"I have met a woman who is never terrified. Who does as she pleases. Breaks rules, courts scandal. Commits unthinkable impertinences. And she is the most royal person I have ever known."
— George
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a historical fiction miniseries. It is a prequel to Bridgerton, also produced by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix, and focuses on a young Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
as she marries George III of the United Kingdom and becomes one of its most powerful figures.
Consistently with Bridgerton, Charlotte is reimagined as a black woman (India Amarteifio as a young woman, while Golda Reshuevel reprises from the main series as her older self). Charlotte's interracial marriage to George (Corey Mylchreest) begins the more racially equitable version of Georgian England in this version of history. This storyline is intertwined with another decades later in Regency England, where Charlotte worries about the royal succession.
Adjoah Andoh and Ruth Gemmell reprise their roles as Lady Agatha Danbury and Violet, Lady Bridgerton from the main series; Arsema Thomas and Connie Jenkins Grieg play their younger selves. Michelle Fairley plays Princess Augusta, George's mother.
The show premiered on May 4, 2023 on Netflix. Shortly afterwards, Netflix also published a novel inspired by the miniseries simply titled Queen Charlotte that was co-written by Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton novels, and Shona Rimes.
Tropes:
- Age Cut: Both teaser and trailer cut between Golda Reshuevel's and India Amarteifio's takes on Queen Charlotte to show that they are the same person a few decades apart.
- Age Lift: In real life 1814 Charlotte and George's children were much older than the actors playing them in the show, ranging from late 30s to early 50s.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Agatha Danbury and Coral are both gleeful when Lord Danbury dies because Agatha will no longer have to endure his assaults.
- Arranged Marriage:
- A young Charlotte huffs at being forced to marry the King of England, while everyone around her reminds her that it is a position of both pressure and privilege.
- The older Charlotte eventually puts her foot down and betroths two of her sons to European princesses.
- Artistic License – History:
- Charlotte and George really did have a dearth of legitimate grandchildren despite their large brood, but the implications this has on the succession become clear a few years earlier than they did in real life, giving Charlotte's Regency-era storyline emotional heft without moving it beyond the current Bridgerton timeline. Her granddaughter Princess Charlotte dies in childbirth around 1814 instead of 1817 as in reality, and didn't even marry her husband Prince Leopold of Saxe-Couburg-Saafeldnote until 1816. Likewise, the future Queen Victoria is conceived in the same timeframe, much earlier than her actual birth of 1819. In real life, Queen Charlotte died the year before Victoria was born, and Edward was not the first of Queen Charlottes children who could announce a pregnency - his younger brother Adolphus beat him with two months.
- Lady Whistledown refers to the late Princess Charlotte of Wales as the Princess Royal, a title she never actually held since it is meant for the eldest daughter of the Sovereign and her father is only Prince of Wales. In 1814, the title was still held by her eldest aunt, Princess Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg and one of the few Princesses to have been married, albeit still childless, but who makes no appearance in this series.
- In response to Charlotte's disparaging comments about her daughters failing to get married, Princess Elizabeth protests that she is married and has been trying to have children for years; but in reality she didn't marry until 1818. Moreover, in the show most of the princesses never got married because they didn't feel they could leave their mother Charlotte alone to deal with the grief of her absent husband. In reality they desperately wanted to marry and escape the stuffy and restrictive court, but by the time they were eligible to do so George was never in a stable enough frame of mind to arrange suitable husbands for them and Charlotte wanted them to stay with her as her companions, in some cases actively preventing their attempts to marry. And, far from knowing nothing about sex, the princesses discretely took various lovers over the years; there's evidence that at least one of them, Augusta Sophia, had an 'understanding' with Sir Brent Spencer, an Anglo-Irish officer, and they were married in everything but name.
- Whatever condition George was plagued with — suggestions have ranged from porphyria to bipolar disorder to a mental breakdown from the pressure of his role and the deaths of his three youngest children — the symptoms only became evident several years after he and Charlotte were married, and he didn't start receiving the hellish treatment depicted in the show until the 1780s.
- In this show, Charlotte seems to be the first and only woman in George’s life. In real life and before meeting Charlotte, he actually courted several noblewomen and royal princesses, most notably Lady Sarah Lennoxnote . Despite this he is seen reciting his famous line "I am born for the happiness or misery of a great nation" and "consequently must often act contrary to my passions" (which is based on his writings about his reluctance to reject Sarah due to the prohibition of marrying a non-royal) in the near end of “Honeymoon Bliss”, it is left ambiguous since there are no scenes where he courts and rejects his potential brides before Charlotte. In addition, unlike the show where George is seen to be immediately taken with Charlotte's beauty from their very first meeting (as he later admits in the last episode) and implied to marry her out of love, in real life, he didn’t immediately fall for her and he even claimed to marry her out of (royal) duty. Nevertheless, he came to genuinely love Charlotte gradually, thus earning a famously happy marriage.
- Awful Wedded Life: Lord and Lady Danbury. Having been engaged to a much older man since the age of 3, Lady Danbury has been subjected to Wife Husbandry for most of her life, taught that his favourite things are her favourite things and is ecstatic at his death even as she makes an elaborate act to show a proper reaction.
- To a lesser extent Lord and Lady Ledger, they have drastically different worldviews and interests, she's perpetually annoyed by him, and he takes long daily "rambles" to get away from her.
- Babies Ever After: The 1810s half of the story ends with Prince Edward and his wife telling Queen Charlotte that they're expecting. Charlotte, delighted that their royal line may yet thrive for another generation, goes to spend a tender moment with her husband.
- Baby Factory: Princess Augusta tells Charlotte that her job is to bear "as many babies as possible" for Augusta's son George. In 1814, following the death of her only legitimate grandchild, Queen Charlotte cajoles her own children to make respectable marriages and produce babies of their own.
- Beta Couple: While the main couple is Charlotte and George, their manservants Brimsley and Reynolds also have a romantic connection, complicated by their loyalties to the queen and king and by the forbidden nature of their relationship.
- Bittersweet Ending: Despite the fact that Charlotte and George are technically happily married, just like in real history and seen in Bridgerton; their marriage grows tragic due to George’s incurable mental illness and Charlotte can do nothing but deal with it for the rest of her life, alienating their children in the process.
- Bridal Carry: In “Even Days”, after the success of the Danbury ball, Charlotte and George decide to have a moment alone with him carrying his wife into his arms after they remove their clothes.
- Brick Joke: When scolding Princess Elizabeth's failure at getting pregnant despite being the only princess who is married, Charlotte asks whether or not she's doing it right, given that her version of the Talk apparently involved drawings, it's later revealed that the reason she includes drawings is because Lady Danbury did when she herself needed lessons in how to consummate her marriage.
- Calling the Old Man Out: After an entire season of being berated by their mother for their lack of legitimate offspring, Charlotte's children, through their siblings George, The Prince Regent and Princess Elizabeth, call out their mother for her lack of care and affection in regards to the "baby race"; especially since it was George's daughter that died, and Elizabeth, one of the few princesses to actually be married, had suffered several miscarriages that Charlotte wasn't even aware of. Prince George even says that Charlotte has always been their Queen, but never their mother.
- Celebrity Cameo: Singer Lemar pops by for a brief scene in episode 5 as Lord Smythe-Smith.
- Clue, Evidence, and a Smoking Gun: When Charlotte goes to confront Augusta on lying to her about the King, she names several small clues: all the knives were dull when he visited, all the upper floor windows were shut, and King Lear, a story about a mad king, was missing from the library. Augusta waves this off as her reading too far into things, at which point Charlotte snaps and reveals that she saw him during a particularly bad episode, scribbling on the wall and shouting at the sky.
- Continuity Nod:
- The Bassets are mentioned as another ennobled black family. Per Bridgerton, Agatha is a good family friend who will eventually have a hand in rearing their son, Simon.
- Episode 3 shows a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart playing the piano for Queen Charlotte and her ladies in waiting. In Bridgerton Queen Charlotte, while having a meeting with Violet, recalls the time she met Mozart as a boy.
- When Charlotte first meets George, he says that she doesn’t need to address him as “Your Majesty”. This is latter echoed in Bridgerton season 1 when Charlotte goes to check on her husband. She addresses him as “My King” and George replies that she doesn’t need to formally address him.
- Dances and Balls:
- Charlotte and George have a charming first dance at their wedding ball.
- Thanks to Charlotte's influence, Lady Danbury is able to host the first ball of the season, a grand honor.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Holding the King" shows George's perspective in the previous episodes and the ordeal he went through in order to cure his illness.
- Death by Childbirth: The Princess Royal's death in the birthing bed is a double blow as the child also dies, effectively robbing the king and queen of their only legitimate grandchild and expected succession plan.
- Delivery Guy: Inverted. King George is more competent than the actual doctors present at Charlotte's first birth, since they're too worried about the propriety of treating a queen to correct a breech, while George has helped with enough animal births to turn the baby around.
- Desk Sweep of Passion: In "Even Days", while having sex with his wife, Charlotte, George puts her on the table and sweeps everything clean and consummating their passion. Later while dining, Charlotte sweeps all the served food, consummating, then the servants leave them alone.
- Eating the Eye Candy: In episode 4, Charlotte stares at the shirtless George from a window when he's going home after he's done working on his farm.
- Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: Charlotte and George first meet in the gardens. When she realizes she was sassing the king she immediately dips into a curtsy, but he stops her because they're betrothed.
- Flames of Love: In "Honeymoon Bliss'', when Charlotte and George finally consummate their honeymoon, they start making out lit by the fireplace in George’s bedroom.
- Foil: Both Princess Augusta and Charlotte think they know what’s best for George yet they have different ways in treating him. Augusta thinks George’s madness needs to be kept under wraps and “tamed”. Whereas Charlotte, aside from her care for her husband’s happiness, thinks George should just be free to be himself, including showing his madness if he must.
- Foregone Conclusion: Bridgerton and the Queen Charlotte scenes set in the 1810s establish that Charlotte and George would eventually have a happy, loving, and fruitful relationship before George's mental faculties began to seriously decline, casting a ray of hope on the scenes depicting their less-than-ideal early marriage. That London high society is still racially integrated by the time of Bridgerton also shows that the desegregation brought about by their marriage will be largely successful.
- Get Out!: George shouts this at his wife Charlotte, when she visits him to check on him after rescuing him from Dr Monro's torturous treatments..
- Girls Stare at Scenery, Boys Stare at Girls: George shows Charlotte the Transit of Venus in his observatory. She's in awe as she looks at it through his telescope. He agrees that it is beautiful while looking at her.
- Gorgeous Period Dress:
- The series brings the viewer back and forth from the elegant fashion of Regency and the elaborate styles of the Georgian period.
- Deconstructed in the first episode, where Charlotte complains that all the elements that her beautiful Georgian-era gown are comprised of actually make it impossible to move:Charlotte: I am wearing Lyonnais silk, encrusted with Indian sapphires, working with overlay of 200-year-old lace. Apparently too much movement can cause the sapphires to shred the lace. If that were not enough, the gown sits atop a bespoke underpinning made of whalebone.[...] And, of course, I'm in the height of fashion, so this corset is quite snug. So I give the appearance of a statue, ridiculous to the eye, but that is because I cannot move. And because I must arrive on display, I am forced into a ludicrous gown so stylish that if I move too much, I might be sliced and stabbed to death by my undergarments.
- Hands-Off Parenting: The Danburys left childcare in the hands of the servants. When Lord Danbury dies, Agatha comments that her son doesn't know either of them.
- Happy Marriage Charade: At the start of "Even Days", Charlotte and George aren't on good terms, but on the coronation day they decide to show happy upfront. As soon as they leave the stage, they part ways in fury.
- Hard Truth Aesop: In the finale, Charlotte is ultimately forced to realize that even if her support helps him, her love cannot cure George's mental illness and they will have to live with it for the rest of their lives.
- Harmful Healing: Doctor Monro's extreme "treatments" of King George (ice baths, deprivation, denying him contact with the outside world and even burning him with a poker at one point) are basically torture techniques and if anything only make things worse.
- The Hecate Sisters:
- The three women around which the later framing device revolves (though not in terms of age). Charlotte is the maiden, looking for legitimate partners for her children. Violet is the mother, with two of her children Happily Married and somewhat naive about the reality due to it. Agatha is the crone, whose children all live apart from her and retains a sharp wit because of it.
- Also, in the past. Charlotte is still the maiden, but due to her age, she's trying to repair her relationship with George. Lady Agatha Danbury is the mother, experienced in matters of the ton, hardened and cynical due to her difficult marriage but also a good friend to Charlotte. George's mother Augusta is the crone, as the visibly oldest woman who is meddling in her son's marriage (admittedly for political, rather than personal, reasons).
- Hollywood Costuming:
- As is standard for the Bridgerton universe, Charlotte complains about wearing a corset when she would have been wearing stays; but she also mentions being sliced by the whalebone in her stays. 'Whalebone' for undergarments was actually baleen, the fringed plates that various species of whales use to filter water for their food, and has roughly the consistency of human fingernails.
- The elaborate hairstyles for most of the female characters in the 18th century are correct...for the 1770s. Women in the early 1760s had far smaller hairstyles that kept fairly close to the head; Coral, Agatha's maid, is by far the most accurate. On the other hand, Young Violet frequently wears her hair half-down, something that’s a modern anachronism; in real life she would worn a hairstyle similar to an adult woman.
- Many of the men in the 1760s scenes are not wearing wigs when they should be, either as members of the royal family, the nobility or household staff. In the 1760s, the fashionable wig shape had a flat top and styled brushed out curls on either side, with the rest of the hair pulled back into a queue. Most wealthy men didn't start wearing their natural hair until the 1780s, and even then they generally powdered it to look white and kept it long; natural and short haircuts only became popular in the 1800s.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Between Charlotte's unfamiliarity with court and George's instability, Reynolds and Brimsley spend most of the series frantically running around in the background to hold everything together.
- I Can Change My Beloved: Downplayed, but still tragic. Charlotte initially believes that as long as she protects George and gives him routine and love, she can keep him from having "bad days" and even denies Reynolds's report that he's still having problems after she rescued him from Dr. Monro. It takes his breakdown in the finale for her to realize that she can't make him better, only love and help him as best she can.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Subverted as it doesn't come to a physical fight. Upon saving George from the torturous healing therapy, Charlotte tries her best to make the confused George remember her and himself again. He finally remembers her when she keeps reminding him about themselves and their unborn baby while putting his hand on her baby bump.
- Implausible Deniability: Reynolds and Augusta tend towards this brand of lying, claiming that nothing is wrong and nothing is going on even after Charlotte figures out that King George is mentally ill and sees him having multiple episodes.
- Insatiable Newlyweds: Averted for once. After the wedding, George leads Charlotte to her new palace and immediately leaves on his own to his estate at Kew. Played straight later when they decide to do it every even day, which include places like the dinner room and the bathtub.
- It Will Never Catch On: Charlotte invites a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to play piano. A lady complains that the queen has bad taste in music.
- I Want Grandkids: The main thrust of the 1814 story is Charlotte trying to convince her sons to ditch their mistresses and make suitably royal marriages in order to ensure the next generation following the death of her only legitimate grandchild, Princess Charlotte of Wales.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Queen Charlotte laments that her many sons have managed to father an army of illegitimate children and precisely one legitimate granddaughter, who dies during childbirth in the first episode of the series. And later Princess Elizabeth, whom Charlotte has previously scolded for not making enough effort to have children, reveals that she's miscarried several babies.
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: In "Even Days", after Charlotte and George briefly argued while dining, they suddenly kiss and let themselves consumed by their passion. Brimsley and Reynolds followed by the other servants start to clear up the room and close the door.
- Lip-Lock Sun-Block: In “Queen To Be”, after Charlotte and George are officially married, they share a kiss blocking the sunlight from the church window.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The conflict is driven by King George, the Dowager Princess and the palace staff doing everything in their power to hide George's mental illness from Queen Charlotte, leading her to become increasingly estranged from her husband and family.
- Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: When Violet stresses that love is vital to a marriage, Charlotte counters that her sons are in love — with commoners, Catholics, actresses and women who are already married.
- The Masochism Tango: Charlotte and George often bicker due to George’s constant denial of his hidden mental illness, despite Charlotte already knows. But, they obviously do love each other deeply whenever George is in his normal state.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Queen Charlotte and King George had fifteen children altogether.note
- Mister Muffykins: George gives Charlotte a Pomeranian to feel less alone, which she dismisses as a "deformed bunny" but eventually grows to love. It used to belong to his sadistic doctor, who used it as an example of how even wolves might be tamed into something as harmless as a Pomeranian if caged and controlled, like how he plans to "tame" George. George set it free as a subtle rebellion and a reminder that they would not be caged forever.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Charlotte and her brother, Duke Adolphus, speak with their actors' natural British accent despite the fact that they are Germannote .
- Nouveau Riche: To quiet down comments about Charlotte's race, George's mother, Augusta, the Dowager Princess of Wales, sends out invitations and titles to the wealthy and middle class people of colour in London, including Lady Danbury and her husband. The Prime Minister, Lord Bute would later call this the Great Experiment, and that it would hinge on the success of George and Charlotte's marriage. Their treatment by the traditional ton in the meantime causes Lady Danbury to impress upon the new Queen the importance her position and how it affects the rest of society.
- Only Sane Man: Brimsley and Reynolds are this for the King and Queen's households and spend much of the series trying to keep their wayward monarchs on track.
- Outliving One's Offspring: After she dies in childbirth, Princess Charlotte's father the Prince Regent is utterly distraught and constantly breaking down in tears.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Both Charlotte and George were initially reluctant to be married against their will. However, upon seeing and meeting each other, they agree to the marriage. Later on, it's clear that they marry out of love, despite George's hidden mental illness.
- Pet the Dog: Despite her berating and dogged pursuit of a new heir from any of her children, Queen Charlotte is shown two moments of tenderness with her children, first assuring Prince William that he can work to love Princess Adelaide before their wedding, and the second congratulating and actually hugging Prince Edward after he and his wife tell her that they are expecting. The former is especially sweet as the marriage of William and Adelaide could be considered the more successful (if not on grounds of children, then at least in the degree of affection) of the marriages of George III and Charlotte's children.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Princess Charlotte's death in childbirth kicks off the 1810s half of the story, as she was the only heir to the throne after George and Charlotte's children and the pressure is on for her uncles and aunts to beget or bear her replacement.
- Poor Communication Kills: The palace's refusal to tell Charlotte anything about her betrothed convinces her that he's actually a violent monster and that she needs to flee for her own safety. It's only a chance encounter with George while she's trying to climb a garden wall that convinces her to stay, ensuring that the marriage goes through.
- Post-Coital Collapse: In the middle of "Even Days", there are two scenes where Charlotte and George are seen catching their breaths while hugging, before each of them roll over. The first one, George gets up from his bed fully nude, while Charlotte still wears her shift. The second time, George holds Charlotte’s bare back when she’s on top of him before she rolls off of him and covers herself with a blanket.
- Remember the New Guy?: We got two seasons of Bridgerton, set in Regency London high society featuring Queen Charlotte as a major character, with nary a peep from any of her fifteen children (not even the future George IV, whom the period was named for) until this prequel spinoff focusing on her. Lady Whistledown handwaves this in the beginning by suggesting Charlotte took such a disproportionate interest in the ton's marriage mart because she was embarrassed by her children's lack of marital success.
- Royal Bastard: Charlotte complains that her sons are not interested in continuing the royal line legitimately, instead siring about 50 bastards among them.
- Screaming Birth: It's an era before painkillers, so Charlotte spends most of the birth screaming.
- Secret-Keeper: Brimsley and Reynolds are the only characters who know the full details of Charlotte and George's issues and distance from each other.
- Reynolds is also the secret keeper regarding George's madness. By the end of the series, he shares the burden with Brimsley and Charlotte.
- Secret Relationship: This being Georgian England, Brimsley and Reynolds keep their homosexual relationship away from prying eyes.
- Shipper on Deck: Brimsley and Reynolds for Charlotte/George. Between them, they do a lot of work behind the scenes to keep the couple together.
- Silent Snarker: Reynolds and Brimsley are treated as virtually invisible observers of all the royal drama, so aside glances and weary looks are their only outlet.
- Sleeping Single:
- In “Queen to Be”, after George surprises Charlotte with the estate, he immediately abandons her. Therefore, Charlotte spends almost the entirety of “Honeymoon Bliss” almost utterly alone in her estate, despite the fact that it’s still their honeymoon.
- Even after George decides to stay under one roof with Charlotte, they initially spent the entire episode arguing with each other that she seeks Lady Danbury for comfort.
- Slut-Shaming: Gender inverted when Charlotte calls her sons "whores" for having illegitimate children.
- Snow Means Death: It is bitter winter when Queen Charlotte receives news of the death of the Princess Royal, her only legitimate grandchild.
- Succession Crisis: The death of King George III's only legitimate grandchild in the first episode means the pressure is on for his children to produce an heir to the throne as soon as possible.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While Princess Augusta has the authority to raise several people of colour to the peerage by bestowing titles on them, she doesn't specify whether these titles will remain in their families in perpetuity, so when Lord Danbury dies all the new nobles are paranoid that their positions are only temporary and Lady Danbury has to fight for her son to inherit the title. In addition, when she worries that she'll have to move her family back to their old house, she learns that her husband used his money to live a fitting lifestyle for his new rank, aka far beyond his means — which in turn means she's left almost penniless.
- The Talk: Lady Danbury ends up giving Queen Charlotte detailed descriptions of the marital act, complete with drawn illustrations. Since she has an Awful Wedded Life, Charlotte asks George if they can avoid banging her head against the wall, much to his confusion.
- The Three Faces of Eve: The three women who are shown as younger before appearing as older adults in the framing device. Violet is the child, as the visibly oldest young child. Lady Danbury is the wife, who is knowledgeable about marriage and social graces, but lacking in sexual interest. Charlotte grows into the seductress.
- Troubled Fetal Position: In the ending of “Queen To Be”, Charlotte sits on her bed in this position, regretting her decision to have married George upon witnessing his sudden changing behavior by refusing to spend the night with her, right after their marriage.
- Unusual Euphemism: Agatha and Violet begin using "gardens in bloom" as a ladylike metaphor for getting laid.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Lady Whistledown delivers a disclaimer at the beginning of the story of Queen Charlotte, pointedly noting it is not a history lesson, and that all liberties by the author are intentional.
- Women's Mysteries: Deconstructed. The taboos around childbirth are so strong that the doctors attending Charlotte are more concerned with propriety than her health and safety, lying to her that it will be painless and later hesitating to turn a breech birth because she's royal and it wouldn't be proper. George has to strongarm them into actually treating her because the view of it as "woman's work" makes even the doctors hesitate to interfere in any way.
- Worthy Opponent: Princess Augusta comes to view Lady Danbury as this, even encouraging her to sharpen her talons and resume their battles of wit.
- You Didn't See That: Played for Drama. When Brimsley sees King George being treated by an unknown doctor, Reynolds swears him to secrecy, sternly telling him that "You saw nothing.".
