Royal Subject: Portraits of Queen Charlotte

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Painting on copper by Benjamin West, seated with the King. Private collection (H. von Erffa & A. Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, 1986, no.559). At the queen's death, her eldest son, the Prince Regent, claimed Charlotte's jewels, and on his death they were in turn claimed by his heir, WilliamIV. On William's death, Charlotte's bequest then sparked a protracted dispute between her granddaughter Queen Victoria, who claimed the jewels as the property of the British Crown, and Charlotte's now eldest-surviving son Ernest, who claimed the jewels by right of being the most senior male member of the House of Hanover. The dispute would not be resolved in Ernest's lifetime. Eventually in 1858, over twenty years after the death of WilliamIV and nearly forty years after Charlotte's death, the matter was decided in favour of Ernest's son George, upon which Victoria had the jewels given into the custody of the Hanoverian ambassador. [55] I took my cues from the passionate responses of individuals whom I asked to help me understand what Queen Charlotte represents to them,” he said. Painting by William Beechey, whole length, holding a Maltese dog. Royal Collection (Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.659, pl.156). Exhibited RA 1797 (92). Engraved for Boydell 1803 and by T. Ryder 1804. Versions in the Courtauld Gallery and at Upton House; a three-quarter length version, formerly in the collection of W. L. Elkins, sold Sotheby’s, 10 November 1995, lot 25; a half length dated 1799 painted for Mr Ruyfsen sold Sotheby's, 14 July 1999, lot 97, and another formerly at Burley-on-the-Hill; reduced copy at Callenberg. Enamel by Henry Bone 1799 (Royal Collection; R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, no.748); preparatory drawing in the NPG Bone albums (R. Walker, 'Henry Bone's Pencil Drawings in the Naitonal Portrait Gallery', Wal. Soc. 1999, no.111, fig.116), with two oval half-length miniatures by William Grimaldi (R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, nos.815-16); another sold Sotheby’s, 9 April 1992, lot 208. Head only 'perhaps by Lady Beechey' Royal Collection (R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, no.328), and another by François Ferrière sold Christie's, 16 February 1965, lot 38; a pastel copy of the head, attributed to John Russell, is in a private collection. Allan Ramsay was born on October 13, 1713, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and died on August 10, 1784 and died in Dover, Kent in the United Kingdom. His studies included institutions like the Academy of Saint Luke in Edinburgh and in Italy in Rome.

L-R: original mezzotint “HER Most Excellent Majesty Charlotte Queen of GREAT BRITAIN &c.” by Thomas Frye (1762) ( RCIN 604595), claimed to have been done from life while Charlotte was at the theatre; a lower-quality line engraving derived

Were Queen Charlotte and King George in love?

Lawrence painted Queen Charlotte in Windsor Castle, possibly at the suggestion of one of her ladies-in-waiting, Lady Cremorne, who Lawrence had portrayed the previous year (Tate, London). The Queen was troubled by her husband’s protracted mental illness and by political events unfolding in France and was in no mood to sit for the young painter. The sitting on 28 September was probably the only one she gave him. Queen Charlotte was also a patron of the arts and had a soft spot for German composers like Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. The queen’s music-master was Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son of the great composer. She is also credited with the discovery of another young artist, an eight-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom she welcomed into the palace during his family’s visit to England from 1764 to 1765. The portrait of Queen Charlotte Sophia, consort of George III, by Ramsay clearly shows a Negro strain. Horace Walpole, who saw her, wrote of her, “nostrils spreading too wide; mouth has the same fault.”

These bouts of illness devastated the queen. “The queen is almost overpowered with some secret terror,” wrote Francis Burney, one of Charlotte’s attendants, in 1788. “I am affected beyond all expression in her presence, to see what struggles she makes to support serenity.” Over time, the bouts turned into lengthy episodes, and the king was isolated and even incarcerated. Wax by Stephana. Royal Collection (illus. E. J. Pyke, A Biographical Dictionary of Wax Modellers, 1973, pl.275). Though they married for political gain rather than love, Charlotte and George held each other in high esteem. In a 1778 letter to her husband, the queen wrote:

How Charlotte became Queen of Great Britain

Medal by C. H. Küchler (L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.389). this German-born Queen has recently reached fever pitch with Netflix’s Bridgerton, in which she is portrayed with the perfect amount of As for Rogers’ quote from Horace Walpole, a contemporary of Charlotte, we see a description of the new Queen with a hypercritical focus on how well conforms to the English beauty standards of the day. The complete quote is: For visual evidence, Rogers includes a low-quality monochromatic reproduction of the 1762 Allan Ramsay portrait. Below, the image from Sex and Race on the left, compared with the original painting on the right. Charlotte did have some influence on political affairs through the King. Her influence was discreet and indirect, as demonstrated in the correspondence with her brother Charles. She used her closeness with GeorgeIII to keep herself informed and to make recommendations for offices. [20] Apparently her recommendations were not direct, as she on one occasion, in 1779, asked her brother Charles to burn her letter, because the King suspected that a person she had recently recommended for a post was the client of a woman who sold offices. [20] Charlotte particularly interested herself in German issues. She took an interest in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779), and it is possible that it was due to her efforts that the King supported British intervention in the continuing conflict between JosephII and Charles Theodore of Bavaria in 1785. [20] Husband's first period of illness [ edit ] Portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland, c. 1768

It is not well-documented how widespread the belief in or attention to Roger’s claims were, as Queen Charlotte had little relevance to 20th century Americans and his work had little exposure among white audiences. However, the interest was likely higher in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, as white elites had been using her as a symbolic matriarch of the city, and had consistently used her as such as part of an agenda of white supremacy throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Gregory states that whites had been countering the claims about Charlotte since at least 1934, but offers evidence that does not support this assertion. Painting by Thomas Stothard, George III and his Family, engraved J. Murphy 1794. A similar painting, now attributed to Richard Livesay (and formerly to Stothard), is at Upton House. Thomas Lawrence was only 20 when he painted this, one of the most brilliant of all royal portraits. Yet it failed to please either King George or Queen Charlotte and did not enter the Royal Collection. It remained on Lawrence’s hands and was in his studio sale in 1831 after his death. Painting by Benjamin West, with the Royal family, receiving the Duchess of York. Untraced (H. von Erffa & A. Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, 1986, no.576). Related to the painting attributed to Richard Livesay at Upton House, see 1787 above.Wax model by Samuel Percy. Royal Collection. Another wax of the Queen on a sofa with a dog, also dated 1795, is in an American private collection. An unspecified wax bust of Charlotte by Percy sold Christie’s, 10 June 1993, lot 235 from Stanton Harcourt. Medals by Thomas Wyon sr. and C. H. Küchler with conjoined busts of the King and Queen (L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, nos.338-40). Drawing by Richard Cosway, seated whole length, the head alone finished. Bonham’s, 10 April 2002, lot 370 (illus. G. Barnett, Richard & Maria Cosway, 1995, pl.IIIC).