Queen Charlotte plays a major role in the hit Netflix series Bridgerton.
But this famous monarch is known for more than simply being married into royalty.
Who was the real Queen Charlotte from Bridgerton?
Netflix's Bridgerton has become a serious hit.
Not only has it been renewed for two more seasons, but its second season is proving
to be just as popular as its first.
Even more good news is on the horizon for Bridgerton fans: Queen Charlotte is getting
her own spinoff!
“Bridgerton” has drawn in viewers with scandalous stories of Britain shortly after
the revolutionary period.
It's also raising questions about the royal family that haven't been asked in popular
culture for a long time.
It's hard to tell what's real and what's fiction.
The show brings us back to a time period we've never experienced.
One character, in particular, has rekindled old debates.
The royalty in question is Queen Charlotte, who in the show is portrayed by Golda Rosheuvel.
The first thing viewers realize about Charlotte, besides her chillingly cold stares, is that
she's Black.
With everything the layperson knows about British royals from the time period, a Black
queen seems a little out of place.
It's one of the many things that might lead viewers into thinking the character isn't
real.
But Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte is most definitely based on a real queen of the same name.
And she might have even shared more than a passing resemblance to Rosheuvel.
Queen Charlotte began her life as the German Princess Sophia Charlotte.
She was born in 1744 and was basically unknown until she married a 22-year-old King George
III, who would later be known as "The Mad King."
Her main purpose was to bear heirs to the king, and over the years, Charlotte gave birth
to 15 children, 13 of whom survived.
The queen's role in political affairs increased as her husband's mental health declined.
King George III went through waves of depression and violent outbursts that only seemed to
increase with age.
The stress of the American Revolution didn't help, but it wasn't the cause of his troubles.
He fluctuated between depression and manic episodes until he was deemed too insane to
rule and placed under Charlotte's custody in 1811.
"While you may be content to accept defeat.
It is certainly not how I approach things."
Though the fact is highly debated, some historians believe that Queen Charlotte was one of, if
not the first and only, Black queen of Britain.
It's not something that's been outright disproven, but some historians think the evidence is
too thin to support the claim.
If true, it could bring a new, lost history to the entire European monarchy, given that
her 13 surviving children went on to populate royal families across Europe.
Queen Charlotte may have been a German princess, but she was also a descendant of Portuguese
royal Margarita de Castro e Sousa, a member of what some historians believe to be a Black
line of Portuguese nobility.
However, given how far removed she would have been from any African heritage, most historians
believe it's too difficult a claim to support.
Other evidence that's usually cited to support Charlotte's heritage are the portraits painted
by Sir Allan Ramsay.
Ramsay was an intellectual abolitionist who painted Charlotte with features that were
decidedly African in nature and in complete contrast to the way she was painted by others.
At the time, features like this would've been painted out of royal portraits as "undesirable
traits" because of deeply held racist beliefs.
But, Ramsay, a man who married into a family that was partly responsible for ending British
slavery, had no intention of keeping the status quo.
Beyond her potential heritage, Bridgerton points out that it's quite possible that Queen
Charlotte discovered young Mozart and his world-changing musical talents.
If not, she at least utilized them.
This isn't surprising since she was a true patron of the arts.
Mozart visited London a total of one time where he stayed from 1764 to 1765.
During this period, Mozart was welcomed into the palace where he played for King George
III and Queen Charlotte.
This led the famous composer to dedicate his Opus 3 to the queen.
Charlotte also hired one of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons as her music master.
Music wasn't Queen Charlotte's only special interest.
She had a love for botany and is responsible for the famed Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
Palace.
Explorers would bring her plants from all over the world.
Charlotte made sure they were tended to and kept safe in the royal gardens.
Another of her interests was philanthropy.
Charlotte was responsible for founding several orphanages and providing patronage for London's
General Lying-in Hospital.
And she managed to do all of this while dealing with a mentally unstable husband during a
time when the monarchy faced numerous challenges.
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