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George III (1738-1820) &
Queen Charlotte (1744-1818)
Born in London in 1738, eldest son of Frederick Louis, Prince of
Wales. He succeeded his grandfather George II in 1760 and married
Charlotte Sophia, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761. The
royal family used Richmond Lodge as a summer residence and commissioned
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to re-landscape the grounds.
After Princess Augusta’s death, the royal family moved to
the White House, whilst the Prince of Wales and Prince Frederick
lodged in the Dutch House (known today as Kew Palace), the freehold
of which was conveyed to Queen Charlotte in 1781, and Richmond Lodge
was demollished. The Queen, the Princess Royal and Princess Elizabeth
were given lessons in botany by James (later Sir James) Edward Smith,
whilst Francis Bauer and Margaret Meen gave them lessons in botanical
illustration. A menagerie was established close to what is now known
as Queen Charlotte’s Cottage. When George III inherited Augusta’s
Kew estate in 1772, he sought to amalgamate it with the Richmond
estate, although the boundary walls between the two were not finally
demolished until 1802. The King lived at Kew House during his bouts
of illness and eventually died in 1820, two years after Queen Charlotte
had died in the Dutch House.
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