She was the eldest child and daughter[citation needed] of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and his first wife, Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt.

[1] Charlotte grew up in Hanover, where her father served as governor, on behalf of his brother-in-law, King George III of the United Kingdom, who lived in London.

Christian Truchseß von Wetzhausen zu Bettenburg was a friend of the ducal couple and godfather of Charlotte's son Edward.

After Charlotte and her daughter Therese, who was Crown Princess of Bavaria at the time, visited his Bettenburg Castle in Franconia, Christian wrote to Fouqué: Our Crown Princess of Bavaria and the Hereditary Princess of Weilburg were visiting their mother, the Duchess of Hildburghausen; and since I have known these lovely daughters since childhood, and they had always been kindly disposed towards me, they felt the urge to visit the old Truchseß on his castle and they and their brother George and the Hereditary Prince of Weilburg, the brave man of Waterloo and really only a small suite came to me on a Sunday afternoon.

When receiving his guests, Truchseß tried to lead the lower-ranking Charlotte first into his castle, but she refused, referring to her daughter.

Truchseß replied: Your Highness will forgive me, but as long as this castle has stood here, mothers have always enjoyed precedence before their daughters.

[6] The Duchess gave about half of her annual income to the poor, pensioners, and education and apprenticeships for the lower classes.

She relaxed the rules and etiquette and brought musicians, painters, and poets to the court, among them the writer Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, who arrived in May 1799.

[7] On 27 October 1799, he again wrote to Otto: I knew ahead of time that the court would stay at their Jagdschloss at Seidingstadt; I went there today.

[8] Charlotte gave the commoner Jean Paul Friedrich Richter the title of a Legation Council and the writer was engaged to one of her ladies in waiting.

[10] She was taught singing in Hanover by an Italian named Giuliani and sang in concerts at court and church services.

Her daughter Therese reported to her sister Louisa, "Eight or ten days ago, during an anxious night, in which the end seemed near, she said us all a farewell and blessed all you far away loved ones - that's the best a good loving mother can give to her children [...] That night, when she bade us farewell in the most touching manner, I knelt down beside her bed of pain and asked for her blessing.

The green bronzed candelabra stands on four black balls with blazing flames in lead in a shell at the top.