Bird of Paradise

I love these flowers, strelitzia reginae, so exotic so extraordinary! They come originally from South Africa but they grow all over the world now. The name comes from Queen Charlotte, who was married to George III; she was Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and it’s from this these wonderful flowers got their name. Charlotte and George had a great family of children, George who followed his father to the throne, Frederick, William who also became king after George, Charlotte, Edward, Augusta Sophia, Elizabeth, Ernest Augustus who became King of Hanover, Augustus Frederick, Adolphus, Mary, Sophia, Octavius, Alfred and Amelia. George III was afflicted by a dreadful illness, and was called ‘mad’; how hard that must have been for his family. The third child, Edward, was the father of Queen Victoria.