Last year, the six-episode limited series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story introduced fans to the beginning of the Bridgerton world. Shonda Rhimes combined historical details about the early years of Queen Charlotte and King George III’s marriage with scenes featuring Violet, Lady Danbury, and the succession crisis that took place between seasons 2 and 3.
Den of Geek spoke to Bridgerton showrunner and executive producer Jess Brownell to find out how they plan to bring Queen Charlotte’s backstory into the main Bridgerton series.
Bridgerton season 3 is largely based on Julia Quinn’s original novel Romancing Mister Bridgerton, focusing on the storylines of Colin and Penelope. Queen Charlotte is only briefly mentioned later in the series, while Violet and Lady Danbury only appear as supporting characters guiding their family in Ton. The strong friendship between Viscountess Violet Bridgerton and Lady Agatha Danbury is one of the Queen Charlotte storylines that continues in season 3.
“Regardless of whether fans have seen Queen Charlotte or not, we’re trying to dig deeper into Agatha’s backstory in this season in a way that any viewer can understand,” Brownell said. “It was important to us to dig deeper into that character, as well as the friendship between Violet and Agatha, and show how much Lady Danbury means to the Bridgertons as much as the Bridgertons mean to her.”
Marcus, Lady Danbury’s brother, appears in season 3 as a country-loving aristocrat who is absent from Queen Charlotte. However, it’s revealed that part of their strained relationship is due to Marcus’s support for his sister’s unhappy marriage to Lord Danbury. Those events are detailed in Queen Charlotte, but viewers can quickly see that there are unresolved tensions between the brothers without those details. Violet’s emotions as she moves from grief over Edmund to the possibility of a new relationship are also part of Queen Charlotte, but are explained to non-watchers by Violet’s comfort in her conversations with Marcus.
Fans will see Queen Charlotte reign over Ton, but there are some aspects of the limited series that will not appear in season 3.
“I’m so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating such a wonderful, rich backstory for Queen Charlotte, and you’ll see hints of that backstory continue in season three,” Brownell said. “I personally would love to continue the story with her children. I think they’re wonderful and we’ve toyed with them, but the truth is we don’t have the space to bring in a lot of new characters.”
The screen time that Queen Charlotte’s family would have taken up was reallocated to establish the importance of Francesca Bridgerton as a future protagonist after fans of the books noticed her absence from family scenes in the first two seasons.
Will and Alice Mondrich’s move from the suburbs back into society to fully join the Ton has a thematic connection to Queen Charlotte. The show explains that Queen Charlotte’s marriage to King George III forced society to accept black elites as full members of British society through the Great Experiment. Mondrich’s entry into society through their son Nicholas inheriting the title from Alice’s aunt would not have been possible without Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury establishing the Ton’s legal and social protocols to do so. Viewers have come to accept that the world of Bridgerton is racially diverse without the need for detailed explanation from the limited series.
Rhimes said in an interview with Variety that she is not currently working on a Queen Charlotte sequel but would not rule it out if the right story came along. That doesn’t mean Queen Charlotte won’t have a role in season 3.
“The Queen continues her usual antics as she finds more and more ridiculous ways to entertain herself and create drama and gossip around herself,” Brownell said.
Queen Charlotte actually has a group of debutantes to judge and only one can be crowned the season’s next diamond. After Edwina Sharma’s unsuccessful match and Lady Whistledown loudly states her opinion; Queen Charlotte is eager to reassert her authority over Ton.
