloring and 579 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: facial bone structure of individuals of African descent and quote. 580 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,160 Speaker 1: This is supported by his argument that the queen was, 581 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,919 Speaker 1: as described in the Guardian quote, directly descended from a 582 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,400 Speaker 1: black branch of the Portuguese royal family related to Margherita 583 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:27,520 Speaker 1: di Castro Issuza, a fifteenth century Portuguese noble woman nine 584 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:33,320 Speaker 1: generations removed whose ancestry she traces from the thirteenth century 585 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:38,280 Speaker 1: ruler Alphonso the Third and his lover Madragana, whom Valdaz 586 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:41,840 Speaker 1: takes to have been a more and thus a black 587 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:48,040 Speaker 1: African end quote. Historians today note that such an ancestral 588 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: connection would be incredibly far removed, on top of already 589 00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:58,480 Speaker 1: thin evidence that Madragana was even black in the thirteenth century. 590 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: With the theories roots in a racist comment from a 591 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 1: nineteenth century physician, perceived African features in a portrait, and 592 00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:13,840 Speaker 1: an incredibly distant ancestral connection that cannot be proven, most 593 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:17,640 Speaker 1: historians share the consensus that when it comes to the 594 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:22,840 Speaker 1: question of Queen Charlotte being black, the answer is maybe, 595 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:47,319 Speaker 1: very very distantly possible, but incredibly unlikely. Noble Blood is 596 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:51,240 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. 597 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:55,840 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danas Schwartz. Additional writing 598 00:44:55,920 --> 00:45:00,160 Speaker 1: and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mira Hayward, 599 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by 600 00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:09,000 Speaker 1: rima Il Kayali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive 601 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:13,319 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more 602 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 603 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,480 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.