WEBVTT - The Mad King's Queen 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.720 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:18.759 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. If you've 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:24.000 learned anything about the princesses and queens of history, particularly 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:28.880 from this podcast, you know that, regardless of where they're from, 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:34.360 their stories are almost always leaps and bounds away from 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:39.960 the lives we imagine of princesses and queens in fairy tales, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.680 if a woman isn't in line for the throne of 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.320 her own country, her origin story typically follows a format 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.839 we hear time and time again. A girl is chosen 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.840 as a suitable marriage candidate at a young age. She 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:00.840 is promptly separated from her family and and her country 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:05.039 and shipped to the court of another nation. She is 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:09.600 expected to adapt to their customs, perhaps even their language, 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.360 under the scrutiny of not only the court but the 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:17.720 country at large. I think of Marie Antoinette in the 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:22.720 Sophia Coppola film. There's a scene pulled directly from history. 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.959 In the forest at the edge of the Austrian French border. 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.640 Marie Antoinette's beloved pug is taken from her arms as 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:35.160 she's told that when she gets to Versailles, she can 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:39.679 have as many French dogs as she likes. If you 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.400 found that movie scene as heartbreaking as I did, take 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:47.280 comfort in the fact that in real life Marie Antoinette 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.840 did eventually get her beloved Mops to meet her in 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:56.120 France after the ceremonial aspect was complete. But the scene 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:00.240 is dramatic and emblematic of the practice of all all 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:05.640 but shipping princesses abroad to marry strangers for diplomatic purposes. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.320 That was common that princesses would arrive in a foreign 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:15.079 land for a wedding, but most didn't marry their husband's 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:21.560 six hours after their arrival. That is a situation almost 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:26.280 unique to the then seventeen year old Sophia Charlotte or 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.919 Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, or the soon to be Queen 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.800 Charlotte of Great Britain and Ireland. As a friend of 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:39.840 the real life Marie Antoinette, I imagine that scenario was 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.920 something that the pair could have bonded over if they 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.440 were ever to have let their minds wander back to 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:47.760 what it must have been like to have been a 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:53.000 young and terrified bride to be Charlotte had begun her 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:57.600 journey from her native Germany to England on August seventeenth, 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:02.480 seventeen sixty one, and arrived on September eighth, after a 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:07.799 grueling sea voyage, during which the crew encountered three storms. 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.919 As I'm sure we're all in agreement on, nothing screams 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.960 romance like still being seasick during your vows, especially when 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:22.200 they're being given in a language you don't understand. Charlotte 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:26.520 spoke no English upon her arrival, and naturally, due to 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.480 the timing, she would not learn it until after her 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:34.160 marriage was official. You may be surprised, then, to learn 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:38.440 that Charlotte and her husband George ended up in what 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:42.880 is potentially as happy a marriage as is possible for 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.440 the British monarchy. It was not a relationship without its trials, 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:51.200 almost certainly due to the King's battles later in life 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:55.120 with mental and physical illness. But it is because of 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.840 those struggles that we know just how deeply Charlotte cared 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:04.160 for and loved her husband. The couple have remained important 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.520 cultural figures to this day, in part because of an 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:12.520 ongoing fascination we have with the regency period and recently 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:17.800 in larger part due to Netflix's Bridgerton, in which Charlotte 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.120 is the only major character with a real life historical counterpart. 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:27.920 In May, Netflix will release the prequel series Queen Charlotte, 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:32.960 a Bridgerton story portraying the origin story of the tons 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:38.640 beloved Queen, seemingly focused on her courtship with George. One 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.159 thing that makes the real Queen Charlotte such an interesting 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.920 character to have included in the television show is that 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:52.240 the Bridgerton imagination of an integrated regency society cleverly aligns 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.640 with a real long standing theory that Queen Charlotte was 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.800 of mixed race. The reality behind that theory, as we 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.560 will see, is in fact a bit more complicated, but 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.920 it is interesting and it was an interesting nod for 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.200 the show. Much of what we know of the real 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.880 Charlotte's life provides the material for the case of her 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.440 as a romantic heroine, but the knowledge we have of 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:22.839 her outside of her relationship to George is more complex, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.839 that of a woman who was sheltered but intellectually curious, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.800 a patron of the arts, devoted to her husband and 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:39.159 her children, and almost England's regent. I'm Danish Schwartz, and 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:47.800 this is noble blood. Before we speak about Charlotte, we 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.920 have to speak a little more broadly about the Hanovers. 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.599 When Queen Anne died without any heirs, the Germanic House 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.560 of Hanover began their monarchic reign when George the First 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.760 was in seventeen fourteen, and their reign would end with 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.800 the death of Queen Victoria in nineteen oh one. The 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.680 Hanover Royal House had its origins in Germany, and there 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:16.119 remained very much a German dynasty throughout their rule. Even 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:21.839 Victoria spoke with a German accent. Their germanness was preserved 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:27.040 through the sports draft that was royal matchmaking. Every Hanover 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:32.239 heir married German princes or princesses, and George the Third 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.039 was no exception. When it came time for that match 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:40.680 to be arranged, however, George was being rather stubborn as 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.320 the then Prince of Wales, he told Lord Bute, a 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:48.279 favorite of the Prince and his future Prime Minister, that 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:52.240 he would never marry whilst this old man lives. The 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.560 old man in question was his grandfather, also known as 0:06:56.760 --> 0:07:01.000 George the Second. George the First and George the Second 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.159 did not care for each other, and George the Third 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:08.240 did not care for either of them. Number Three's ire 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:12.680 towards his grandfather and great grandfather was largely in part 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:18.000 due to behavior he considered immoral. George the First famously 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.480 divorced his wife for adultery and then locked her in 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.280 a castle for the rest of her life. George the 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.440 Second had a better relationship with his wife than that, 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:32.720 but kept a number of mistresses in rotation openly. He 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.680 stayed true to his word and didn't marry while his 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:40.200 grandfather reigned, but the youngest George's rebellion was forced to 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.960 come to an end when George the Second died unexpectedly 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:48.920 in October of seventeen sixty at twenty two years old. 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.120 George the Third assumed the throne and was no longer 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:57.720 in a position to avoid choosing a queen. The first 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:02.040 Hannover king born in England, George was also arguably the 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.120 first Hanover sovereign to be widely well liked, so even 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.760 the public got involved in the search, although their lack 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.560 of knowledge on the subject of minor German princesses meant 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.800 that they weren't much help. Fortunately, the extended Hanover family 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.520 had been preparing for this for as long as their 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.480 dynasty had reigned, and so a number of names were 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:28.320 being thrown around among the royal court. One name eventually 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:33.760 stood out, Princess Sophias Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, a small 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.880 North German duchy. She was the eighth child and second 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:42.440 surviving daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelits. 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:47.520 Her older sister, Princess Christianne, was a spinsterly twenty five 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.559 and thus obviously out of the marriage market for George. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.640 Christian was actually about to make a match with an 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:59.520 English peer, but the King's intentions toward her sister ultimately 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.640 forbase her from marrying one of his subjects. The buzz 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.920 in court was that Charlotte, the younger daughter, had an 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.640 admirable character and was well raised by her mother, But 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.240 George's advisers worried that since she was from such a 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.560 small duchy, she wouldn't have been able to receive the 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.320 kind of education that she would require to thrive in 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:27.880 British court life. Mecklenburg was small and overgrown. The Scottish 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.440 essayist Thomas Carlyle once described it as a view of 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:37.600 quote serene highness fallen into sleepy hollow. And it was 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:42.280 true that by royal standards her education was lacking, but 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.000 she received one comparable to that of the daughter of 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:51.079 a country lord. She was competent in French, excellent in music, 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:57.120 and she was educated in botany and natural sciences. The priority, however, 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:01.480 in her education, had been religion and and household management. 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.240 Still we know she was passionate about literature from an 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.920 early age. A surviving letter from when she was around 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.239 fifteen tells us she had been recently reading the memoirs 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.240 of an unnamed man of quality, but would not be 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.680 continuing with the works of Voltaire, whom she did not 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:26.120 consider such an oms de quality. Emissaries were dispatched to 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.840 Germany to look into accounts of Charlotte and her two 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:33.880 strongest rivals in the race to be English queen. The 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:38.440 report returned finding that one of the rivals was quote 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:42.960 stubborn and ill tempered to the greatest degree, which eliminated her, 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.679 and the other had a father who had seemingly fallen 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.800 victim to a classic scam from visionnaire who claimed to 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.920 put him in contact with the spirit world. All in 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:59.280 all embarrassing and a bad look for the family. Reports 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:04.040 on Charlotte, however, came back positive. These informants did not 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:08.800 find her beautiful, but argued that she had quote enough 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:13.760 charms for plane and quote the best heart in the world. 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:19.800 With his candidate essentially chosen, George told Lord Butte that 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:23.240 quote a little England's heir will soon give her the 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:27.679 deportment necessary for a British queen end quote. And at 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.960 the beginning of June seventeen sixty one, one Colonel Graham 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.679 of the Scottish Brigade was dispatched to Germany at the 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:40.120 behest of Lord Butte to meet with Charlotte's family, carrying 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:44.080 a letter to Charlotte's mother. The Dowager Duchess could not 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.280 actively join in the discussions, as she was afflicted with 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:53.640 quote violent cramps which have sometimes deprived her of speech 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.680 but without affecting her judgment end quote. She had recently 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:03.400 had a particularly violent bout and was confined to bed 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:08.920 her husband. Charlotte's father had died almost ten years earlier, 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:13.480 which meant Charlotte's brother, Adolphus Frederick was the new Duke. 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.560 Charlotte had not yet been told that the colonel was 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.400 there because a decision had been made. Her family had 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:26.080 decided that quote, having no disturbance in her mind, she 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:30.760 would converse more freely end quote. So after dinner with 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.280 the Colonel and her siblings, Charlotte was called to the 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:39.959 Duchess's bedside, where her mother informed her of her matrimonial destiny. 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:45.760 With that, the Duchess signed her reply to George historians today, 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.560 noting that it must have been done with a very 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:54.280 feeble hand. Twelve days later she would be dead. With 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.720 the Duchess's reply, the Colonel sent his own description of 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:02.440 Charlotte back to England, the most detailed one we had 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.840 yet to see. She was quote delicate and fine, with 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.319 an abundance of red, not to be called a high bloom, 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:15.120 but sufficient to relevate the luster of a very fine white. 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.120 He goes on to describe the size and shape of 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:23.439 her features in detail, such as her nose being quote 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:28.319 good and not flat emphasis his. And if you were 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.320 wondering if he would give his opinion on her body, 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.880 you are, of course in luck. As he remarks, it 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.480 was quote not quite that of a woman fully formed, 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:43.120 though the bosom full enough for her age in the 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:47.440 same vein as earlier reports. He decides that she's not 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:52.120 a great beauty, but her face quote rather agreeable than 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:57.319 otherwise end quote. I note these descriptions because they are 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.600 earlier indicators of what would become a long obsession with 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:07.240 Charlotte's features. For a variety of reasons. Take Charles Dickens's 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.040 A Tale of Two Cities, which lets us know very 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.520 early on that quote there was a king with a 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.120 large jaw and a queen with a plain face on 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.560 the throne of England end quote. But we see that 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.680 before she was even in the country, this was the 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:30.720 prevailing opinion for every detail shared about her. We know 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.560 very little of Charlotte's inner life at this point. How 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.120 she felt about her mother's death, her marriage, her move 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:42.680 to England practically lost to time. According to the colonel, 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:47.360 she confided in him quote with flowing tears, that her 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.760 mother's last words were a wish for her happiness, and 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.320 that even during her grief, she was ready to quote 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:59.400 render herself worthy of the station designed for her end quote. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.119 It was a good thing she had apparently steeled herself, 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:08.360 because wedding plans were already under way. Her departure was 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.080 to be delayed for a few weeks, the minimum propriety 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:16.000 required for her mourning, but the court in England had 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:20.640 already been buzzing for some time with preparations. The Colonel 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.120 passed on Charlotte inquiry as to whether she would be 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.320 allowed to quote carry with her any of the women 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.680 who had been hitthro about her, and the King made 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.680 it clear that England did not employ foreigners in service 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.560 of their queen, and that the most she could bring 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.280 was one or two women, if they were of the 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:46.400 quiet sort. George the Third was a distrustful man, stemming 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.880 from the behaviors of his grandfather and great grandfather. The 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:54.800 clothing and jewels of the new Queen were all to 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:59.440 be sourced in England, so very little of Charlotte's familiar 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.880 life would be making the trip with her. On July 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.600 twenty third, George held a ceremony to rename the Royal 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.040 Caroline yacht as the Royal Charlotte, and it would be 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:17.160 this charlotte duty to carry the human Charlotte to England. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.640 Two months after Colonel Graham's arrival, the Royal Charlotte docked 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.920 on the coast of Stade and its company set off 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.040 for Strelitt to pick up a future queen. The group 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.760 was led by the first Earl of Harcourt, who carried 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.400 with him a gift for Charlotte from the King, his 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:42.600 own picture quote richly and prettily set round with diamonds 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:47.280 and a diamond rose. George was already in possession of 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.360 a portrait of his future queen and was said to 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.840 be quote mighty fond of it, but won't let any 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:58.640 mortal look at it. Charlotte was not used to finery, 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.600 she had no reason to be, but she would have 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.879 to adjust quickly for the voyage. She provided the outer 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:10.240 wear of a heron plume and capissine, or hooded cape 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.040 lined with ermine for the queen. She was to travel 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.879 with the party sent by the King, along with her brother, 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.800 the Duke, and Colonel Graham, who was appointed secretary to 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.359 the new Queen and with whom she seemed to have 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:28.040 formed a bond. Every step of their journey, the almost 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:32.719 Queen would be met with parades and celebrations. When she 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.399 made her first stop, not too far from her home, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:40.200 twelve young girls in white dresses and floral wreaths presented 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.560 her with wreaths of Myrtle, which would incidentally later become 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.960 the royal bouquet flower of choice after the wedding of 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:52.400 Victoria and Albert. At Charlotte's next stop, she would bid 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:57.720 her final farewell to her childhood country. Boarding the boat 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.280 as it sailed to England, the Princess met duchesses, who 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.000 would be her travel companions the rest of the way, 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:08.320 but was warned by the colonel to quote not attach 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.040 herself strongly to any of the ladies, as was the 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:17.560 King's decree. As mentioned earlier, the trip was not smooth sailing, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:23.600 strong gales, hail, thunder lightning, pouring rain, the kind of 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.359 tempest that would land you on an island with Caliban. 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.080 But Charlotte thankfully was not to suffer the same fate 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:38.080 as Miranda. The naval correspondent for Scott's magazine Imagine what 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:42.679 a position, reported that quote, the Queen was not at 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.879 all affected with the storm and bore the sea like 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:52.960 a truly British queen. Almost a month after her initial departure, 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:57.600 on September seventh, the truly British Queen to be would 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:01.960 finally step foot on British so she spent one night 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.720 in Essex before the royal procession carried her from the 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:10.320 coast to London, as crowds gathered to catch a glance 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:15.040 of their future queen in her carriage. As crowds gathered 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.920 to catch a glimpse of their future queen in her carriage. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:22.880 At three point thirty pm the next day, she arrived 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:27.240 at Saint James's Palace, where the King was waiting. An 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:32.760 eyewitness described their meeting as as plain as possible, but 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:37.000 it appears that through a telephone game like series of 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:41.400 accounts we end up with this recorded breakdown. The King 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:46.119 himself opened the gate and Charlotte was presented by her brother, 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:50.520 upon which she threw herself at the King's feet. He 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.840 raised her up and led her through the garden up 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:58.640 the steps into the palace. Charlotte's first order of business 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:03.160 was to meet future family, but the time for introductions 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.960 would be brief. The King had already put to plans 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:11.320 in motion to be married that very night. He led 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.240 Charlotte to the apartments where his wedding gifts, a set 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:20.160 of jewels, including a fairy like crown, were waiting, along 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.200 with her wedding dress. Her wedding rings were also waiting 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:28.080 for her. There three in total, including one to be 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:32.000 worn on her little finger, featuring a likeness of the king. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.280 A full report of her wedding attire details that she 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:42.440 was dressed in a silver tissued, stiffened bodied gown, embroidered 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:46.440 and trimmed with silver. On her head, a little cap 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:51.639 of purple velvet, quite covered with diamonds, a diamond ajette 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.480 in the form of a crown, three dropped diamond ear rings, 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:00.320 diamond necklace, diamond sprigs of flowers on her slip ve, 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:05.280 and to clasp back her robe, a diamond stomacher. Her 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:10.040 purple velvet mantle was laid with gold and lined with ermine. 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:15.000 It was fastened on the shoulders with large toussls of pearls. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:20.320 End for a girl not used to finery, this was 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:25.440 an exceptionally heavy outfit, and the night was the hottest 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.480 of the year. According to a poet in London, on 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:34.159 that point, I can actually relate exactly two hundred and 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.879 sixty one years and one day later. I got married 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:41.840 on a day where temperatures in Los Angeles hovered around 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:45.119 one hundred and ten degrees, which, of course, given that 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.840 I was also wearing a velvet robe and velvet hat, 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.600 and diamonds and ermine. It was frankly quite a challenge, 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:57.239 but we persevere. The Duke of York was set to 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:01.520 escort Charlotte to the chapel, and as Charlotte began to 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:05.280 feel constricted by the weight of her clothes and no 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.720 doubt that temperature, he held her trembling hands and repeated 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:16.360 courage Princess. Mon Dieu was apparently the princess's first remark 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:20.879 upon seeing the bridesmaid assembled, her first glimpse of the 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:25.200 ceremony to come. At ten o'clock in the evening, those 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:29.840 bridesmaids carried her purple train down the aisle, her diamond 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:34.439 egrette sparkling as she walked. Moments later, she was married 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.760 to George Third by the Archbishop, officially beginning her life 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:43.440 as Queen of England, only hours after she had arrived 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:50.120 in the country for the very first time. The marriage 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:54.600 of George and Charlotte was nearly instantly a happy one. 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.679 Quote every hour more and more convinces me of the 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:02.040 treasure I have got, George said to Lord Butte in 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.640 the day's following. The next step was the coronation. While 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:10.800 George had already been king for all intents and purposes 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:15.040 for some time. The official deal wasn't to be sealed 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:20.160 until after the marriage. On September twenty second, rose buds 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:24.760 and autumn bloods were tossed from baskets and Charlotte walked 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:28.240 upon them as she made her way to Westminster Abbey. 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.800 She wore her hair in curls without adornment, as was 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:36.520 custom for the coronation, waiting for the crown to be 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:41.200 placed upon her head. The abbey was packed to capacity 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:46.479 with spectators eager to see their new elegant queen and 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:51.159 favorable king. With that business out of the way, it 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.480 was finally time for the queen to adjust to life 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:59.800 at Saint James. This included learning English, which she said 0:23:59.840 --> 0:24:03.000 to you have quickly picked up, though she would speak 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:08.000 with a strong German accent. For life, still she struggled 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:11.480 for a time. Even with her understanding French, which was 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:16.160 spoken in court, she became the subject of some unfavorable gossip. 0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:20.560 She was also able to continue her musical studies, taking 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.840 singing lessons three times a week from John Christian Bach, 0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:27.959 the son of the composure you might have heard of. 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:33.240 Every Wednesday, the queen performed for the family, playing the 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:37.439 harpsichord and singing. The King would not join her in 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:41.000 performing on these occasions, but when the couple was alone, 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:44.320 he was known to accompany her on the German flute. 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:48.199 Their married life was comfortable, but the Queen was not 0:24:48.440 --> 0:24:52.679 forming social connections outside of her husband, but that was 0:24:52.800 --> 0:24:57.200 his design. She later wrote that she followed her quote 0:24:57.720 --> 0:25:01.520 dear Great King's strictness at d my arrival in England 0:25:01.760 --> 0:25:06.480 to prevent my making acquaintances. You might have suspected as 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:09.200 much when he didn't allow her to bring her own 0:25:09.480 --> 0:25:14.359 ladies maids from Germany his reasoning, Charlotte remarks that he 0:25:14.560 --> 0:25:19.240 was constantly reminding her to know quote there never could 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:23.480 be kept up a society without party, which was always 0:25:23.560 --> 0:25:27.399 dangerous for any woman to take part in, but particularly 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:31.520 so for the royal family. This was a reflection of 0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:37.560 the King's distrustfulness and hints of paranoia, behavior encouraged by 0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:43.000 his mother, the Princess of Wales. George's brother, Prince William, 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:47.240 once stated that George was quote raised to have a 0:25:47.280 --> 0:25:51.840 bad opinion of the world and dread human honor, and 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:56.399 upon the queen's arrival, he was quote delighted with having 0:25:56.640 --> 0:26:00.560 entirely under his own training, a young innocent girl of 0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:04.879 seventeen determined she would be wholly devoted to him alone 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:10.480 and should have no other friend in society. End quote. Whew, 0:26:12.640 --> 0:26:17.800 there is certainly, let's say allah to unpack there. But 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:23.600 the King's warnings that socializing and frivolity could end badly 0:26:23.720 --> 0:26:27.679 for the royals, while taken to a far extreme with 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:33.680 his wife, weren't without merit. Court politics were a messy, 0:26:33.920 --> 0:26:38.879 petty game that Charlotte was completely innocent to, while the 0:26:38.960 --> 0:26:44.520 King's possessiveness was isolating. Charlotte soon learned she did need 0:26:44.560 --> 0:26:47.600 to be careful as to who she could place her 0:26:47.640 --> 0:26:53.000 trust into. Nearly thirty years after her rival, she still 0:26:53.000 --> 0:26:57.719 wrote that she avoided quote meddling in politics, which I 0:26:57.840 --> 0:27:03.840 abhor equal to sin. Charlotte and George grew closer over 0:27:04.080 --> 0:27:09.320 shared passions, particularly the arts. He threw balls so they 0:27:09.359 --> 0:27:13.639 could dance. Other attendees would remark how much enjoyment she 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:17.480 took in dancing and in snuff boxes, a love that 0:27:17.520 --> 0:27:21.440 would persist. He made sure that his queen would regularly 0:27:21.480 --> 0:27:25.880 attend the theater, much ado about nothing being the first 0:27:25.920 --> 0:27:30.199 show they attended together, and in Charlotte's private life she 0:27:30.320 --> 0:27:35.120 became known as an extensive patron of local arts. About 0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:39.400 a month shy of their first wedding anniversary, Charlotte gave 0:27:39.480 --> 0:27:44.400 birth to the couple's first child, George, Prince of Wales. 0:27:45.080 --> 0:27:49.120 It was reported that the Queen had had a very 0:27:49.160 --> 0:27:53.120 good time, which may be the only time in history 0:27:53.600 --> 0:27:58.840 that phrase was associated with giving birth, particularly giving birth 0:27:58.920 --> 0:28:03.120 in the eighteenth century and all of the medical technology 0:28:03.280 --> 0:28:07.159 at their disposal at that time. Young George would be 0:28:07.320 --> 0:28:11.960 the first berth out of fifteen, so maybe Charlotte actually 0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:16.040 did enjoy it. She was only eighteen years old at 0:28:16.040 --> 0:28:19.639 this point, but in a year of her life, Charlotte 0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:23.520 was married, became the Queen, and gave the nation its 0:28:23.560 --> 0:28:29.880 future king check check check. Earlier in the year, George 0:28:29.880 --> 0:28:33.640 had acquired a new property, a little place known as 0:28:33.760 --> 0:28:38.440 Buckingham House, which they called the Queen's House, intended as 0:28:38.520 --> 0:28:42.480 a private residence for Charlotte before the birth of her 0:28:42.560 --> 0:28:46.640 second child, Frederick a year later in seventeen sixty three. 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:50.959 Charlotte wished to spend the pregnancy there for its open 0:28:51.040 --> 0:28:55.040 air and relative privacy. It wouldn't be long before the 0:28:55.040 --> 0:29:00.400 family transitioned the space to their full time residence. She 0:29:00.440 --> 0:29:05.160 would build an extensive library over the years, mainly curated 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:11.920 by the Queen herself. Books on law, natural sciences, theology, history, 0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:19.640 and geography all expressed the Queen's desire to learn across subjects. Voltaire, however, 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:24.640 was notably absent from her shelves beyond books for her 0:29:24.680 --> 0:29:28.520 own literary tastes. She would over the years acquire a 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:33.440