The house that was to become Kew Palace was built in 1631 for Samuel Fortrey, a French-born Flemish merchant. Fortrey created an expensive and sumptuous home that was extravagantly decorated with magnificent molded plasterwork and detailed paint schemes
Royal associations with the building began in 1728 when the house was leased by Queen Caroline to be used for accommodation for the three elder daughters of George II. The small palace was also put to use as a school room with the future George III and his brother Edward educated there by leading politicians, musicians, and architects.
The first ‘truly British’ Hanoverian King, George III was keen to find a wife before his coronation, and after a search for suitable candidates, married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761, on the same day as he met her! In 1762, American colonists in the Carolinas paid honor to the royal couple by naming a city in honor or the new queen consort. They called their town Charlotte, and the surrounding county was named Mecklenburg in honor of the princess’s homeland.