Episode 230: Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, Part Two

by | Jun 10, 2023 | Podcasts






How Charlotte looked at the beginning of this episode in 1782. Thomas Gainsborough, public domain.





A more mature Queen Charlotte seven years later by Sir Thomas Lawrence circa 1789 





We left Charlotte in a very sweet place: her family was growing, she was able to indulge her love of botany and other sciences through her many homes, her husband, King George III, was on a high note on the favorable scale…life was pleasant and lacked (much) drama. 





But all that is going to change. She does keep having children in this final episode of our series, 13 of them reach adulthood. Okay, so her boys–especially the heir, the Prince of Wales- were growing into rogues but in an almost cute way and when things went sideways they went sideways hard. 





In this episode, we tracked the mental illness of King George III (which didn’t really strike until he was in his 50s) and the impact it had on Charlotte, the family and the country. Charlotte goes from a sweet shepherdess of a mother who has her stuff together to a frazzled, confused, suspicious, and ever-stressed-out queen. 





Within the two episodes, we cover her entire life and try to make it easy for you to separate the fact from the fiction on Netflix’s limited series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.




















Time Travel With The History Chicks










Books!





The new one by Catherine Curzon










Old one by Percy H. Fitzgerald





By Andrew Roberts





By Janice Hadlow










Lots of very short essays about a lot of royals  by Alison Rattler and Allison Vale





By Adrian Tinniswood





Children’s book by Nancy Churnin and Luisa Uribe





by Constance Hill 





Web!





Was Queen Charlotte black? How far back in her family tree did this ancestor live and what is the story behind why people think so? This Smithsonian article will give you a place to start you tumble down a rabbit hole. SMITHSONIAN 





The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew





For the whole heartbreaking story of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heir that never was, we covered her back when we were newbie podcasters, in 2011! Episode 13.





Historic Royal Palaces has a treasure trove of information on all things British Royal, here’s Kew Palace (well, the rebuilt one) you can see why it was a favorite of the family (and why we need to go there when we visit London this fall!)





Ways that the zebra became shorthand for greed and stupidity through political cartoons: PRINCETON 





A perfectly titled essay, King George III, bipolar disorder, porphyria, and lessons for historians from the Royal College of Physicians





Moving Pictures!





Did you know there is a Netflix limited series by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes? (That’s sarcasm, of course you do!) There is and we both enjoyed it a great deal ( just remember: it’s not a documentary!)










1994’s movie with Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte (also not a documentary.)





There are many Horrible Histories (no Drunk History though) on Charlotte’s era that we’ll just put this one episode here as a lovely example.


















Break song: Handel’s     End Song: Lost by Mary Ellen Lynch










Come with us to visit the world of  Queen Charlotte (and centuries of others) this September as we take a Field Trip to London! Almost full! If you would like to sign up or learn more, visit our friends at Like Minds Travel!






				
					

			
					


				
															
Episode 133: Isabella of Castile, Part Two

					
					
 by  | Aug 20, 2019 | Episode, Podcasts


Artist unknown, via wikicommons


Isabella and Ferdinand; she before he. The couple ruled together, but she was the one who created a centralized government in what is now modern-day Spain, and together they ended an 800-year holy war. It was she who funded slick sailsman (little nautical pun there), Cristoforo Columbo, to set sail to the Indies and it was she who hauled him back after he robbed, pillaged, enslaved and brought European illnesses to the indigenous people of Not-the-Indies. It was she who gave birth to five children, and she who supported the arts and education in her country.


 (more…)

				
					

			
					


				
															
Episode 132: Isabella of Castile, Part One

					
					
 by  | Aug 6, 2019 | Episode, Podcasts


 




For a woman who was never supposed to rule, she did a mighty job of it. Isabella not only took the crown, but she also fought to keep it and when it was placed permanently on her head–she rewrote the rules of how her country was run and became the most powerful ruler of her day.


Whoa. That story is going to take two episodes to cover!


 (more…)