Noble Blood - The Mad King's Queen

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

In recent years, Queen Charlotte has recieved new attention for being the only primary character on Bridgerton with a real historical counterpart. But despite the love in her marriage, the real Queen Charlotte's life was far more tragic than any romance novel. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, The cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild from Aaron Manky.

Listener discretion advised. If you've learned anything about the princesses and queens of history, particularly from this podcast, you know that, regardless of where they're from, their stories are almost always leaps and bounds away from the lives we imagine of princesses and queens in fairy tales. If a woman isn't in line for the throne of her own country, her origin story typically follows a format we hear time and time again. A girl is chosen as a suitable marriage candidate at a young age. She is promptly separated from her family and her country and shipped to the court of another nation. She is expected to adapt to their customs, perhaps even their language, under the scrutiny of not only the court but the country at large.

I think of Marie Antoinette in the Sophia Coppola film. There's a scene pulled directly from history. In the forest at the edge of the Austrian-French border, order, Marie Antoinette's beloved pug is taken from her arms, as she's told that when she gets to Versailles, she can have as many French dogs as she likes. If you found that movie scene as heartbreaking as I did, take comfort in the fact that in real life, Marie Antoinette did eventually get her beloved mops to meet her in France after the ceremonial aspect was complete. But the scene is dramatic. But the scene is dramatic and emblematic of the practice of all but shipping princesses abroad to marry strangers

for diplomatic purposes. That was common that princesses would arrive in a foreign land for a wedding, but most didn't marry their husbands six hours after their arrival. That is a situation almost unique to the then-17-year-old Sophia Charlotte, or Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strellets, or the soon-to-be Queen Charlotte of Great Britain and Ireland. As a friend of the real-life Marie Antoinette, I imagine that scenario was something that the pair could have bonded over if they were ever to have let their minds wander back

to what it must have been like, to have been a young and terrified bride to be. Charlotte had begun her journey from her native Germany to England on August 17, 1761, and she arrived on September 8th after a grueling sea voyage, during which the crew encountered three storms. As I'm sure we're all in agreement on, nothing screams romance like still being seasick during your vows, especially when they're being given in a language you don't understand. Charlotte spoke no English upon her arrival, and naturally, due to the timing,

she would not learn it until after her marriage was official. You may be surprised, then, to learn, that Charlotte and her husband, George, ended up in, what is potentially, as happy a marriage as is possible for the British monarchy. It was not a relationship without a change, trials, almost certainly due to the king's battles later in life with mental and physical illness, but it is because of those struggles that we know just how deeply Charlotte cared for and loved

her husband. The couple have remained important cultural figures to this day, in part because of an ongoing fascination we have with the Regency period, and recently, in larger part, due to Netflix's Bridgerton, in which Charlotte is the only major character with a real-life historical counterpart. In May, Netflix will release the prequel series, Queen Charlotte, a Bridgerton story, portraying the origin story of The Tahn's beloved queen, seemingly focused on her courtship with George. One thing that makes the real Queen Charlotte such an interesting character to have included in the television show is that the Bridgerton imagination of an integrated regency society cleverly aligns with a real, long-standing theory that Queen Charlotte was of mixed race. The reality behind that theory, as we will see, is in fact a bit more complicated.

but it is interesting and it was an interesting nod for the show. Much of what we know of the real Charlotte's life provides the material for the case of her as a romantic heroine, but the knowledge we have of her outside of her relationship to George is more complex, that of a woman who was sheltered but intellectually curious, a patron of the arts, devoted to her husband and her children, and almost England's regent. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. Before we speak about Charlotte, we have to speak a little more broadly about the Hanovers.

When Queen Anne died without any heirs, the Germanic House of Hanover began their monarchic reign when George I was crowned in 1714, and their reign would end with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. The Hanover Royal House had its origins in Germany, and they remained very much a German dynasty throughout their rule. Even Victoria spoke with a German accent. Their Germanness was preserved through the sports draft that was royal matchmaking. Every Hanover heir married German princes or princesses, and George III was no exception. When it came time for that match to be arranged,

however, George was being rather stubborn. As the then-Prince-of- Wales, he told Lord Butte, a favorite of the prince and his future prime minister, that he would never marry whilst this old man lives. The old man in question was his grandfather, also known as George II. George I and George the First did not care for each other, and George the Third did not care for either of them. Number three's ire towards his grandfather and great-grandfather was largely in part due to behavior he considered immoral. George I first famously divorced his wife for adultery and then locked her in a castle for the rest of her life. George the second had a better relationship with his wife than that, but kept a number of mistresses in rotation openly. He stayed true to his word and

didn't marry while his grandfather reigned, but the youngest George's rebellion was forced to come to an end when George II died unexpectedly in October of 1760. At 22 years old, George III assumed the throne and was no longer in a position to avoid choosing a queen. The first Hanover king born in England, George was also arguably the first Hanover sovereign to be widely well-liked. So even the public got involved in the search, although their lack of knowledge on the subject of minor German princesses meant that they weren't much help. Fortunately, the extended Hanover family had been preparing for this

for as long as their dynasty had reigned, and so a number of names were being thrown around among the royal court. One name eventually stood out. Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strellets, a small North German duchy. She was the eighth child and second surviving daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strellates. Her older sister, Princess Christian, was a spinsterly 25, and thus obviously out of the marriage market for George. Christian was actually about to make a match with an English peer, but the king's intentions toward her sister, ultimately forbade her from marrying one of his subjects.

The buzz in court was that Charlotte, the younger daughter, had an admirable character and was well raised by her mother, but George's advisors worried that, since she was from such a small duchy, she wouldn't have been able to receive the kind of education that she would require to thrive in British court life. Mecklenburg was small and overgrown. The Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle once described it as a view of, quote, serene highness fallen into sleepy hollow. And it was true that by royal standards, her education was lacking, but she received one comparable to that of the daughter of a country lord.

She was competent in French, excellent in music, and she was educated in botany and natural sciences. The priority, however, in her education had been religion and household management. Still, we know she was passionate about literature from an early age. A surviving letter from when she was around 15 tells us she had been recently reading the memoirs of an unnamed man of quality, but would not be continuing with the works of Voltaire, whom she did not consider such an Om de Quality. emissaries were dispatched to Germany to look into accounts of Charlotte and her two strongest rivals in the race to be English queen. The report returned finding that one of the rivals was, quote, stubborn and ill-tempered to the greatest degree, which eliminated her, and the other had a father who had seemingly fallen victim to a classic scam from visionary, who claimed to put him in contact with the spirit.

world. All in all, embarrassing and a bad look for the family. Reports on Charlotte, however, came back positive. These informants did not find her beautiful, but argued that she had, quote, enough charms for plain and, quote, the best heart in the world. With his candidate essentially chosen, George told Lord Butte that, quote, a little England's heir will soon give her the deportment necessary for a British queen, end quote. And at the beginning of June 1761, when Colonel Graham of the Scottish Brigade was dispatched to Germany at the behest of Lord Butte to meet with Charlotte's family, carrying a letter to Charlotte's mother. The Dowager Duchess could not actively join in the discussions as she was afflicted with, quote, violent cramps,

which have sometimes deprived her of speech, but without affecting her judgment, end quote. She had recently had a particularly violent bout and was confined to bed. Her husband, Charlotte's father, had died almost ten years earlier, which meant Charlotte's brother, Adolphus Frederick, was the new Duke. Charlotte had not yet been told that the colonel was there because a decision had been made. her family had decided that, quote, having no disturbance in her mind, she would converse more freely, end quote. So after dinner with the colonel and her siblings, Charlotte was called to the Duchess's bedside, where her mother informed her of her matrimonial destiny.

With that, the Duchess signed her reply to George, historians today noting that it must have been done with a very feeble hand. 12 days later, she would be dead. With the Duchess's reply, the Colonel sent his own description of Charlotte back to England, the most detailed one we had yet to see. She was, quote, delicate and fine, with an abundance of red, not to be called a high bloom, but sufficient, to relevate the luster of a very fine white. He goes on to describe the size and shape of her features, in detail, such as her nose being, quote, good and not flat, emphasis his, and if you were wondering

if he would give his opinion on her body, you are, of course, in luck. As he remarks, it was, quote, not quite that of a woman fully formed, though the bosom full enough for her age. In the same vein as earlier reports, he decides that she's not a great beauty, but her face, quote, rather agreeable than otherwise. End quote. I note these descriptions because they're earlier indicators of what would become a long obsession with Charlotte's features for a variety of reasons.

Take Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, which lets us know very early on that, quote, there was a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face on the throne of England. end quote. But we see that before she was even in the country, this was the prevailing opinion. For every detail shared about her, we know very little of Charlotte's inner life at this point. How she felt about her mother's death, her marriage, her move to England, practically lost to time. According to the colonel, she confided in him, quote, with flowing tears, that her mother's last words were a wish for her

happiness, and that even during her grief, she was ready to, quote, render herself worthy of the station designed for her, and quote, it was a good thing she had apparently steeled herself, because wedding plans were already underway. Her departure was to be delayed for a few weeks, the minimum propriety required for her mourning. But the court in England had already been buzzing for some time with preparations. The colonel passed on Charlotte Inquiry as to whether she would be allowed to, quote, carry with her any of the women who had been hithrow about her, and the king made it clear that England did not employ foreigners in service of their queen, and that the most she could bring was one or two women if they were of the quiet sort. George III was a distrustful man,

stemming from the behaviors of his grandfather and great-grandfather. The clothing and jewels of the new queen were all to be sourced in England, so very little of Charlotte's familiar life would be making the trip with her. On July 23rd, George held a ceremony to rename the Royal Caroline Yacht as the Royal Charlotte, and it would be this Charlotte's duty to carry the human, Charlotte to England. Two months after Colonel Graham's arrival, the Royal Charlotte docked on the coast of Stade and its company set off for Strellet to pick up a future queen. The group was led by the first Earl of Harcourt, who carried with him a gift for Charlotte from the king. His own picture,

quote, richly and prettily, set round with diamonds and a diamond rose. George was already in possession of a portrait of his future queen, and was said to be, quote, mighty fond of it, but won't let any mortal look at it. Charlotte was not used to finery. She had no reason to be, but she would have to adjust quickly. For the voyage, she provided the outerwear of a heron plume and capesine or hooded cape, lined with ermine for the queen. She was to travel with the party sent by the king, along with her brother, the Duke, and Colonel Graham, who was appointed secretary to the new queen, and with whom she seemed to have formed a bond. Every step of their journey, the almost queen

would be met with parades and celebrations. When she made her first stop, not too far from her home, 12 young girls in white dresses and floral wreaths presented her with wreaths of myrtle, which would, incidentally, later, become the royal bouquet flower of choice after the wedding of Victoria and Albert. At Charlotte's next stop, she would bid her final farewell to her childhood country. Boarding the boat as it sailed to England, the princess met duchesses, who would be her travel companions the rest of the way, but was warned by the colonel to, quote, not attach herself strongly to any of the ladies, as, was the king's decree. As mentioned earlier, the trip was not smooth sailing, strong gales, hail, thunder, lightning, pouring rain, the kind of tempest that would land you on an island with

Caliban. But Charlotte, thankfully, was not to suffer the same fate as Miranda. The naval correspondent for Scott's Magazine, imagine what a position, reported that, quote, the Queen's, was not at all affected with the storm and bore the sea like a truly British queen. Almost a month after her initial departure, on September 7th, the truly British queen to be, would finally step foot on British soil. She spent one night in Essex before the royal procession carried her from the coast to London, as crowds gathered to catch a glance of their future queen in her carriage. as crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of their future queen in her carriage.

At 3.30 p.m. the next day, she arrived at St. James Palace, where the king was waiting. An eyewitness described their meeting as, as plain as possible. But it appears that through a telephone game-like series of accounts, we end up with this recorded breakdown. The king himself opened the gate, and Charlotte was presented by her brother, upon which she threw herself at the king's feet. He raised her up and led her through the garden, up the steps, into the palace. Charlotte's first order of business was to meet her future family, but the time for introductions would be brief. The king had already put the plans in motion to be married that very night. He led Charlotte to the apartments where his wedding gifts, a set of jewels, including a fairy-like crown, were waiting, along with her wedding dress. Her wedding rings were also waiting for her there, three in total, including one to be worn on her little finger featuring a likeness of the king. A full report of her wedding attire details that she was dressed in, quote, a silver-tissued, stiffened-bodied gown, embroidered and trimmed with silver.

On her head, a little cap of purple velvet, quite covered with diamonds, a diamond a jet in the form of a crown, three dropped diamond earrings, diamond necklace, diamond sprigs of flowers on her sleeve, and to clasp back her robe, a diamond stomacher. Her purple velvet mantle was laid. laid with gold and lined with ermine. It was fastened on the shoulders with large tassels of pearls. End quote. For a girl not used to finery, this was an exceptionally heavy outfit, and the night was the hottest of the year, according to a poet in London.

On that point, I can actually relate. Exactly 261 years and one day later, I got married on a day where temperatures in Los Angeles hovered around 110 degrees, which, of course, given that I was also wearing a velvet robe and velvet hat and diamonds and ermine, it was frankly quite a challenge, but we persevere. The Duke of York was set to escort Charlotte to the chapel, and as Charlotte began to feel constricted by the weight of her clothes, and no doubt the temperature, he held her trembling hands and repeated, Courage, Princess.

Mondieu was apparently the princess's first remark upon seeing the bridesmaids assembled, her first glimpse of the ceremony to come. At ten o'clock in the evening, those bridesmaids carried her purple train down the aisle, her diamond egress sparkling as she walked. Moment later, she was married to George III by the Archbishop, officially beginning her life as Queen of England, only hours after she had arrived in the country for the very first time. The marriage of George and Charlotte was nearly instantly a happy one.

Quote, every hour more and more convinces me of the treasure I have got, George said to Lord Butte in the days following, the next step was the coronation. While George had already been king for all intents and purposes for some time, the official deal wasn't to be sealed until after the marriage. On September 22nd,

rosebuds and autumn bloods were tossed from baskets and Charlotte walked upon them as she made her way to Westminster Abbey. She wore her hair in curls without adornment, as was custom for the coronation, waiting for the crown to be placed upon her head. The abbey was packed to capacity with spectators, eager to see their new, elegant queen and favorable king. With that business out of the way, it was finally time for the queen to adjust to life at St. James. This included

learning English, which she said to have quickly picked up, though she would speak with a strong German accent for life. Still, she struggled for a time, even with her understanding French which was spoken in court.

She became the subject of some unfavorable gossip. She was also able to continue her musical studies, taking singing lessons three times a week from John Christian Bach. the son of the composer you might have heard of. Every Wednesday, the queen performed for the family,

playing the harpsichord and singing. The king would not join her in performing on these occasions, but when the couple was alone, he was known to accompany her on the German flute. Their married life was comfortable, but the queen was not forming social connections outside of her husband. But that was his design. She later wrote that she followed her, quote,

Dear Great King's strictness at my arrival in England to prevent my making acquaintances. You might have suspected as much when he didn't allow her to bring her own ladies' maids from Germany. His reasoning? Charlotte remarks that he was constantly reminding her to know, quote, There never could be kept up a society without party,

which was always dangerous for any woman to take part in, but particularly so for the royal family. This was a reflection of the king's distrustfulness and hints of paranoia, behavior encouraged by his mother, the princess of Wales. George's brother, Prince William, once stated that George was, quote, raised to have a bad opinion of the world and dread human honor. and upon the queen's arrival he was, quote, delighted with having entirely under his own training, a young innocent girl of 17,

determined she would be wholly devoted to him alone and should have no other friend in society. And quote, whew. There is certainly, let's say, a lot to unpack there. But the king's warnings that socializing and, frivolity could end badly for the royals, while taken to a far extreme with his wife, weren't without merit. Court politics were a messy, petty game that Charlotte was completely innocent to. While the king's possessiveness was isolating, Charlotte soon learned she did need to be

careful as to who she could place her trust into. Nearly 30 years after her rival, she still wrote that she avoided, quote, meddling in politics, which I abhor equal to sin. Charlotte and George grew closer over shared passions, particularly the arts. He threw balls so they could dance. Other attendees would remark how much enjoyment she took in dancing, and in snuff-boxes, a love that would persist. He made sure that his queen would regularly attend the theater, much ado about nothing, being the first show they attended together, and in Charlotte's private life, she became known as an extensive patron of local arts.

About a month shy of their first wedding anniversary, Charlotte gave birth to the couple's first child, George, Prince of Wales. It was reported that the queen, quote, had had a very good time, which may be the only time in history, that phrase was associated with giving birth, particularly giving birth in the 18th century and all of the medical technology at their disposal at that time. Young George would be the first birth out of 15, so maybe Charlotte actually did enjoy it. She was only 18 years old at this point, but in a year of her life, Charlotte was married, became the queen, and gave the nation its future king. Check, check, check. Earlier in the year, George had acquired a new property, a little place known as Buckingham House, which they called the Queen's House, intended as a private residence for Charlotte.

Before the birth of her second child, Frederick, a year later in 1763, Charlotte wished to spend the pregnancy there for its open air and relative privacy. It wouldn't be long before the family transitioned the space to their full-time residence. Here she would build an extensive library over the years, mainly curated by the Queen herself. books on law, natural sciences, theology, history, and geography, all expressed the Queen's desire to learn across subjects. Voltaire, however, was notably absent from her shelves. Beyond books for her own literary tastes, she would, over the years, acquire a number of educational treatises and works of children's literature in an effort to pass on her love of reading to her children, She wasn't only interested in the success of her own children.

Around the time of Frederick's birth, she also began to support an eight-year-old pianist by the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The story goes that he sat at the palace's organ and accompanied the queen when she sang in Aria. She also began her lifelong investment in charity around this time. In 1809, she would fund the General Lying In Hoseph. hospital for expecting mothers, which was subsequently renamed the Queen's Lying

in Hospital, and operates today as Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, one of the country's oldest maternity hospitals. While Charlotte kept out of politics, she began a royal precedent for exercising power in monetarily supporting women and children's welfare. It was in 1765 that George experienced the first episode of the mental illness that would come to define his life and reputation. While he was indisposed, George's mother attempted to hide the illness from Charlotte. Charlotte's closest confidant, Madame Schwellenberg, one of the two bedchamber women she was permitted to employ from Germany, challenged the Dowager Princess on this decision. When George recovered, he shared the same opinion as his mother in regards to meddling women.

He threatened to send Madame Schwellenberg back to Germany. We don't know exactly how aware Charlotte was of her husband's condition, but we do know that behind her back, talks of regency were being put into motion. The king had already publicly declared that, in the case of his death, He wished for the queen to be appointed as regent until his successor was 18. The minority of heir to the crown Act of 1765 was passed in Parliament, and Charlotte became the regent elect. The king soon recovered.

This bout of madness was temporary, and Charlotte's time as regent did not come. One year later, 1766, Queen Charlotte gave birth to her first daughter, Charlotte, in a classic Lorelei Gilmore naming her daughter Lorelei Gilmore move. George and Frederick were now old enough that they were in care of governors for their education, but the education of the young daughter, Charlotte, and the queen's other future daughters, would be a responsibility she took on herself. The Children's Library, mentioned earlier, was likely designed with the girls in mind. The Queen was making sure their education.

would go beyond what was typically required of young ladies, what her childhood education had been. The Queen was building a life for herself in England, but she was undoubtedly lonely and homesick. After a visit from her brother ended in 1771, she solemnly wrote to him that, quote, her pleasures are over for the year, and that she dreaded the upcoming departure of one of her other brothers. By this point, she had been nearly constantly pregnant since 1762. Eight of her 15 children already born, and the births of her later children would come to be associated with tragedy. The 1780s would be a difficult period for the queen.

During her pregnancy with Prince Albert, her oldest son, the Prince of Wales, was engaging in bouts of public hedonism that would send her into a depression. This was followed by the loss of her musical tutor, John Christian Bach, who had been with the queen since her earliest days at the palace. She paid for his funeral costs

and provided a sum for his widow. The next death the queen would face would possibly be the most devastating she could imagine. Prince Alfred, her son, had been sickly since his birth, and the queen tried a number of remedies, but it was evident that he was not going to survive past infancy. In 1782, aged only one year old, Prince Alfred died due to complications with his smallpox inoculation. He was not the first child the king and queen would lose. Only a year later,

Alfred's elder brother Prince Octavius would die due to the same complications at age of 4. The queen would mourn her sons for a long time, her, quote, two dear little angels, as she called them. We don't have much in the way of the queen's own writing at this time beyond an instruction to her brother on the subject of Octavius's death. Quote, do not mention it. It is likely that Octavius' death would also contribute to triggering a spiral that the king would be. would not recover from. At the time of Octavius' death, Charlotte was pregnant for the final time, and her depression persisted. She complained to her brother that all she had was her children, and that life outside them was monotonous and burdensome. The birth of her final child seemed to have

eased the queen of some of her pain, and she began to reinvest in her patronage and passion for, for botany. Her relationship with her husband, George, had remained strong over the years. There's an anecdote from 1786 from a woman in the queen's service that reads, quote, the queen endeavored to kiss his, the king's hand as he held them. He would not let her, but made an effort to kiss hers. I saw instantly in her eyes a forgetfulness that anyone was present. While drawing her hand away, She presented him her cheek. He accepted her kindness with the same frank affection that she offered it. And quote, very sweet. Tragic days for the couple were soon to return, though.

1788 marked a major decline in the king's mental and physiological health. One afternoon attending a sermon with the queen and their daughters, the king, quote, started up up, seemed to have lost all power over himself, embraced the queen and princesses, and then burst into tears. He asked the princess Elizabeth, you know what it is to be nervous, but was you ever so bad as this? She responded, yes, and he fell quiet. The king's control over his own mind would only deteriorate from here. He soon became delusional and hostile towards Charlotte. He would accuse her of adultery, while simultaneously believing he himself was in fact in love with one of her ladies of the bedchamber, even though the king had never in their long marriage ever taken a mistress.

We understand today that the king was suffering from paranoid delusions, likely the effect of the metabolic disorder, Porphyria, but Charlotte had no such reassurances at the time. Over the course of the king's decline, Charlotte's own mental health suffered, and her hair turned prematurely gray. The same ladies' maid who once recounted the scene of Charlotte and George's Little Love Kiss Exchange later wrote that, quote, The Queen is almost overpowered with some secret terror. Today she gave up the conflict when I was alone with her and burst into a violent fit of tears. it was very, very terrible to see." It was assumed that the king's illness was grave.

He was not going to regain his capacities as he once did in 1765. Parliament was once again forced to assemble to discuss the inevitable regency and decide who would be appointed the regent, Charlotte or the Prince of Wales. Charlotte was weary of her son's ambitions and, unlike others, held out hope that her husband would recover. The prince was ultimately declared the regent elect, but the resulting bill was designed to limit his ability to consolidate power around him and gave Charlotte control over the king's person and household. Charlotte's hope was ultimately fruitful. The king did recover to a degree that same year.

He assured his wife that his delusions were nothing more than that, and they were able to reconcile. Charlotte and her eldest son's relationship, however, was permanently altered. Charlotte herself was permanently altered. Reports say she became angry, even toward her beloved daughters, who she relied on increasingly in her later years. The king's recovery was also only brief. The illness would return in 1801 and then again in 1804. The next bout of illness in 1811 marked the beginning of Georgia's true and final decline, and in the last years of her life, Charlotte would live effectively as a widow. Her husband confined to separate apartments.

The Regency Act of 1811 followed similar conditions to the one designed years earlier. Only now, her son was officially the acting Prince Regent. Charlotte devoted the last years of her life to aiding the prince in his rule, as much as he would allow her. Her joy in later years was greatly derived from planning royal marriages. first of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, with whom she was the closest, and that of the only granddaughter she lived to meet, Princess Charlotte. If you've listened to this podcast since its beginning,

you might remember an episode on the poor, beloved, doomed, Princess Charlotte. This Princess Charlotte also happens to be a major character in my newest novel, Immortality a Love Story. In 1817, the Queen developed, hydrophaxi or dropsy of the chest, which affected her in bouts. Her last public appearance was April 29th, 1818, a visit to the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House in London for a prize ceremony for children taught by the National Society for promoting education of the poor. In November that same year, Charlotte died at Q Palace, survived by her husband, who likely never knew of her death.

Charlotte was subjected to a number of tragedies throughout her life, but beyond those, all surviving records, paint the portrait of a woman who found passion beyond it all, in her studies, her hobbies, her children, and in love. That's the story of Queen Charlotte. Stick around to hear a bit more on the theory of her possible black ancestry. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network.

It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah.

He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know. The cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever.

I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As I noted earlier, England maintained a fervent obsession with the looks of Queen Charlotte.

One report from her physician in her later years is notable for a particular description, quote, small and crooked with a true mulatto face. Apologies for that word, but I think in this context it's important to understand that descriptions like these spurred interest, and a historian by the name of Mario de Valdez Esse Kome is known for formulating the theory that Charlotte was of African ancestry. a theory that gave us the Bridgerton Charlotte we know today. The grounds for the theory are questionable. Based on a portrait of the 17-year-old Charlotte

by the official royal painter Alan Ramsey, the historian argues that the queen possesses what he perceives as, quote, subtleties in coloring and facial bone structure of individuals of African descent. And quote, this is supported by his argument that the queen was, as described in the Guardian, quote, directly descended from a black branch of the Portuguese royal family.

Related to Margarita de Castro Isusa, a 15th century Portuguese noblewoman nine generations removed, whose ancestry she traces from the 13th century ruler, Alfonso III and his lover Madragana, whom Valde takes to have been a moor and thus a black African-a. African." Historians today note that such an ancestral connection would be incredibly far removed, on top of already thin evidence that Madrigana was even black in the 13th century.

With the theory's roots in a racist comment from a 19th century physician, perceived African features in a portrait and a incredibly distant ancestral connection that cannot. be proven, most historians share the consensus that when it comes to the question of Queen Charlotte being black, the answer is maybe very, very distantly possible, but incredibly unlikely. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender and Lori Goodman.

The show is produced by Rima Il Kiali, with supervising producer Josh Thane, and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever.

He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

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