Queen Charlotte really was black, Bridgerton star insists,
A Bridgerton star has reignited the controversy over whether George III’s wife Queen Charlotte, who is depicted in the Regency-era drama, was black in real life.
Adjoa Andoh said of the royal, played by fellow black actress Golda Rosheuvel: ‘Queen Charlotte wasn’t fictionalised as a woman of colour, she was a woman of colour. You just have to do your historical research.’
The actress – who in 2023 said the Buckingham Palace line-up after King Charles’ coronation was ‘terribly white’ – said the Netflix series gave viewers ‘a more realistic version of history’.
The lineage of the German-born Charlotte can be traced and there is one relative of Moorish ancestry, 500 years before she lived.
One fan said: ‘The chances of me having black ancestry are way bigger than that and I’m not a woman of colour.
‘History is full of really interesting actual women of colour, so it’s time we start making TV shows about them and stop giving credit where there’s no credit due.
‘If it were a realistic depiction of history, it would include the transatlantic slave trade, and Queen Charlotte was no abolitionist.’
Ms Andoh, who appeared as a guest during ITV’s coverage of the Coronation, commented on the Coronation being ‘terribly white’ when the royals were standing on the balcony to watch the traditional Red Arrows flypast.
Her comments prompted 4,165 complaints immediately after the ceremony on May 6 followed by a further 4,087 between May 9 and 15.
Ms Andoh said: ‘Looking at all those young people, there is a bit of me that has gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to the terribly white balcony. I’m very struck by that.’
