Was Queen Charlotte Black? How ‘Bridgerton’ restarted buzz about her ancestry.

Julia Quinn’s series jumps right off the page in Shonda Rhimes’ and Chris Van Dusen’s, ”Bridgerton.” From the impeccable fashion to the commentary on both gender and class in early 1800s England, the Netflix period drama provides a glimpse into high society during the Regency era.

While the lust-heavy plot is certainly one for discussion, the show — in which lead roles, including the queen, are played by people of color — has reignited buzz around the ancestry of our very own Queen Charlotte.

Queen Charlotte has always been a topic of conversation in Charlotte, our city is named after King George III’s wife. Mecklenburg County honors Queen Charlotte’s birthplace in Germany, Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Princess Sofia Charlotte was born May 19,1744, to Duke Charles Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. When she arrived in England to marry King George III, she was 17. She birthed 15 children in what we know today to be Buckingham Palace. She enjoyed botany, flowers and music, and she cared for her husband through his illness.

Queen Charlotte did have African ancestry, suggested historian Mario De Valdes y Cocom.

Queen Charlotte and the Queen City

Queen Charlotte’s legacy is in full view throughout the city, starting with her stately statue at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport that welcomes travelers. Among visitors to the aptly nicknamed Queen City, it has been a catalyst in many conversations regarding her lineage, said Rubie Britt-Height, director of community relations at The Mint Museum.

“A lot of people have asked us in traveling what her lineage is or was,” Britt-Height said. “Because we have the original portraits of King George and Queen Charlotte by Allan Ramsay, we have an opportunity to talk about her more.”

In 2009, Queen Charlotte’s original portrait was reinterpreted by Ken Aptekar. ”Charlotte’s Charlotte” details various aspects of the queen — the bird of paradise flower, her German heritage and her vulnerability and strength.

One panel of Aptekar’s contemporary interpretation — with the overlaid words “Black White Other” — was the result of a powerful community conversation around not only the Queen’s lineage but also about race, ethnicity and the state of the city’s race relations, Britt-Height said. Politicians, artists and community leaders gathered at The Mint Museum to weigh in on both “Charlotte’s Charlotte” and the city’s progress.

“He raises this question to the forefront with her features in the background,” Britt-Height said. “She has visual African features, which is what was said in the PBS special.”

While some historians believe she was Britain’s first Black queen, The Mint Museum can’t confirm Queen Charlotte’s ancestry.

Rhimes and Van Dusen took the liberty of using yet another art form — the small screen — to explore the idea of Queen Charlotte being a woman of color.

Value the differences

Conversations that arise from Aptekar’s and Rhimes’ and Van Dusen’s interpretations create much-needed dialogue in Charlotte.

“Is she Black, is she white, is she other? When you put the ‘other’ in there,” she’s all of us,” Britt-Height said. “That’s what we are in Charlotte now. We are a melting pot.”

We have differences, but when you’re culturally literate, you value the differences. You value the different cultures, you value the fact that we look differently, worship differently, cook differently. You put it all together and you have Charlotte, she said.

Art gives us a springboard to have those conversations we otherwise would find much too difficult to have, Britt-Height said. The setting of “Bridgerton” reimagines Regency-era society. The Duke of Hastings, Simon — who returns to England to settle his father’s affairs — is clearly of African descent. His father — Lord Hastings — is clearly Black. Lady Danbury — who mentors Simon when he is rejected by his father — is a socialite who brings dignity and wisdom. She’s also hard — and she talks about that fact when she challenges the duke about his stuttering.

“Here’s a diverse society where people of color also have an equity in society because Simon is a duke, and his daddy was duke and he comes out of that lineage,” Britt-Height said. “Lady Danbury is a lady, and they’re wealthy. They are high society.”

(Note: You can catch Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page, who plays the Duke of Hastings, hosting Saturday Night Live on Feb. 20.)

Charlotte residents react

The idea that Queen Charlotte is a person of color is not out of the realm of possibility.

“Why would it be inconceivable that Black people are kings and queens?” physician assistant Michelle McCracken-Brown said. “We are kings and queens — at least that’s what our African ancestry tells us.”

If Queen Charlotte’s lineage included African ancestry, it would be a positive thing for all people of color, McCracken-Brown said, adding that It would give the culture a sense of pride and greatness that could be passed down through generations.

“There are so many lessons in the idea that we came from kings and queens and we are royalty,” McCracken-Brown said. “Living up to that standard and not letting others take away your sense of who you are. For adults, it’s another part of our history, and we can feel more connected to the city, especially if you are a Charlottean — born and raised in Charlotte.”

‘We are truth telling today’

Charlottean and educator Corey Gaston’s perspective includes one of the city’s infrastructure and reimagining what we know Charlotte to be.

“If the matriarchal name was named after a person of significance who looked like us, the city structures and infrastructure would’ve been very very different,” Gaston said. “Most of our cities, towns and states were colonized, but if there was a queen that looked like us, that means her kingdom and progeny would’ve looked like her also. That would’ve shaped and framed a different narrative for the city’s infrastructure. If that were a possibility, a lot of our present realities would be very different.”

Gaston is unsure of how great of an impact confirming Queen Charlotte’s potential African ancestry would have on people of color in Charlotte now, he said. Harvey Gantt’s ascension to being the first Black mayor of Charlotte would not have been as monumental as it had been if Queen Charlotte’s African lineage had been verified, for example.

“I don’t think it would change much in light of the history that has brought us to where we are today. I think a lot of that truth would have to have been realized early on to really make a significant impact,” Gaston said.

“We are truth telling today. We are not able to revise history but we are able to really expose our history for what it was and what it is, and in that truth comes liberation.”

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