King George III (1738-1820) and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818)

[Lady Jennifer]

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread on King George III. I didn't see one on him. He has always been an interesting person in British & even World History. Have there been any good books written about him? What about movies, etc?

[Lady Jennifer]

I found this article:

King George's Madness Linked to Arsenic

By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer
Fri Jul 22, 7:53 AM ET



LONDON - Scientists have found high levels of arsenic in the hair of King George III and say the deadly poison may be to blame for the bouts of apparent madness he suffered.....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050722/...ad_king_george

[Von Schlesian]

Yes, was there not a theory about the death of Napoleon also arsenic-related? Based on the preservation of his body, and the arsenic content in his hair?

I think HM King George III had a most un-fortunate life. When he was healthy, he was a perfectly good King, despite the loss of the American colonies, which was less down to him, but to the Prince Regent (later George IV), for his poor diplomatic skill at the time. Yes yes, I know not to get into a debate about the revolutionary war, so I won't.

So while he was a King, with much German influence, and sometimes a strick opinion of what must be done, he had the awful luck to become under the control of (a mental condition), and those who mis-treated it.

I wonder how the world would look had he been able to actively reign through his entire six decades as King...

[tiaraprin]

I think this is a quite interesting idea Lady Jennifer!! About two months ago, I finished the biography of his daughters!

From all my research on the topic, I have always come to the conclusion of porphyria. This new article about arsenic is quite interesting. Perhaps being treated with antimony caused or made his bouts of "madness" much worse. It is definitely worth investigating!

[Elspeth]

I wonder how the world would look had he been able to actively reign through his entire six centuries as King...

Quite a lot older, I should imagine. Six centuries?

[Von Schlesian]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Quite a lot older, I should imagine. Six centuries?

Thankyou Elspeth:) I clearly wasn't thinking. Yes indeed, he would look quite a lot older. We certainly wouldn't be seeing his name in the 'Best looking Royal Man' thread:).

Incidentally, I also read the related article in 'The Australian' (one of our national news papers), last night on the train, and funnily enough, it also mentioned Napoleon.

[tiaraprin]

Has anyone seen anything else on this theory of arsenic being related to or causing George III's madness??

[Lady Jennifer]

Madness of King George III may have been his doctors' fault

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff | August 1, 2005

Nearly two centuries after King George III famously mistook a large tree for a Prussian king, peed red- and blue-tinged urine, and died blind, deaf, and mad, scientists are still finalizing his diagnosis.....
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/hea...doctors_fault/

[tiaraprin]

Since Lady Jennifer has created a thread for George III, I thought it would be interesting to have one for his wife Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz.

Charlotte, apart from giving George III 15 children, was the mother of George IV and William IV. She was grandmother to Queen Victoria through her son Edward, Duke of Kent.

Charlotte has been portrayed in many ways. She has been portrayed as a domineering mother to her children, a victim of George III's madness, the culprit of George III's madness because of her ugliness and his having to procreate with her, or a timid woman who did as she was bid by George III.

What say you, members of The Royal Forums about this obscure German Princess who became Queen Consort of England??

[Elspeth]

Well, she gave her name to a very spectacular flower:

http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week096.shtml

[tiaraprin]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Well, she gave her name to a very spectacular flower:

http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week096.shtml

Thanks Elspeth, I did not know that. Very pretty flower, quite impressive!!

[tiaraprin]

I was doing some reading on Charlotte, and many of the books I checked say she only ever really loved her eldest son who became King George IV. It has been written that she had a statue of him as a new born baby kept in her bedroom until the day she died.

[Elspeth]

She seems like an interesting person, although she's very much in the background. I think she married rather young, and then she had all those children, and then her husband started having his mental health problems, so she must have had a hard life (inasmuch as a member of the royal family can, of course). I think Queen Mary had quite a lot of respect for her - I think she also said she resembled her; Queen Charlotte was her great-grandmother (I think I've got the right number of greats there!).

[EmpressRouge]

When George first met Charlotte, he did not find her very attractive. Despite this, they managed to have a strong marriage. George III was the only Hanoverian Georges who remained faithful to his wife.

[tiaraprin]

Originally Posted by EmpressRouge

When George first met Charlotte, he did not find her very attractive. Despite this, they managed to have a strong marriage. George III was the only Hanoverian Georges who remained faithful to his wife.

You are correct Empress. Some of George's contemporaries claimed he went "mad" because he had to procreate with such an "ugly" woman. That is something so rude and horrible to say about an innocent girl who is thrown in the middle of the British court without knowing one word of English. The court is just like it is today--a large pool of sharks.

[Reina]

I heard that she was quite celebrated by the ppl, inclduing ppl in the colonies. Also Charlotte, NC is named after her.

[Lady Jennifer]

And our county is named after her German home- Mecklenburg. Here is the Wikipedia article on the city of Charlotte (the nickname of the city is The Queen City) The airport has a statue of Queen Charlotte....it isn't the best representation of her- its quite odd looking actually. I'll try to find a picture of it on the net- here is a link to a post I wrote that has the picture of Queen Charlotte.

Originally Posted by Reina

I heard that she was quite celebrated by the ppl, inclduing ppl in the colonies. Also Charlotte, NC is named after her.

I agree that she seemed to be celebrated by all people. She had to have been a strong woman to deal with her husband and all his issues.

[rodomjr]

http://www.readthehook.com/Stories/2006/02/02/coverqueen.html

Was Queen Charlotte black??


Published February 2, 2006 in issue 0505 of the HooK.
By VIRGINIA DAUGHERTY VIRGINIA@PAPERCRAFT.COM

[grecka]

As for George not finding her attractive, contemporaries described Charlotte as having "mulatto" features. She was descended of Moors and Berbers, who were, of course, North African, so it was widely known, even in the 18th century, that Queen Charlotte had African blood, which, of course, at the time, was viewed by some as polluting white blood. So, here you have her, Queen Charlotte, the first African queen of England (very distantly African).

[tiaraprin]

I wonder what Queen Charlotte would think of what is happening in the Royal family at this present time?? It was indeed tumultuous during her time, but what would she say about now?? As a matter of fact, what would Queen Mary say?? I shudder to think of what Queen Mary would say!!!