A very interesting and thought through response and I thank you for it. I am aware that there were POC in Regency England, though as you've comprehensively demonstrated they were the exception rather than the rule - and most stories of POC would've been lost through lack of records and social standing etc. Happy to be corrected about Caroline of Brunswick and Charlotte of Mecklinberg-Strelitz - but reading up on her, it seems the jury is still out on her ethnicity. Either way, fascinating stuff.

My wider point is more about the role of offence when levied at fictional narrative. My partner, who works in wardrobe, was unhappy about the various problematic hairstyles and dress lengths - but as I pointed out, most people won't notice or care. And these works are fiction for escapism, they aren't intended as a treatise on social justice. When you can pick holes in creative work based on your own subjective judgments of what constitutes offence, you become part of a strange form of censorship. It might've been important to some people that Golda Rosheuvel was mixed race - but the actress is also openly lesbian, whilst Queen Charlotte almost certainly wasn't. Is that offensive? Who gets to decide what is important and what isn't?

When we get into a reductive spiral of asserting moral judgments on works of fiction, we take away the joy. The dresses were wrong, the racial balance wasn't period apporpriate, maybe it was female on male rape.... but it's just a story, it's entertainment, and like most of Shonda Rhimes' work, it was excellent storycraft and carefully layered characters creating a new world. I thought it was an excellent move towards progressive casting and opens up an exciting new genre - but I'm always happy to debate those assertions.

Thanks for the comment and the heads up about Portugese royal lineage! :o)