Rewind: April 15, 2025 –
“Who Was Queen Charlotte?”
When things were just getting going here in what would become Warren County here in the ‘Province of New York’ – we, and most of northern New York and Vermont were part of ‘Albany County.’ In 1762, for most of the area above Albany, the name was changed to ‘Charlotte County.’ Who was the Charlotte for whom the name change came about?
The time is 1761. When Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz first met George III in 1761, she “threw herself at his feet” in supplication, prompting the English king to raise her up, embrace her and lead her through the garden “up the steps into the palace,” as one observer recounted. Just a few hours later, the German princess married George, becoming England’s newest queen.
Despite this somewhat inauspicious start, Charlotte and George enjoyed an affectionate, fruitful partnership that endured until the king’s mental illness violently transformed his personality in the late 1780s.
Queen Charlotte, wife of His Majesty George III
George and Charlotte’s Relationship
Born on May 19, 1744, Charlotte was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a territory in what is now northern Germany. When Charlotte was 17, the new king of England, 22-year-old George III, sought her hand in marriage. According to history writer Catherine Curzon, George “needed a queen—and an heir—as a matter of urgency,” so he chose Charlotte from a “shortlist of eligible and suitable Protestant ladies.” Not a traditional beauty, she nevertheless had a “lively but equable temper,” in the words of one contemporary.
King George III
Charlotte landed in England on September 8, 1761, and married George that same night, within six hours of her arrival from Germany. Two weeks later, the couple held a joint coronation: it ran so long that members of the congregation started eating during the sermon. Within a year of her wedding, Charlotte gave birth to the future George IV—the first of the couple’s fifteen children, thirteen of who survived to adulthood.
Queen charlotte with her two eldest sons
Though they married for political gain rather than love, Charlotte and George held each other in high esteem. Both Charlotte and George were heavily involved in their children’s upbringing. While George is most often remembered for his mental illness and role in the Revolutionary War, “he was also a guy who was capable of a great deal of empathy,” according to historian James P. Ambuske. “He was very concerned, as any parent would be, about the well-being of his children and their education. He was well aware that he was raising potential future sovereigns, but he also wanted them to be good people.”
The king and queen shared a love of music, often playing duets together, with Charlotte on the harpsichord and George on the flute. While both preferred the informal, simple lives they led at home, the court they presided over was a fashionable, glittering one.
George suffered his first major bout of mental illness in 1788. The king suffered both physical pain and mental distress, including periods of “incessant loquacity” in which he talked until he foamed at the mouth. Unable to sleep, he spoke out of turn, accusing his wife of adultery and making inappropriate advances toward the queen’s attendants. On one occasion, George even physically assaulted his oldest son, George, Prince of Wales.
Doctors had few explanations for George’s sudden deterioration in health. (In the 1960s, a pair of historians attributted his behavior to a genetic blood disorder called porphyria, but more recent analyses suggest he had bipolar disorder.) Physicians treated George with a combination of harsh methods, like coercion and physical restraints, and more humane strategies. “It’s likely that the king recovered in a few months despite, rather than because of, his treatment (which included leeching and cold baths),” notes Historic Royal Palaces.
George’s illness took a toll on his wife and children, too. As novelist and court attendant Fanny Burney recorded in her diary, Charlotte repeatedly asked, “What will become of me?” Her “desponding” words “implied such complicated apprehensions,” according to historians. By 1789, Charlotte’s hair had turned white from stress. She clashed with Prince George as he rallied to be appointed regent in his father’s stead and only reconciled with her son in 1791, by which point the king had recovered.
King George was in charge when we fought in the Revolution
George’s recovery wasn’t permanent. He continued to suffer from periodic bouts of mental illness, and in 1811, his son officially took control of the kingdom, serving as regent for the next nine years. During this Regency period, Charlotte presided over court in place of her son’s estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick. She cared for the king faithfully but took care to never be alone with him. Historians wrote that Charlotte “watched him (the king) fade away until he no longer recognized her.”
The queen died of pneumonia in 1818 at age 74, predeceasing her husband by two years. They are buried near each other in the royal vault at Windsor Castle.
Reflecting on the loss experienced by Charlotte, the wife of Philip Lybbe Poyse, who had watched the couple’s coronation procession in 1761, remarked, “Never was anyone to be more pitied than her majesty, as no couple had ever been happier than they were before this greatest of misfortunes.”