Photo: Courtesy Netflix
One of the best characters on Bridgerton is the scheming, easily bored, and ultimately pro-love Queen Charlotte, played by Golda Rosheuvel and based on the real-life wife of King George III.
And because of the series’ popularity, Netflix is giving us viewers what we want: a prequel spin-off about Queen Charlotte that will also feature two other grand dames of the ton. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming series…
It’s about Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, and Violet Bridgerton
“While the series will center on the rise and love life of a young Queen Charlotte, it will also tell the stories of young Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury,” Netflix said in a press release. “Many viewers had never known the story of Queen Charlotte before Bridgerton brought her to the world, and I’m thrilled this new series will further expand her story and the world of Bridgerton,” added Netflix executive Bela Bajaria.
It’s another ShondaLand joint
“Shonda Rhimes will write the series and serve as executive producer alongside Betsy Beers and Tom Verica,” said Netflix.
It will be a limited series
No episode number has yet been announced.
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It will feature some of the current cast
Even though it’s about the “younger” versions of the characters we know and love, Rosheuvel told E! News, “I will be in it. We have no film date or any kind of scripts or anything at the moment. We’re going to still be in the world of Bridgerton. We’re not moving away from the world that we know and love Queen Charlotte to be in. I think that’s really clever, because it kind of keeps us on the same track,” she said, continuing, “I think it’s really going to be interesting to see where she has come from and the things that have led her to her in the Bridgerton that we know and love.”
Andjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury, added, “These relationships are long lived between Lady Danbury, Lady Bridgerton, and the queen. That’s what the prequel is going to talk about. It’s Shonda Rhimes writing it, so it is going to be fabulous.”
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Here’s a 101 on the real Queen Charlotte
Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton are characters invented by author Julia Quinn, but Queen Charlotte was a real person. Here’s just the briefest intro to her story: She lived from 1744 to 1818 and married the heir to the English throne when she was a teenager. In the show she doesn’t seem to have kids of her own, but in real life she had more than 10 children. The rumors about her knowing Mozart may have been true!
As for her race, she was definitely German, but there’s a theory that she also had African ancestry. As in the series, her husband had cognitive issues later in life, though he was quite sane at the time of the revolution. You might remember him in Hamilton singing that cheeky “I’ll go mad” line.
Originally published in Glamour.com
