America’s Last Queen by Gregory Hilton

America’s last Queen (1761 – 1776) has advice for us. Queen Charlotte was married at 17, and had 15 children with her husband King George III. She arrived in England from Germany on September 8, 1761 and met 22 year old George for the first time at 3 pm. They were married at 9 pm the same day, and she became Queen of England despite the fact that she could not speak the language.
Charlotte’s advice is the opposite of today. She believed in marriage first and finding romantic love later. She said her marriage was successful because the King and Queen were determined to make it work. Unusual for royalty, they were not self centered, and gave priority attention to their partners happiness.
George relied on the advice of his emissaries in selecting a wife. He rejected women who were far more attractive and his major criteria was princess with “a pleasant disposition.” A list of eligible royal princesses was compiled for George. Charlotte was such a minor royal she was omitted from the first list and placed at the bottom of the second. His grandfather wanted him to marry a beautiful princess from Brunswick, and he did consider the stunning Lady Sarah Lennox. In the end he omitted physical beauty from his list of desirable characteristics. George felt many members of the royal family were selfish, and Charlotte’s modest upbringing appealed to him.
An emissary from the English court visited Charlotte and her family in Neu Strelitz. This very positive report concentrated on Charlotte’s personality, and it sealed George’s decision. Immediately after receiving a positive response from Charlotte, George announced to the Privy Council his intention to wed. Everything was set despite the fact that the bride and groom had not met. Once again, their marriage took place on September 8, and a coronation ceremony for both of them was held on September 22nd.
King George was the target of our Declaration of Independence and he lost the Revolutionary War, but by all accounts he had a successful marriage.
Queen Charlotte knew Bach and Mozart, and was especially close to Marie Antoinette. Immediately after the execution of the French royal family, taxes were lowered significantly in England. King George did not want to give his subjects any reason to organize a revolution.
Charlotte, North Carolina is known as the “Queen City.” It is in Mecklenburg County. Charlotte was a princess of Mecklenburg in Germany prior to becoming Queen of England.