Charlotte Papendiek

Charlotte was the daughter of Friedrich Albert (born 28 January 1733, Frankfurt am Main), who in 1755 had entered the service of Adolphus Frederick IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

When Adolphus Frederick's 17-year-old sister Charlotte married George III in 1761, Friedrich Albert followed her to Britain as a page, barber and hairdresser.

In 1833, Charlotte Papendiek began to write an extensive set of memoirs – they remained unfinished and were published by her granddaughter in 1887.

Alongside the diaries of Fanny Burney, another lady-in-waiting, they are a major source on family and artistic life within the British court at that time.

They also contain much information on musicians active in London at this time, such as Johann Christian Bach, George Bridgetower, Muzio Clementi, Joseph Haydn and Johann Peter Salomon, and were used as such by Rita Dove for her Sonata Mulattica on Bridgetower's life.