When I moved to North Carolina in 2015, I learned that the city of Charlotte was named a after a British Queen who was married to King George III of England (the same king against whom American colonies waged the war for their independence). Queen Charlotte had a quite a back story — as a 17-year old German princess she was married to the King (who she met just hours before the wedding). She went on to have 14 children and reign for over 50 years; acquiring significant power due to her husband’s mental illness. Most interesting of all to me was the speculation that Queen Charlotte may have had African ancestry. Some historians and genealogists have argued that Charlotte was directly descended from a branch of the Portuguese royal family who intermarried with Moors. They also noted contemporaneous descriptions of Charlotte’s appearance which described her as having a “true mulatto face” with an “ill-colored” complexion and having a nose that was “too wide and too broad”. In several British colonies, Charlotte was often honored by Blacks who were convinced from her portraits and likeness on coins that she had African ancestry.

One of the most famous portraits of Queen Charlotte was done by Sir Allan Ramsay, who was noted for his realistic style. It depicts a young Charlotte as she was just beginning to adjust to her role as Queen and she appears somewhat tentative. I was struck by the fact that she is shown gesturing towards her crown, but not wearing it. Seeing this portrait at a local museum, I was inspired to reimagine Charlotte as a younger version of the powerful Queen she later became. I chose to present her a confident, mixed-race young woman who has claimed her crown and it ready to take on the world.