East Indies theatre of the French Revolutionary Wars

Queen Charlotte captured viewers’ attention in the Netflix series Bridgerton as the snuff-sniffing, gossip-greedy, biracial wife of the “mad king” George III. As the spin-off Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – billed as an “epic love story” – launches, just who was Charlotte? And why was she obsessed with Australia?

From German princess to British queen

• Seventeen-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married George III in 1761, the year after his accession to the throne.
• Charlotte arrived in London from her northern German home speaking no English, though she would soon acquire it.
• She brought with her a fascination of science – Charlotte adored botany – and the arts.
• She is also said to have brought the German tradition of the Christmas tree to Britain, with Queen Victoria making it popular.

Charlotte and the natural world

• Across the 57 years that Charlotte was queen consort, Britain undertook an ambitious program to expand its empire and further knowledge of the natural world.
• Banks returned to England with a staggering bounty of specimens, presenting them to Charlotte and George III shortly after.

Charlotte’s “cangaroos”

• “The Animal being of the Opossum kind Carries its Young in a Pouch”, Charlotte marvelled.
• The kangaroos that later arrived in Britain alive – though many would not survive the crossing – symbolised power.
• So were scientific men who studied the queen’s kangaroos, attempting to unravel the mystery of how they reproduced and cared for their young.

Charlotte’s Australian plants

• As Charlotte’s kangaroos hopped through her menagerie, the neighbouring Royal Gardens at Kew became the storehouse for plants from across the empire.
• The year before, Banks had assessed a remarkable herbarium offered to Charlotte that included rare Australian specimens.

Death of the queen

Charlotte remained queen until her death in 1818. It took months for the news to reach Australia. When it did, the Hobart Town Gazette declared that Britain’s loss “will be not less felt in its remotest Dependencies”. The settlement mourned Charlotte by firing guns, flying flags at half-mast and tolling church bells, though she had never set foot on Australian soil.