Belize joins the U.S. and the British Commonwealth in displaying the portrait of Queen Charlotte. Millions of people have been drawn to this black queen’s enchanting beauty and reflected on the impact her stature as Queen had on the abolition of slavery.
Belizeans are invited to see a replica of her portrait at the Museum of Belize on Goal Lane in the city.
Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of the English King George III, was also the grandmother of King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth.
She was slim in figure, with narrow face and long black hair that had a mixed texture, she was referred as a “Mullato” a mixture of white and black. Visitors can also do some in depth reading about the lineage of the Queen and learn more about her African ancestry from written material that has been gathered on her majesty.
According to Museum guide, Robert Hulse, who has been in the business of Research for decades, the portrait represents a lot more than just art. She is an important part of Belize’s history since we were once an English colony and served her crown.
“There was an area in Belize named after this Queen, that area known as Yarborough was called Queen Charlotte Town, so being a former English territory our pasts are intertwined.”
Today that area is still known as Queen Charlotte area with the main street, Queen Charlotte Street in the Port Loyola Division on southside Belize City.
Hulse adds, the responsibility of educating Belizeans about their history rests at the feet of the museum historians and the replica serves as evidence that they continue to strive toward that goal.
“It is important that as a people we know our history and our job is to educate people, so that they do know.” Hulse said the replica has been around since February 5 , 2002 when the museum moved to its present location and many tourist have come to see the exhibition, but it’s is time those numbers included Belizeans.
“We get visitors all the time, but mainly foreigners, we want more Belizeans to start coming to see it,” Hulse said.
Queen Charlotte was born May on 19, 1744. She was a descendant from Magarita de Castro y Sousa, a black part of the Portuguese Royal House. It is believed that several de Sousas travelled to the Netherlands when their cousin, the Princess Isabella went to marry the Grand Duke, Philip the Good of Burgundy in the year 1429.
Her negroid characteristics made her a symbol of the equality that should have existed between whites and black during a time of slavery. Artists, who were involved in the Abolition Movement used their work to show the relationships between white and black royalty that emphasized the need for the end of slavery.
One of those artists was Allan Ramsay who did several paintings of Queen Charlotte and used it as a symbol of peace.
Editor’s Note: Charlotte’s negro features had great political significance in a time when everything coming out of the “Motherland” was expected to be anything but black. Ramsay, an anti-slavery intellectual, was among the few artists who did not downplay her facial features which pointed to her African ancestry. [Joseph Romero]
I am thinking that "Charlotte" would be a nice name for my next girl...
