Conversations on race and monarchy have dominated the public sphere since the marriage of Megan Markle and Prince Harry. The racial tensions expressed through the media regarding Markle and her position in the family are not surprising nor new on behalf of an institution that predominantly stood for imperialism.
The history of the British monarchy has involved multinational alliances in order to sustain the throne from threats and contenders. But interracial alliances within the monarchy remains a taboo, given the imperial past of the nation. The traditional English monarchy got off to a rocky start under William the Conqueror’s absolutist rule over the land and its resources. The in-between battles for sovereignty over the nation during the War of the Roses and the religious tug of war between Tudor kings and queens. Most significantly from the 17th century becoming the pinnacle of imperialism and white supremacy at the expense of subjugating other nations.
These conversations have been further reinforced by the release of the award-winning series Bridgerton on Netflix. Where the director Shonda Rimes tries to depict a racial utopia in the 1500s with a biracial actress representing Queen Charlotte. Has the idea that Queen Charlotte was of black heritage been derived from myth or fact? Does it really still have an impact on how we view the monarchy today? And of course, the deliberate exclusion of this Queen being taught in the British curriculum demonstrates the will to hide the diversity of Royalty in the country.
Africans amidst the European royals have always historically been present, their occurrence within court have been documented through writings and paintings. John Blanke, the musician, is an example of a trumpeter from Henry VII’s court in the early 1500s. He played at the funeral of Henry VII and the coronation of his son in 1509. To be an active participant in the royal court was an extreme privilege in Tudor England, court was the political and cultural centre of the nation. As a court musician, the role of John Blanke would have been significant. The 16th century Italian diplomat, Count Baldassare Castiglione stated in his book ‘The Courtier’ that music should be widely appreciated as a part of the culture of the court. As a trumpeter, his loud music would have received less appreciation but nevertheless countless other black trumpeters were documented at important events of Tudor monarchs such as the Field of Cloth of Gold 1520.
Perhaps black musicians in the royal court are still not much of a surprise as the possibility of a monarch with African heritage. Queen Charlotte was born in 1744 in Germany and married to King George lll of Britain in 1761. In the Netflix series she is portrayed as a trifling figure whose only role is to delegate the romantic matches in her society. However, historically the Queen had quickly immersed into British society, her main interests were in botanics. As a result, she was consistently gifted exotic plants by famous colonial explorers such as Captain James Cook, all of which she placed in her gardens at Kew Palace. She had a heart for nature but also had a heart for the vulnerable and founded many orphanages in England, she became the Patron of a hospital in 1809 which is now known as The Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. A love of art was a mutual passion that she shared with French royals such as Marie Antoinette who she was a close confidant to during the French Revolution. She even prepared to accommodate Marie Antionette on her escape but the revolutionaries got to the French Queen first.
Throughout the series we see the Queen as a troubled monarch when it came to her own relationship. Although the royal couple did face difficulties in the later periods of their marriage, their earlier years couldn’t have been better. There are many historians who saw this match between Charlotte and George as a success unlike the dramatic tragedies that had plagued the royal line before with loveless, ruthless arranged marriages. The romance displayed between the two, showed a royal alliance that was more than political but real, they had 14 children to show for it. In a letter to her husband Charlotte affectionately ends it with a sweet reminder: ‘but not equal to the love of her who subscribes herself Your very Affectionate Friend and Wife Charlotte.’
As for the case on whether she was black or not, very minimal evidence exists but what does is intriguing. Mario de Valdes y Cocom was the first historian to investigate the racial past of the queen which he discussed in the 1996 Frontline documentary on PBS. He stated that the Queen Charlotte had black heritage through her Portuguese lineage, specifically related to Magarita de Castro y Sousa, a Portuguese noblewoman who was nine generations removed from the Queen. It’s believed Magarita de Castro y Souza was a descendant from King Alfonso III of Portugal and his Moorish mistress who he took as his trophy from his conquest of Faro in Portugal. This shocking claim would make Queen Charlotte fifteen generations from this possible black ancestor, historians are still unaware on whether this ancestor was actually black.
Sources from the time suggest her appearance was clearly distinct, as noted by her royal physician, Baron Christian Friedrich Stockmar who described her as having ‘a true Mulatto face.” The word ‘mulatto’ specifically referred to those who were of European and African heritage, which was a derogatory term. Another source by Sir Walter Scott describes her as ‘ill-coloured’ her skin colour obviously distinguishable from the rest. Darker skin in this century would have been considered less beautiful in comparison to the desired pale skin of the upper-class. One Prime Minister even commented on her facial features, stating her nose was ‘too wide’ and her lips were ‘too thick’. Oftentimes these features would have been associated with those of African descent.
Quite surprisingly, royal portraitists did not hide these features, some even accentuated them. Artists like Allan Ramsey who was a slavery abolitionist was known for highlighting her African features in his work. Due to his political sentiments against African enslavement and colonialism, he would have been unlikely to whitewash her. Art historians emphasise that as artists were often known to exaggerate or downplay the real appearance of their royal subjects prior to the 19th century. Depiction of the Queen as African would have been odd, when the purpose of the portrait would be to remove unpleasant features so royal subjects appeared more desirable. Contextually, it would have been improper to paint her African which was associated with slavery.
Allan Ramsay’s portrait of Queen Charlotte
In modern times many black artists have now sought to depict the ‘Black Queen’ in a number of projects such as American-based artist Ken Apktekar. Her legacy still lives on with many places internationally being named after her from Queen Charlotte Sound (South Island, New Zealand), to Charlottesville (Virginia, USA) and so many more.
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