The true story behind the real-life Queen Charlotte and King George III
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Queen Charlotte spoilers follow.
When marathoning Bridgerton, an experience not dissimilar to enjoying a warm cup of soup in a pair of fluffy pyjamas, you're rarely at risk of thinking that the escapist drama is a historically accurate representation of the Regency era.
The scenery is frothy, the sun shines always and the endless calendar of balls and soirees are set to a soundtrack of classical takes on modern pop hits – not to mention the reimagining of racial equality.
Yet with the Netflix hit's first foray into spin-off territory, Queen Charlotte dips its toe into actual history. The new six-part limited series focuses on Bridgerton's one major historical anchor: the real-life consort Queen Charlotte (played by the indomitable Golda Rosheuvel), who was an addition to the show from its source material in the Julia Quinn novels.
Played in a younger guise by India Amarteifio, Queen Charlotte arrives in England a reluctant teenager arranged to marry the freshly minted King George (Corey Mylchreest). The couple's blossoming love affair soon hits troubled waters as George's mental health struggles threaten to end his marriage and destabilise the monarchy – and much of that is true of the actual King George III and his marriage to Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
The blending of this real-life King and Queen into the fantasy fabric of the Bridgerton universe begs the question of how much of Queen Charlotte is based on the genuine highs and lows of her marriage to King George III.
What happened to the real Queen Charlotte and King George III?
The real Charlotte was born into the silver spoon life, the daughter of a princess and duke who presided over the little-known principality of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, in what is now Germany. As a 17-year-old, she was chosen by a 23-year-old King George III to be his bride.
Charlotte's voyage across the choppy Channel waters is said to have knocked her with a horrible bout of seasickness, so much so that the diamond-encrusted wedding dress she wore on the big day nearly fell off her gaunt frame.
Once Charlotte and George had tied the knot, the couple quickly settled into a portrait of domestic bliss at Kew Palace, where they often walked the gardens unescorted (scandalous!) and attended plays and recitals on each other's arm. The King and Queen got down to the matter of creating an heir and a spare in speedy fashion and Charlotte gave birth to an impressive 15 tots, although two sadly died before adulthood.
King George bought what we now know as Buckingham Palace, as well as Windsor's Frogmore House, which became a country escape for Queen Charlotte and her daughters. George's papers in the Royal Archives are a testament to the couple's loving marriage, not least because they were rarely apart so there are few letters exchanged between them.
Queen Charlotte marks a sharp departure from the honey-sweet romances of the Bridgerton seasons before it, in how it frankly depicts the genuine marital strife between Charlotte and George in the face of his devastating mental illness.
The real Queen Charlotte and King George's first 25 years together were spent in wedded bliss, but in 1789 the King experienced a prolonged bout of mental illness, leaving him unable to carry out his duties as monarch. "When the King became ill, his inappropriate, manic behaviours terrified and upset the Queen," the official Historic Royal Palaces website says. "Their relationship was never the same and they led increasingly separate lives."
Queen Charlotte's hair is said to have turned white amid the stress of her husband's illness, which first presented as physical symptoms, but then saw him become "increasingly mentally deranged".
The approach to the King's treatment in Queen Charlotte, which is seen through the shadowy Royal Doctor Monro (Rob Maloney), largely reflects the true story. King George was isolated in Kew during his bouts of illness and saw an array of doctors, many of whom Charlotte mistrusted, and he was treated with the likes of leeches and cold baths.
The nature of King George's illness is still disputed by historians – with some claiming he had bipolar disorder, while others suggest he suffered from the blood disease porphyria – but his final relapse prompted his son to take over as Prince Regent in 1811.
In later life, Queen Charlotte suffered from œdema, which causes painful swelling under the skin and as her health deteriorated, she stayed closed off in her bedroom. As the Queen Charlotte present-day timeline shows, the Queen remained devoted to her husband from afar and acted as his guardian until her death in 1818, a year before his.
Charlotte died surrounded by her children, in an armchair which remains in Kew Palace to this day. Her state coffin was taken to Windsor Castle, where the cobbled courtyards were covered with straw to ensure the gravely ill King did not hear his beloved late wife’s funeral procession. Meanwhile, George's health deteriorated. He developed dementia and became blind from cataracts before dying eventually of pneumonia.
Queen Charlotte showrunner and executive producer Shonda Rhimes discussed delving into Queen Charlotte and King George's romance and said she hopes that Netflix viewers will come away from the show with a sense of the complexity of a marriage.
"I really wanted to be able to show people what that kind of love is like even though they know how it ends up. I thought that was a challenge," she told Netflix's Tudum. "I think the most important thing is I want people to feel like this is what happens with real love.
"Love is hard, love is difficult, love has many layers. I also want them to really take away the idea that the happy ending that we always talk about for characters doesn’t have to be the obvious one."
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is available to stream on Netflix.
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