Netflix's Queen Charlotte and Fort Museum...
'Oh Dearest readers' just as Lady Whistledown pens , I was super exited as I was set to watch Bridgerton's prequel Queen charlotte. Binged watched the episodes munching on late night snacks, taking ever so short respites , wetting my sleaves and sniffing now and then between the series that's how I drowned myself on a Saturday night. I wailed at the end of it and found much to my dismay that had only 6 episodes which drove me into derision. I binge watch series on my weekends all the time but the point is that I had epiphany hit me hard half way through the series recollecting the queen's full name Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Now that doesn't happen everyday, does sit? The name was all too familiar. Queen Sophie a slightly darker skinned, wide nosed soft portrait of a noble lady dressed in silver, gold and blue displayed in Fort St. Gorge's Museum ringed in my mind. Just to confirm it I revisited the museum that Monday afternoon during my lunch break from ASI as the thought would just never leave me. The last time I visited the museum was when I documented few of the colonial coins which was month ago which explains my hazy memory of Queen Sophie.
The first speculated black origin of Queen's ever so beautiful portrait is displayed in the portrait gallery of the Fort St George museum. Along with her husband George III's portrait. Calling her queen Sophie all the time in mind might have been the first reason for me to not recognize her in the series. The peculiar portrait caught my eye when I was walking through the galleries for the first time as a Young Archaeologist , a rookie worker to know about the displayed antiquities. The skin tone of the royal was different; she looked brown and white at the same time, i.e. looked like she was of black origin however the painting was made in such a way to portray her in fairer light. Her hair and her skin color made me wonder if people of color were royalty too?
Turns out Alan Ramsay's painting of Queen Sophia Charlotte in 1767 imported from Britain along with George III was the portrait of the First ever Queen of color. The same queen who was portrayed in the Netflix series is indeed displayed with her dearest in the portrait gallery. The Netflix series did a very decent job of checking facts before producing the Drama. She indeed was from German with roots of African origin. Through her marriage with George III she became queen of both England and Ireland. She is also known to be a patron of arts and a rookie botanist who helped in expanding the Kew Gardens. The series even shows about how she discovers "the Mozart", Great musician of all time. It turns out that the queen sang and the Mozart who was a little boy of 10 back then played organ. Ever since he became the royal musician over years , he also dedicated opus 3 and later 6 sonatas which he composed to the queen. The story about the mental illness of king George was also based on facts. The beginning of their marriage they shared varied interest in music and art. Their relationship bore them 15 children out of which 13 crossed to see the adulthood. However the king suffered from Maniac episodes and had speculated to be suffering from Bipolar disorder in modern terms. This earned him the " The mad king " title. Queen Sofia was true to her marriage until the end, took care of her husband. This whole uncanny discovery of her portrait being displayed in Museum gives me chills but at the same time curses excitement through my blood.
This little find is all the more reason to Visit the museum, this time you can not just spend time gazing on Queen victoria and glare at Clive’s portrait. You should make it a point to say hi to Queen Sophie's portrait which, she rests right beside her Dearest.
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