Was Queen Charlotte a real person?

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story sits at the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s TV show list as of May 12, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be departing the list anytime soon. So if you haven’t watched the six-part limited series yet, what are you waiting on?

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a prequel to the popular period drama Bridgerton. It explores the backstories of Bridgerton characters Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, and Violet Bridgerton. However, it mainly focuses on Queen Charlotte’s rise to power and her marriage to King George III.

Since a lot of period dramas are inspired by real events and people, you might be wondering if Queen Charlotte was a real person. No worries! We shared whether Queen Charlotte was a real person or not right below.

If you’re a history buff, the name Queen Charlotte might sound familiar to you. It’s because the character Queen Charlotte is actually based on the real-life historical figure Princess Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Princess Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on May 19, 1744, in Germany. She later became the Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland after marrying King George III in 1761.

So yes, Queen Charlotte was a real person. However, the Queen Charlotte we see in Bridgerton and the prequel series is not real. She’s a made-up character that Shonda Rhimes created for the show. But since the character is based on the real Queen Charlotte, Shonda chose to include actual events that happened in Queen Charlotte’s life in the show. For example, Charlotte did actually marry King George at the age of 17 years old. She did have a brother named Adolphus, and she and King George did have 15 kids.

It’s unknown if the real Queen Charlotte was black or of mixed race, but her racial identity has been talked about for a very long time. However, according to USA Today, there isn’t any concrete evidence that she was of black or Sub-Saharan ancestry. There’s a historical theory about her race, but it’s been disputed by historians.

In the period drama, Queen Charlotte reveals to King George that they’re expecting twins. However, the real Queen Charlotte did not have twins. As we mentioned earlier, she and King George had 15 kids, but none of them were a pair of twins.

We shared the names of Queen Charlotte and King George’s kids and the years they were born below.

All six episodes of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story are now streaming on Netflix. Also, we’ll keep you posted on any new updates for Bridgerton season 3.