Augustans joined the rest of the world in mourning along with the public of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth over the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who died Sept. 8 at age 96.
While many may scratch their heads in disbelief as citizens of a country that fought a bloody war against the British monarchy would care, much less mourn a sovereign’s death; the reason is simple, American history, and particularly Georgia history is also British history.
While some states’ names give a nod to the British monarchy as Virginia refers to Queen Elizabeth I who was known as the “Virgin Queen,” and Maryland refers to Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I, Georgia is the only state that was named for a sitting sovereign.
Likewise, the city of Augusta got its name from British royalty.
Princess Augusta was the wife of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and the mother of King George III.
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As his title would suggest, Frederick Louis was the heir to the throne, but he died suddenly at age 44, while his father King George II was still alive, so the crown ended up going to Frederick’s son who ascended as George III. Augusta was almost named after a Queen but is instead named in honor of a King Mother.
It was the Parliament under George III that gave modern Americans our favorite breakfast drink. While coffee was available in the colonies, it was considered a crude alternative to tea. According to the National Coffee Association, the Boston Tea Party was largely symbolic, but Americans were so incensed by the tax on tea that they switched to coffee leading to a national obsession with Starbucks.
From the stunning rendition performed by Whitney Houston, to the comical, and some say disrespectful, version delivered by Roseanne Barr, every American knows the Star-Spangled Banner.
Ironically, the timeless words written by Francis Scott Key during a pivotal battle in the War of 1812 was set to the music of a favorite British pub tune. According to the Smithsonian, Key’s original poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was later sung to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven,” an English tune that extols the virtues of drink and sex.
However, the founders of the United States did try to distance the new nation’s customs away from that of Mother Britain. The U.S. Constitution forbids royal titles being bestowed.
“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State,” Article 1, section 9 of the Constitution reads.
Yet, this turned out to be a lame attempt to quell royalist culture in America as plenty of American women have married into royalty and accepted titles. Neither Princess Grace of Monaco, Queen Noor of Jordan or the Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson had to renounce their citizenship as the wording in the Constitution only applies to officeholders.
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Plenty of television series exist portraying what were known as “Millionaire Princesses,” which were wealthy American women that bought themselves a husband and a title, proving the obsession of royalty remained in the American DNA.
Until now, no current or future sovereign of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth has ever set foot on Georgian soil.
Former Prince Charles of Wales and now King Charles III visited Georgia in 1977 and accompanied the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, to a UGA football game in Athens. Mr. Brown performed the halftime show and then resumed his seat next to the prince where they laughed together as they cheered for the Dawgs.
“They both like University of GA football,” according to a recent Facebook post by Deanna Brown Thomas, James Brown’s daughter. “Dad’s song ‘Dooley’s Junkyard Dawgs’ was an expression of proudness as he performed for halftime in 1977 w/then Prince Charles attending Stanford Stadium. Go Dawgs!”
The Dawgs lost to Kentucky, unfortunately. However, that day at Sanford Stadium marked the first time a future English king visited the state named after his ancestors and in true fashion, he was the guest of Augusta’s own James Brown.
…And that is something you may not have known.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
