Queen Charlotte

"Queen Charlotte Walks in Her Garden (sculpture)", Charlotte, NC. The life-size bronze sculpture of Queen Charlotte stands in a garden along with sculptures of two of her dogs. She is depicted wearing a long-sleeved gown with petticoat and train and holds a small bouquet of flowers in her right hand. On her right wrist she wears a bracelet with a cameo of her husband, King George III of England. One dog playfully jumps at the hem of her dress and the other stands amidst the plantings staring back at her with a look of devotion. An inscribed plaque is set in the brick walkway beneath the raised garden bed.

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (known as Queen Charlotte; May 19, 1744 – November 17, 1818), was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on September 8, 1761 until her death in 1818. Many places around the world have been named after Queen Charlotte including the City of Charlottesville and Mecklenburg County in Virginia.

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the Revolutionary War, and Britain lost much of this territory to the newly formed United States.

The Queen died at Dutch House (now Kew Palace) on November 17, 1818 and was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Her husband died just over a year later. She is the longest-serving female consort and second-longest-serving consort in British history (after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), having served as such from her marriage (1761) to her death (1818), a total of 57 years and 70 days.

Born Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, she was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elizabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Queen Charlotte’s letters, diaries, and household accounts are at the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle in England, and they have been digitized by the Georgian Papers Programme. The Georgian Papers Online is a searchable catalogue containing descriptions and digitised images of material dating from the Georgian period, including personal letters, diaries, account books and records of the Royal Household of George III, his Queen consort and their children.