Charlotte’s Little Known Black History Facts About Queen Charlotte
Queen Charlotte, who married King George III (yes, that King George) six hours after arriving in London and meeting him for the first time on Sept. 8, 1761. And some historians do believe she was Britain’s first Black queen, and that her descendants, including Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II, have African ancestry.
Charlotte, who was born May 19, 1744, was the youngest daughter of Duke Carl Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
She was a 17-year-old German princess when she traveled to England to wed George, who later went to war with his American colonies and lost badly.
Historian Mario De Valdes y Cocom argues that Charlotte was directly descended from a Black branch of the Portuguese royal family: Alfonso III and his concubine, Ouruana, a Black Moor.
