Susan Granger’s review of “Queen Charlotte” (Netflix)
Royals rule this week…so Shonda Rhimes has created a new Netflix series you’re gonna want to binge. Spinning off “Bridgerton,” there’s “Queen Charlotte.”
Part of a political pact, 17 year-old Charlotte (India Amarteifio) is dispatched from Germany to England to marry King George III (Corey MyIchreest). Since Charlotte has no idea if he’s “a troll or a beast,” she’s understandably reluctant.
Conveniently, they ‘meet cute’ as she’s trying to climb a wall to escape, so the lavish nuptials go as planned. But instead of consummating their union on their wedding night, George departs for his observatory to watch the night sky.
Persistently followed by her aide Brimsley (Sam Clemmett) – who’s dawdling with the King’s aide Reynolds (Freddie Dennis) – bewildered young Queen Charlotte’s only confidante is conniving Lady Danbury (Arsema Thomas).
“I am born for the happiness or misery of a great nation, and consequently must often act contrary to my passions,” George fumes. (That evokes a contemporary connection to King Charles’ contrived marriage to naive Diana to produce an heir and a spare, while he canoodled with his long-time mistress Camilla.)
Interspersed are glimpses of the mature, Regency-era Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), familiar from “Bridgerton,” coping with the King’s debilitating illness as she poignantly prods her 13 progeny to preserve the dynasty.
Narrated by gossiping Lady Whistledown (Julie Andrews), the romantic plot is filled with clever gamesmanship, as many of the characters are deliciously duplicitous. (Even my action-oriented husband was intrigued.)
Shonda Rhimes has perceptively dedicated this historical prequel “In Memory of Jacqueline Avant.” Mrs. Avant, mother of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ wife Nicole, was shot and killed in a home invasion in 2021.
Renown as an activist/philanthropist in Los Angeles, Jacqueline was married to music executive Clarence Avant, called “the Godfather of Black music”…and she was fascinated by historical Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1774-1818),
According to historian Mario de Valdes y Cocom on PBS Frontline, Queen Charlotte was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a Black branch of the Portuguese royal house. Even in varying accounts, her African roots are apparently verifiable, which brings us back to King Charles III coronation.
If Queen Charlotte had Black ancestry, that would affect the entire lineage of her granddaughter, Queen Victoria, whose offspring occupied many European thrones.
Another contemporary connection is the fanciful ‘Great Experiment’ in which titles and land were bestowed on people of color to equalize interracial marriages – evoking thoughts of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Queen Charlotte” is a tantalizing 10 – with all six episodes now streaming on Netflix.
