Unexpected and Surprising Facts About England’s Iconic Queens

1. How Much or How Little, African Ancestry Does it Take to Make This Royal Black?

Even if Madragana had been 100% black African, the fact that she was fifteen generations removed from Charlotte would render the queen’s black ancestry insignificant. If we assume no intermarriages among the descendants of Madragana, we have to account for the fact that the number of our ancestors doubles with each generation. As a result, each ancestor’s share in our makeup is halved with each generation. If we apply that to Queen to Charlotte, a black ancestress fifteen generations in her past would make her 1 part black out of 32,768 parts.

Set aside the racist premise that a small trace of black ancestry makes somebody black as if blackness is a defect or disease that irrevocably negates other ancestry. 1 part African in 32,768 parts could not make Charlotte black. Even the notoriously racist “One Drop Rule”, which deemed mixed-race people with small traces of black African ancestry as black, only stopped at 1 part black in 32. To consider Queen Charlotte to have been black, one would have to take the One Drop Rule’s racist formula, and multiply it by – literally – 1000. As with Queen Elizabeth II’s descent from the Prophet Muhammad, such a link might be interesting, but it is small and too far removed to have much practical significance.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

BBC – Story of Boy Jones Who Stole Queen Victoria’s Underwear

Bondeson, Jan – Queen Victoria’s Stalker: The Strange Story of the Boy Jones (2012)

Botting, Douglas – The Pirates (1978)

Den of Geek – The Real History Behind Bridgerton

Economist, The, April 7^th, 2018 – Muslims Consider Queen Elizabeth’s Ties to the Prophet Muhammad

Elizabethan Era Org – Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I

Encyclopedia Britannica – Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour

Harvard Gazette, The, December 9^th, 2010 – ‘One Drop Rule’ Persists

Hibbert, Christopher – The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age (1992)

History – Is Queen Elizabeth Related to the Prophet Muhammad?

History Collection – 16 Facts About Dollar Princesses, the American Girls Who Were Sold Into Royalty

History Extra – Did Thomas Seymour Sexually Abuse the Teenage Princess Elizabeth?

History Jar – Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour

History Jar – Scandal at Chelsea: the Courtship and Marriage of Katherine Parr and Sir Thomas Seymour

Kelsey, Harry – Sir Francis Drake, the Queen’s Pirate (1998)

Lane, Kris E. – Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750 (1998)

History Collection – Queen Victoria’s Chimney Stalker and Other Creepy Moments From History

New York Times, July 22^nd, 1982 – Text of Scotland Yard’s Report on July 9 Intrusion Into Buckingham Palace

Oprah Magazine, December 29^th, 2020 – Bridgerton Doesn’t Need to Elaborate on Its Inclusion of Black Characters

Pirate Empire – Lady Pirate, Mary/ Elizabeth Killigrew

Sharp, Anne Wallace – Daring Pirate Women (2002)

Timeline – This Teen Stalker Stole Queen Victoria’s Panties and Lived in Buckingham Palace Chimneys For a Year

Times, The, April 12^th, 2018 – The Queen May Be a Child of the Prophet Muhammad

History Collection – Amazing Women Who Should Be Way More Famous

Vanity Fair, June 1^st, 2016 – See Rare Footage of Queen Elizabeth II Meeting Marilyn Monroe

Vox – The Debate Over Bridgerton and Race

Washington Post, December 27^th, 2020 – Was Queen Charlotte Black? Here’s What We Know