Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - Life As Queen

Life As Queen

Unfortunately, there can be little doubt that the early married life of the young Queen was scarcely a happy one. The King was burdened with ministerial troubles, and his mother, secure in the support of his favourite Lord Bute, was able to exert all the influence and authority which age and knowledge of the world and the position of a parent could give her over a young and inexperienced couple. The young queen was unable to resist, and a sort of palace despotism developed where her mother-in-law controlled all her actions. The King himself, strongly under his mother's influence, was not inclined to interfere and assumed that all was done rightly. Already she was not allowed to be too intimate with the English ladies of her household. It was laid down as being formal etiquette of the court that they should not approach her save under the direction of her German attendants. Card-playing, which she loved, was presently interdicted.

Naturally, too, there were the German and the English factions of dependents, each jealously contending for their royal mistress's favour, dictating the terms and conditions of their service, and threatening to go back to Germany unless particular privileges were given them. The poor queen had about as much anxiety and trouble with her dependents as her husband had with his insubordinate ministers or servants.

Despite this the marriage was a success, and on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, the Prince of Wales, who would later become King George IV. On 13 September, the Queen attended the Chapel Royal to offer the usual thanksgiving that took place after childbirth. The ceremony of christening the Prince of Wales, which took place at St. James's Palace, was attended with every circumstance of splendour. The cradle upon which the infant lay was covered with a magnificent drapery of Brussels lace. In the course of their marriage, they had 15 children, all but two of whom (Octavius and Alfred) survived into adulthood.

Around this time the King and Queen moved to Buckingham House, at the western end of St. James's Park, which would later be known as Buckingham Palace. The house which forms the architectural core of the present palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 to the design of William Winde. Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham's descendant, Sir Charles Sheffield, in 1761 to George III for £21,000 (£3,000,000 as of 2012).

The house was originally intended as a private retreat, in particular for Charlotte, and was known as The Queen's House—14 of their 15 children were born there. St. James's Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence.