Queen Charlotte Parents, Biography, Marriage, Reign and Death

How is Queen Charlotte related to Queen Elizabeth?

She not only served as Queen Victoria’s grandmother, who reigned over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her passing in 1901, but also stands as the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen Charlotte was believed to be biracial

Queen Charlotte, born in Germany to a Duke, had a direct lineage from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, the black branch of the Portuguese Royal House.

When she was queen, the public didn’t know about her racial background. Only many years after her death did art historians, examining portraits of Charlotte closely, uncover this detail.

Sir Allan Ramsay, a painter, played a crucial role in bringing Charlotte’s African origins to light. Without him, this discovery might never have happened.

What happened to Queen Charlotte parents?

• Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg died in 1752, when Charlotte was just eight years old. The cause of his death is unknown.

• Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen died in 1761, when Charlotte was 17 years old. The cause of her death is also unknown.

Orphaned and left alone at a young age due to her parents’ deaths, Charlotte found support from her uncle, Duke Adolphus Frederick III of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became her guardian.

At just 17 years old, in 1761, Charlotte married King George III of Great Britain. This union made her the Queen of England, a role she fulfilled until her passing in 1818.