The First Black Queen of England; Queen Sophie Charlotte

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The truth is that Meghan Markle is not the first black woman in the British Royal family. History tells us of Sophie Charlotte who was the first black or let's just say biracial queen of Britain and America when America was a colony of Britain.

Charlotte in North Carolina, USA, was named in her honour. The issue of whether the British royal family has ever had black blood in it was raised when Meghan got married to Prince Harry. Here's the story of Queen Sophie.

She is also known to be the grandmother of Queen Victoria.

Queen Charlotte the first black queen of England
Queen Charlotte

The Princess was a young woman who had no political ambitions at all. She was also a perfectly pleasant and sweet-tempered lady who would suit King George well.

She was chosen to be the bride in 1760. Her life was about to change. She was to become the queen of a land she had never visited. Also being a wife to a man whom she had never met before.

It is reported that she was very nervous about meeting the King for the first time. She stumbled and nearly fall as she alights from her carriage.

Anyone with even a single drop of African blood is classified as an African. Mullattoes or coloured people is a name used to divide our race. Queen Charlotte was born from the family of a black woman who was married to a white man which makes her of black lineage.

There is a drama series about her story, it is called Bridgerton and is currently shown on Netflix.  In the series that recently released its season two, a black woman, Golda Rosheuvel acts as the queen. She seems to portray the real queen Charlotte. A close likeness to most of her historical paintings.

Actress Golda Rosheuvel [Image courtesy]

Queen Sophie Charlotte's family background 

As a princess, she was born in 1744. The eighth-born child of Prince Charles Louis Frederick, and his wife, Elizabeth Albertin. Elizabeth was a direct descendant of an African branch of the Portuguese Royal House of Margarita de Castro y Sousa.

According to historian Mario de Valdes y Cocom, Sophie had African ancestry. She descended directly from Margarita de Castro e Souza, who was a 15th-century Portuguese noblewoman. Margarita traces her ancestry back to King Afonso III of Portugal and one of his mistresses, Madragana, an African woman.

A Portuguese royal chronicler of the 16th century by the name of Duarte Nunes de Leão said that Madragana was a Moor. Moors were African people, most of them dark-skinned Africans.


Her marriage into the British royal family

She found her way into the British royal family when Prince George III of Britain succeeded his grandfather on the throne. He was still a young bachelor so he needed a queen very urgently. To secure the succession line, politicians including Princess Charlotte were shortlisted as suitable ladies for the position.
 
King George III, Queen Charlotte, and their children 

After their wedding, England now had a young king and queen. They had 15 children together. [Jokingly] This is a clear indication that she was an African woman.
Their eldest son George IV would later become the heir to the throne.

The death of Queen Charlotte

Queen Charlotte died in 1818 at Dutch House, Surrey which is now known as Kew Palace. She died in the presence of her eldest son, George IV. She was then buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor in Britain.

Kindly share your opinion on black history, do you feel the impact of what had been hidden away from people of African descent?

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