Painting by Johann Zoffany, whole length seated, with her two brothers and Prince William and Princess Charlotte. Royal Collection (Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.1207, pl.30). Exhibited RA 1773 (320). The figure of the Queen alone recurs in a painting attributed to Zoffany in the Tryon Palace, New Bern, North Carolina. Less than a year after the marriage, on 12 August 1762, the queen gave birth to her first child, George, Prince of Wales. In the course of their marriage, the couple became the parents of 15 children, [10] all but two of whom ( Octavius and Alfred) survived into adulthood. [11] [12] [13] Medals marking the birth of the Prince of Wales, by Thomas Pingo, with facing bust of the King (C. Eimer, The Pingo Family & Medal Making in 18th-century Britain, 1998, no.26) and J. L. Natter (L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, nos.25, 76, 77). See also George III. Painting by Richard Livesay, half-length seated. Sotheby’s, 16 May 1984, lot 188. A later inscription supplies the attribution and date.

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. See also: Descendants of GeorgeIII King GeorgeIII wit In the contextual analysis below, you will read more about who Queen Charlotte was and the collection of portraits that Scottish portraitist, Allan Ramsay, painted of her. This will be followed by a formal analysis, providing a brief overview of one example of his portraits of her, titled Queen Charlotte, from 1762, which is part of the Royal Collection Trust in the United Kingdom. The rest of Charlotte's property was sold at auction from May to August 1819. Her clothes, furniture, and even her snuff were sold by Christie's. [56] It is highly unlikely that her husband ever knew of her death. He died blind, deaf, lame and insane 14 months later. [57] Legacy [ edit ] Statue in Queen Square, London The Queen Charlotte painting analysis below will discuss one example from Allan Ramsay’s royal collection of portraits of Queen Charlotte. It is important to note that he painted numerous iterations of her, which are all held in various locations in England and other parts of the world.Medal attributed to William Mossop, 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, no.529). 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. 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). Drawing by John Downman, half-length profile. Formerly in the E. M. Hodgkins collection (illus. G. C. Williamson, John Downman, 1907, f.p.VIII). Replica dated 1784 sold Sotheby’s, 26 November 1998, lot 11; another, undated, sold Sotheby’s, 11 July 1985, lot 89.

Queen Charlotte's tastes were rather less plain than her husband's, and she had some very luxurious rooms in the new Queen's House. She assembled an impressive collection of furniture, Sèvres porcelain and oriental decorative arts, in ivory, porcelain, embroidered silk and lacquer and she also collected jewelled and gold boxes. Some of the most expensive furniture in the collection was made for Queen Charlotte, for example this Vile & Cobb jewel cabinet to house her extensive collection of diamonds and pearls.

Join & Support

Like her husband, Queen Charlotte was also interested in books and her substantial library included many volumes on botany, literature and the theatre. In the early 1790s she acquired the Frogmore estate at Windsor which she and her daughters used increasingly as a rural retreat, particularly for botanical and artistic activity. Queen Charlotte commissioned Mary Moser, a founder member of the Royal Academy, to decorate the walls and ceiling at Frogmoremaking the house not just a female domain but one with links to some of the most important female artists and patrons in the eighteenth century. Painting by Thomas Gainsborough, bust-length painted oval. Royal Collection (E. K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no.132; Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.779, pl.50). Replica in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and a copy in the Victoria and Albert Museum (91.1879). In the Royal Collection an enamel miniature by Henry Bone 1804, and two miniature copies attributed to Richard Collins (R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, nos.749, 170-71); further miniature copies, by Robert Bowyer, Richard Crosse, William Grimaldi, and Anne Mee, are listed by Walker (R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, p 85). Queen Charlotte wrote to the duke about developments from the empire’s American colonies, which had begun to revolt under her husband’s reign: For the distribution of versions paired with Gainsborough’s portrait of the King, see George III. Of the Queen alone there are versions in the Royal Collection by William Hopkins, attributed to Gainsborough Dupont (see also c.1794 below), and two reduced copies (Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, nos.809-12), together with related miniatures attributed to J. H. Hurter and Richard Collins (R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, nos.242, 326); a miniature copy by Hurter is in the Gilbert Collection (illus. S. Coffin & B. Hofstetter, The Gilbert Collection, Portrait Miniatures in Enamel, 2000, no.30). A half-length copy is at Penshurst, and a derivation at Powis Castle.