Queen Charlotte, 1744-1818: An Exhibit
A Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as Queen of England
Sophie Charlotte, 1744-1818
Queen Charlotte, from a painting by Edridge. Frontispiece of vol. 2: Charlotte Papendiek, Court and Private Life in the Time of Queen Charlotte. London, 1887.
More than two hundred years ago a young princess named Sophie Charlotte, from the tiny German principality of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, played a prominent, though reticent, role on the stage of European world history. As Queen of Great Britain and consort of George III she became an eye witness of a turbulent age. During the reign of George III (1760-1820) Great Britain developed into a far-reaching empire by colonizing Australia, New Zealand, and India, and conquering Canada and the West Indies. However, this empire also suffered the loss of the American colonies (1776) and the tremors of the French Revolution (1789), and countered Napoleon’s threatening advances with the victories at Trafalgar (1805) and Waterloo (1815).
How informative it would have been for future generations if Queen Charlotte had described the events of her time and her environment in the candid way of Liselotte von der Pfalz, or in the elegant style of Madame de Sévigné. The only private writings that have survived are Queen Charlotte’s 444 letters to her closest confidant–her older brother, Charles II (1741-1816), Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. There are, though, interesting contemporary reports about life at the Court of St. James’s from which can be gleaned a sympathetic personal portrait of the Queen from Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Princess Sophie Charlotte was born on May 19, 1744–the eighth child of the Prince of Mirow, Charles Louis Frederick, and his wife, Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1752, when she was eight years old, Sophie Charlotte’s father died. Adolf Frederick III, reigning duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had founded the city of Neustrelitz in 1733, died in the same year. His successor was Sophie Charlotte’s brother, Adolf Frederick IV, who under the name of “Dörchläuchting” has become an immortal figure in Low German literature through the writings of Fritz Reuter. In August of 1761, he and Sophie Charlotte’s dying mother signed the marriage contract with the British King George III of the House of Hanover. At the age of 22, the King had chosen the 17-year-old Strelitz princess as his bride.
This marriage contract, written in Latin, contained the following conditions: The young princess should leave for Great Britain immediately, join the Anglican church and be married according to Anglican rites, and never ever involve herself in politics. She fulfilled all three demands to the fullest satisfaction of her king and consort.
Sophie Charlotte left her Mecklenburg homeland eight days after her mother’s death, never to return. She travelled for three days in a triumphal procession to Stade in the Hanoverian kingdom. On August 28, 1761, she boarded the splendidly appointed yacht “Royal Charlotte” at Cuxhaven at the North Sea. During the stormy ten-day voyage which rendered her five ladies-in-waiting unfit for service, the young royal bride comforted herself with singing and playing the harpsichord. She played the national anthem of Great Britain, “God save the King,” and memorized a few English sentences–English had not been taught at the court of Neustrelitz.
Mademoiselle Seltzer and Madame de Grabow, a native of Güstrow who was also known as the “German Sappho,” had instructed the princesses in the German, French, and Italian languages and literatures as well as in geography. Map making had been of special interest. The fine arts of dancing, drawing, singing, and the playing of musical instruments had not been neglected. Delicate embroidery was a daily and diligent pursuit. The Lutheran theologian Gentzmer taught the ducal children the basics in religion, natural philosophy, mineralogy, and botany. His pains were amply rewarded. His famous pupil later received the honorary title of “Queen of Botany” from the British people because of her great interest in the enlargement and support of the Royal botanical gardens at Kew. In 1773, Sir Joseph Banks, then director of Kew Gardens, named the exotic “Bird of Paradise” plant from the Cape of Good Hope Strelitzia Reginae in honor of his Queen.
When George III first received his young bride on September 9, 1761, at the garden gate of St James’s Palace, he was supposedly taken aback by her lack of beauty. It became evident, though, that the pious and modest Strelitz princess soon conquered his heart and willingly submitted to his strong influence over her. Life at the British court was anything but easy for her with a domineering German mother-in-law, Princess Augusta of Wales, and her [Charlotte's] lady-in-waiting Juliane von Schwellenberg, who came with the princess from Mecklenburg-Strelitz and who wanted to protect her young charge at all costs. Nicknamed “Schwelly,” von Schwellenberg soon became the laughing-stock of the British people.
In the first twenty-one years of her marriage Queen Charlotte gave birth to fifteen children – nine sons and six daughters. In contrast to most European Royal houses George III and Charlotte had a harmonious marriage. However, during their lifetimes the British court had the reputation of being the dullest in all of Europe because of their notoriously frugal, plain, and pious life-style. Their charities, however, were legend. Hospitals such as the famous Queen’s Lying-in Hospital in London which was founded by Charlotte, orphanages, “decayed” musicians, and untold poor families could rely on their munificent patronage. Eight-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart happily fulfilled Queen Charlotte’s request and dedicated his Opus 3 to her. When her court musician and music teacher Johann Christian Bach (also called the “London Bach”) died of consumption, she paid for his funeral and established a pension for his widow.
In 1788, a shadow fell on the happiness of the Royal family. It became evident that George III had started his slow and violent descent into the madness which medical authorities believe to have been caused by the inherited malady porphyria. His suffering lasted for thirty years until his death in 1820. The Royal Marriage Act, pushed through Parliament by George III in 1772, placed another heavy burden on his family. It stipulated that none of his descendants could marry before the age of twenty-five without the King’s consent, and even then they might only marry Protestant princes or princesses. The result of this rather strange law was that his children sought refuge in secret marriages and illicit love affairs or stayed unmarried. Queen Charlotte’s court in later years was also called “The Nunnery.”
In 1790, the queen bought her last residence–”Frogmore House”–a small country palace located one-half mile southwest of Windsor Castle. She called this beloved home of her old age her “little paradise” where she could study her favorite subject botany and find peace from the constant disturbance caused by her consort’s illness. Her oldest son George, Prince of Wales, finally was named regent in 1812, at the age of fifty and, in 1820, upon the death of his father, ascended the throne as George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Hanover. The “regency of the person” of the ill king George III remained in the hands of his loyal Queen Charlotte until her death on November 17, 1818, at Kew Palace.
“Prudence imposes silence,
& that little dear word Silence
has so often been my friend in necessity,
that I make it my constant companion.”
– Queen Charlotte
Places in the New World Named in Honor of Queen Charlotte
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Queens County, Nova Scotia, Canada (named 1761).
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Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada (named 1761).
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Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada.
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Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
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Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada (named 1787).
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Queen’s College (now Rutgers University), New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. (founded 1766).
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Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. (founded 1762).
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Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties, Virginia, U.S. (created 1765).
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Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, U.S. (founded 1763).
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Mecklenburg, Frederick County, Virginia (founded 1762).
Marriage
The First Interview Between Their Majesties
Engraving of The First Interview Between Their Majesties. Published in Oulton, W. C., Authentic and impartial memoirs of her late Majesty, Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. London, 1819. Plate facing page 18.
Read Horace Walpole’s comments on Princess Charlotte’s Arrival
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Read Horace Walpole’s account of the wedding of King George III and Princess Charlotte.
The Coronation of His Majesty King George III of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover
September 22, 1761
Read Horace Walpole’s comments on the coronation.
Coronation Portrait of King George III, after the portrait by Allan Ramsay.
King George III in Coronation Robes. Plate 33 of Smart, Alastair, Allan Ramsay 1713-1785. Edinburgh, 1992.
Canvas, 98 1/4 x 64 1/8 in. (249.7x163cm). Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.
Copyright 1996 National Galleries of Scotland. The National Galleries of Scotland prohibits any form of reproduction, transmission, performance, display, rental, lending or storage of this image in any retrieval system without the written consent of the copyright holders. This image is reproduced in the Queen Charlotte Exhibit courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Coronation Portrait of Queen Charlotte, after the portrait by Allan Ramsay.
Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Wife of George III, from a painting by Allan Ramsay in the National Portrait Gallery. In: Greenwood, Alice Drayton. Lives of the Hanoverian Queens of England. London, 1911, Frontispiece to v.2.
Form of Procession to the Coronation of the Sovereigns of Great Britain.
Order of the procession in the coronation of George III and Charlotte.
Plate I of A Faithful Account of the Processions and Ceremonies of the Kings and Queens of England; exemplified by that of their most Sacred Majesties King George the Third and Queen Charlotte: with all the other interesting proceedings connected with that magnificent festival. Edited by Richard Thomson. London, 1820.
Bible Used in the Coronation of Queen Charlotte
The Holy Bible. London, 1756.
Contemporary leather embellished with the royal arms and the cipher of George III, with a tipped-in leaf identifying this as the Bible placed before “that most amiable Princess Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain, at her coronation, Sep. 22nd, 1761.”
On deposit, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
The Ancient Coronation Chair and Regalia of Great Britain.
Regalia used in the coronation of the English sovereign.
Plate IV of A Faithful Account of the Processions and Ceremonies of the Kings and Queens of England; exemplified by that of their most Sacred Majesties King George the Third and Queen Charlotte: with all the other interesting proceedings connected with that magnificent festival. Edited by Richard Thomson. London, 1820.
Family Life & Children
George III, King of Great Britain, Ireland, and Hanover
(born 4 June 1738, died 27 January 1820) was the son of Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales (1707-1751), and his wife Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719-1772).
and married, on 8 September 1761,
Sophie Charlotte, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
(born 19 May 1744, died 17 November 1818), the daughter of Charles Louis Frederick, Prince of Mirow (1708-1752), and his wife Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1713-1761).
For more information on the ancestors of Queen Charlotte and King George, see this website giving links to genealogical information on royal families of Europe from the 6th century A.D.
Look here for information on the Genealogy of Mecklenburg.
Queen Charlotte gave birth to 15 children in the first 21 years of her marriage. Of that number, 13 survived to adulthood.
“George III and Queen Charlotte and their fourteen children parading before the public at Windsor Castle in 1781.” In: Guttmacher, Manfred S. America’s Last King. New York, 1941. Plate facing p. 45.
Children of King George III and Queen Charlotte
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George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, reigned as King George IV of Great Britain and Hanover (1762-1830).
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Frederick, Duke of York (1763-1827).
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William Henry, Duke of Clarence, reigned as King William IV of Great Britain and Hanover (1765-1837).
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Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal (1766-1828).
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Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (1767-1820).
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Augusta Sophia (1768-1840) never married.
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Elizabeth (1770-1840).
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Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, reigned as King Ernest of Hanover (1771-1851).
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Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843).
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Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850).
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Mary (1776-1857).
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Sophia (1777-1848) never married.
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Octavius (1779-1783) died in childhood.
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Alfred (1780-1782) died in childhood.
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Amelia (1783-1810) never married.
Home Life
In contrast to most European Royal couples, George III and Charlotte had a harmonious marriage. (Read the comments of Mrs. Delany and Fanny Burney regarding the King and Queen.) On the other hand, during their lifetimes the English court had the reputation of being the dullest in all of Europe because of their notoriously frugal, plain, and pious life-style.
“Queen Charlotte garbed as a domestic, is frying sprats, with coins spilling from her patched and bulging purse; George, in undress, is toasting the muffins for tea. These caricatures were published by Gillray in 1791.” In: Guttmacher, Manfred S. America’s Last King. New York, 1941. Plate facing p. 174.
The King and Queen were conscientious parents. The King attended personally to the details of his childrens’ care and education. He also appears to have been a loving father, as evidenced by this story about the London Hurricane.
The royal couple were very progressive in having each child innoculated against smallpox. In addition, the spectre of the King’s illness, which first appeared in 1765, caused the Queen to be especially careful in attending to the childrens’ health. Read what Mrs. Papendiek wrote about medical care in the royal household, or read more about the King’s illness.
The King and Queen in Old Age
King George III in His Final Illness, after Charles Turner’s engraving. In: Papendiek, Charlotte. Court and Private Life in the Time of Queen Charlotte. London, 1887. Frontispiece to v.1.
Sophia Charlotte in Her Later Years. Engraving. “Sophia Charlotte” published for European Magazine by J. Asperne.
Jeffress Collection, No. 7412, June 7, 1788. Manuscripts Division, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library.
In her Letters and Diary, Fanny Burney d’Arblay described Queen Charlotte’s visit to Bath in November and December, 1817.
Almost a year later, Burney writes in her Diary:
Tuesday, Nov. 17th. [1818] — This day, at one o’clock, breathed her last the inestimable Queen of England. Heaven rest and bless her soul! …
Fanny Burney On Queen Charlotte’s Character
On May 3, 1818, Fanny Burney’s husband, Alexandre d’Arblay, died in Bath. Fanny then moved to London, where she lived until her own death in 1840.
Tuesday, Nov. 17th. [1818] – This day, at one o’clock, breathed her last the inestimable Queen of England. Heaven rest and bless her soul!
Sketch of Queen Charlotte’s Character, from a Memorandum Book of Madame d’Arblay.
Her understanding was of the best sort; for while it endued her with powers to form a judgment of all around her, it pointed out to her the fallibility of appearances, and thence kept her always open to conviction where she had been led by circumstances into mistake.
From the time of my first entrance into her household her manner to me was most kind and encouraging, for she had formed her previous opinion from the partial accounts of my beloved Mrs. Delany. She saw that, impressed with real respect for her character, and never-failing remembrance of her rank, she might honour me with confidence without an apprehension of imprudence, invite openness without incurring freedom, and manifest kindness without danger of encroachment.
If Mrs. Delany’s goodness made her trust me, my own interior view of her made the trust reciprocal, for I had the firmest reliance, not alone on her prudence, but on her honour, which was so inviolate, it might justly be called religious.
When I was alone with her she discarded all royal constraint, all stiffness, all formality, all pedantry of grandeur, to lead me to speak to her with openness and ease; but any inquiries which she made in our tête-à-têtes never awakened an idea of prying into affairs, diving into secrets, discovering views, intentions, or latent wishes, or causes. No, she was above all such minor resources for attaining intelligence; what she desired to know she asked openly, though cautiously if of grave matters, and playfully if of mere news or chit-chat, but always beginning with, “If there is any reason I should not be told, or any that you should not tell, don’t answer me.” Nor were these words of course, they were spoken with such visible sincerety, that I have availed myself of them fearlessly, though never without regret, as it was a delight to me to be explicit and confidential in return for her condescension. But whenever she saw a question painful, or that it occasioned even hesitation, she promptly and generously started some other subject.
Wednesday, Dec. 2nd. [1818] – The Queen, the excellent exemplary Queen, was this day interred in the vault of her royal husband’s ancestors, to moulder like his subjects, bodily into dust, but mentally not so! She will live in the memory of those who knew her best, and be set up as an example even by those who only after her death know, or at least acknowledge, her virtues.
I heard an admirable sermon on her departure and her character from Mr. Repton in St. James’s Church. I wept the whole time, as much from gratitude and tenderness to hear her thus appreciated as from grief at her loss — to me a most heavy one! for she was faithfully, truly, and solidly attached to me, as I was to her.
Excerpt from: Burney, Fanny: Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay. Edited by her niece. London, Henry Colburn, 1854. v. 7, p. 266-268.
Charitable Interests
Queen Charlotte was generous in her assistance to the people who served at court. Read about the events surrounding the death of Johann Christian Bach.
Her Majesty Relieving the Poor Cottager
Her Majesty Relieving the Poor Cottager. Engraving. Published in Oulton, W. C., Authentic and impartial memoirs of her late Majesty, Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. London, 1819. Plate facing page 203.
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Queens County, Nova Scotia, Canada (named 1761).
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Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada (named 1761).
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Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada.
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Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
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Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada (named 1787).
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Queen’s College (now Rutgers University), New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. (founded 1766).
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Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. (founded 1762).
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Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties, Virginia, U.S. (created 1765).
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Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, U.S. (founded 1763).
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Mecklenburg, Frederick County, Virginia (founded 1762).
