‘Queen Charlotte Is The ‘Bridgerton’ Spin-Off We’ve Been Waiting For

As previously mentioned, the Bridgerton spin off series will serve as a prequel, showing fans the origin stories of Queen Charlotte, Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury.

Set to be written and executive produced by Grey’s Anatomy‘s Shonda Rhimes, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s much-loved story will live on. 

“As we continue to expand the world of Bridgerton, we now have the opportunity to devote even more of the Shondaland fold to the Bridgerton-verse,” Rhimes said.

Married to King George III, AKA ‘Mad King George’, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ruled for almost six decades. However, she passed away in 1818 at the age of 74. According to Bridgerton author Julia Quinn, Netflix purposely cast her role with a Black actress as historians believe the real-life queen was of African descent.

“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,” Rosheuvel added.

“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.”

To ease our woes, Netflix released its first official look at the limited series, Bridgerton spinoff, during the streaming platform’s Tudum fan event on September 24.

As per the official synopsis from Netflix, the platform describes the series as being “centered on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power”. But aside from her personal rise to the top, audiences will get to learn about “how the young Queen’s marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in Bridgerton.”

In the two-minute clip, a young Charlotte can be seen trying to climb a garden wall to escape her property. But when someone spots her attempting to flee, she explains that her reason for leaving is because she believes her betrothed to be a “beast or a troll”, little does she know that the man she is speaking to is the King himself.

Curious? Be sure to check out the first look at the Bridgerton spinoff below.

WATCH BELOW: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story teaser.

Even though the spinoff series will be set before our beloved Bridgerton, there seems to be several current cast mates who will be appearing on the show. But who? Well, it seems like Rosheuvel, Gemmell and Andoh will be present.

In an interview with E! News, Rosheuvel teased that “You will be seeing a younger Queen Charlotte”, adding, “I will be in it”.

On July 8 2022, it was announced that Connie Jenkins-Greig will be taking on the role of Violet Ledger (AKA young Violet Bridgerton). She’s also yet to fall in love with Lord Bridgerton, Per Deadline, she’s yet to fall in love with Lord Bridgerton and is a “kind and inquisitive teenager” who hasn’t yet entered “the marriage mart”.

As for Amarteifio (young Queen Charlotte), the 21-year-old is rather new to the acting world, however, she has earned herself an impressive resume including the likes of Line of Duty, The Evermoor Chronicles and The Tunnel.

Other newcomers to the Ton include Michelle Fairley as Princess Augusta, Corey Mylchreest as Young King George and Arsema Thomas as Young Agatha Danbury. S

Given that Queen Charlotte was not a character in the Bridgerton books, there’s a good chance that the spinoff series will not include any connection to the show’s novel series.

“I haven’t read the books and I made a point of not reading the books because the Queen is not in them,” Rosheuvel told People.

“My point of call was really about the scripts, the world that we put Queen Charlotte in. This historical person is being put into a new world, so how does she relate? How does she react? How does she live her life within the world of Bridgerton, within the world that Chris Van Dusen and Shondaland have created?” 

Despite this, Violet Bridgerton’s origin story was briefly dived into in the story, “Violet in Bloom”, which sits in the collection The Bridgertons: Happily Ever. This means that her storyline could be influenced by that piece of Quinn’s writing.

“I have always felt that I could not write a full-length novel about Violet and Edmund Bridgerton, despite countless request[s] from readers,” Quinn wrote on her website.

“I thought (and still think) it would be too difficult, knowing that he would die so young. But I wanted to show a bit of their courtship, and the episodic nature of Violet in Bloom gave me the perfect opportunity to do this.”