It’s time to return to the Ton, or rather see how it all came to be with Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Netflix and Shondaland’s latest entry in the Bridgerton-verse tells the story of Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power. This prequel shows how Queen Charlotte and King George’s marriage sparked not only a great love story, but a societal shift that created the Ton that we now know in Bridgerton. And based off of this teaser, we’re about to be swept up in a whirlwind romance shrouded in drama and gossip.
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Golda Rosheuvel, Adjoa Andoh, and Ruth Gemmell return to reprise their roles as Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, and Lady Violet Bridgerton respectively. Additionally, India Amarteifio, Arsema Thomas, and Connie Jenkins-Greig will play younger versions of Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, and Lady Violet Bridgerton. Joining the rest of the cast in the six-episode limited series are Corey Mylchreest, Sam Clemmett, Freddie Dennis, Richard Cunningham, Tunji Kasim, Rob Maloney, Cyril Nri, and Hugh Sachs.
The teaser trailer was released during a special event for diehard Bridgerton fans where Bridgerton creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes spoke with several cast members about what to expect from Queen Charlotte. Additionally, to further promote the new series, Rhimes, Netflix, and the global live-event discovery platform Fever will produce The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. Fans lucky enough to attend the event will be treated to Her Majesty’s finest affair, in an immersive Bridgerton’s English Regency era event.
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Based on the popular book series by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton was turned into a TV series on Netflix in 2020. On December 25, 2020, the steamy first season debuted on the streaming giant becoming the most watched original series launch on the platform, until it was surpassed by Squid Game. Season one was a huge success and catapulted actor Regé-Jean Page into the stratosphere for his role as Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings.
Season two experienced similar success. With the focus on Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley’s characters Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma, the series entered its slow burn romance era. The change paid off, with the second season of the series becoming the most watched English-language television series on Netflix and consequently making Bailey and Ashley household names.
While previous seasons of Bridgerton haven’t given us queer main characters, the Queen Charlotte teaser alludes to a potential romance between two male characters. The blink and you’ll miss it moment is similar to what was in the season one trailer of Bridgerton, however the queer intimacy we witnessed in the trailer was the only queer moment within the season. With the Bridgerton series starring Rosheuvel and Bailey, both of whom are queer actors playing heterosexual characters, here’s to hoping we’ll have more queer representation in Queen Charlotte and in the upcoming third season of Bridgerton.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story premieres on Netflix on May 4, 2023. Additional photos from the upcoming series found below.
