Her hometown of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small northern German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire, and she was the youngest of her family. She was educated in botany and natural history, and spent much of her upbringing sewing and embroidering every day, and she was a voracious reader. Due to the remoteness of her hometown, she didn’t have much of a social life; there were certainly not as many balls or events as the2.
Although it’s probably fair to say that as a 17-year-old girl from a noble family being offered to the king of England, she didn’t have the chance to say no. When 22-year-old King George III took the throne in 1760, his first priority was to find a wife.
James’ Palace. Methodical searches and seasickness: It’s hardly the stuff of fairytales, or even of television shows, so we’ll likely get more than a little bit of artistic license when it comes to the courtship of Charlotte and George. The show definitely gives us more time between Charlotte coming to England and her marriage to the king, and a lot more tension, with a Charlotte who is perhaps not as meek in her teen years as her real-life counterpart.
Not many letters between the pair survive, or perhaps even exist given they spent so little time apart. But in one that does from 1778, nearly 17 years after their wedding, Charlotte’s affection for her husband is clear, as she writes: “You will have the benefit by Your voyages to put Spirit in every Body, to be more known by the World, and if Possible more beloved by the People in general.
She and her husband were also connoisseurs of music and especially loved German composers. Aged just eight, Mozart performed for the Queen and was invited to perform at the celebration of the fourth anniversary of tin January 1765.