The Wedding of King George III and Queen Charlotte

The Marriage of George III 1761 by Joshua Reynolds, 1761.

  “When King George III succeeded to the throne of England upon the death of his grandfather, George II, it was considered right that he should seek some lady in marriage who should fulfil all the duties of her exalted position in a manner to satisfy the feelings of the country at large, and at the same time those of a Prince so ardent an admirer of the fair sex as was George III,” writes Charlotte Papendiek* in her extensive memoirs. 

The choice for a bride fell on the 17-year-old Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The decision was reached primarily because, having been raised in a small German duchy and being the daughter of the Prince Mirow, the younger brother of the reigning duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the princess was thought of as not having the experience or the interest to meddle in politics.

In July 1761, King George III sent for an entourage to escort his would-be bride from Strelitz to London.  The party consisted of the Duchess of Ancaster and the Duchess of Hamilton, who served as the would-be-bride’s ladies of the bedchamber; Mrs. Tracey, bedchamber woman; Earl Harcourt, proxy for the king ; General Graeme, to conduct the whole escort ; and Lord Anson, commander of the squadron.  George and Charlotte were married by proxy, their marriage contract signed by Charlotte’s brother, Adolphus Frederick IV (who inherited the duchy from uncle Adolphus Frederick III) and by the Earl Harcourt, representing the king. The people of Strelitz rejoiced with the union, the festivities running for  three days before the bride and her party departed for London on August 17.

After a stormy crossing of the English channel, the party reached Harwich on September 7. They rested the night in Witham, at the residence of Lord Abercorn, and arrived at 3:30 pm the next day at St. James's Palace in London.  

On this big day, Papendiek writes:

“They entered London by the suburb of Mile End, and passing through Whitechapel, which could not have given the strangers a very promising idea of the beauty or grandeur of the metropolis, or the Princess a very exalted notion of the people over whom she had come to reign (for that was at that time, as it is now, one of the most squalid and dirty quarters of London), they continued along the New Road to Hyde Park, which they crossed, and thence down Constitution Hill to St. James's Palace, where the King then resided. His Majesty, surrounded by his brothers, received his bride at the small private garden gate, in the Friary, and led her through the garden, up the flight of steps to the Palace.”

The queen, still weary and tired from the long trip, was married to King George III that very night.

“At about ten o'clock the procession entered the Royal Chapel,” writes Papendiek. Charlotte was led to the altar by the king’s brothers, the Duke of York and Prince William, while she was given away by the Duke of Cumberland. Ten bridesmaids attended her. They were Lady Sarah Lennox, Lady Caroline Eussell, Lady Caroline Montagu, Lady Harriot Bentinck, Lady Anne Hamilton, Lady Essex Kerr, Lady Elizabeth Keppel, Lady Louisa Greville, Lady Elizabeth Harcourt, and Lady Susan Fox- Strangways. Dressed “in Court robes of white and silver,” they bore the bride’s train “of purple velvet, lined with ermine, the rest of her dress being of white satin and silver gauze.” The Archbishop of Canterbury officiated the solemn ceremony.

Horace Walpole later wrote: “The Queen was in white and silver ; an endless mantle of violet-coloured velvet, lined with ermine, and attempted to be fastened on her shoulder by a bunch of large pearls, dragged itself and almost the rest of her clothes half- way down her waist. On her head was a beautiful little tiara of diamonds ; a diamond necklace, and a stomacher of diamonds, worth threescore thousand pounds, which she is to wear at the Coronation, too.”

King George III presented her bride with a fortune’s worth of gifts, including “a pair of bracelets, consisting of six rows of picked pearls as large as a full pea ; the clasps — one his picture, the other his hair and cypher, both set round with diamonds ; necklace with diamond cross ; earrings, and the additional ornaments of the fashion of the day.” She also gave her “a diamond hoop ring of a size not to stand higher than the wedding ring, to which it was to serve as a guard.” Queen Charlotte never adorned the finger where this ring was snuck with any other ring or jewelry.

When the ceremony ended, the couple proceeded to their apartments. Queen Charlotte, feeling fatigued from the lengthy and strenuous travel, excused herself from attending the banquet after she and her husband welcomed the guests. Instead, a private supper was served to the king and queen alone.

Charlotte Papendiek* served, first, an assistant keeper of the queen's wardrobe and later, her reader. She was the daughter of Friedrich Albert, who was the queen’s page, barber and hairdresser. In 1783, she married Christopher Papendiek, court musician  to King George III. In 1833 Charlotte Papendiek started writing an extensive set of memoirs, although they were left unfinished. Her granddaughter, Augusta Anne Arbuthnot, published them in 1887.