Remember the picture I posted last week of the statue at Charlotte airport?
If not, here is a profile shot:
I knew the statue was of Queen Charlotte, but I hadn't thought about which Queen Charlotte that might be. I hadn't even vaguely connected that furious looking Queen Charlotte, with the German Princess who married George III, until I saw a small museum display inside the airport. (Click on the image for a larger picture, from which you can read a short history of Queen Charlotte. Bear in mind, however, that it doesn't explain why Charlotte N.C. was named after her, or why she look so vicious in the statue.)
Why had this link to the British Royal family not occurred to me? Well for the very simple reason that the National Portrait Gallery in London has a large portrait of Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenberg, which I've seen several times, and have always paused in front of to think that she looks like a sweetheart. In fact the NPG have several portraits of her, and she always seems very good natured from those.
Mind you, none of those portraits have her falling backwards off a beach ball whilst trying to balance a coronet on her fingertips. Maybe that's enough to make anyone a bit grumpy.
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