The third season of Bridgerton is finally out today, and fans might be wondering if they should watch the revealing Queen Charlotte prequel series before starting the new episodes.
Bridgerton creator Shonda Rhimes has explained how the Queen Charlotte prequel series will lead into the third season of the hit Netflix drama.
In the hit six-part spin-off, India Amarteifio portrays a younger version of the monarch who’s played by Golda Rosheuvel in the mainline series.
Fans discovered more about her relationship with King George (played by Corey Mylchreest/James Fleet), as well as her friendships with Brimsley (Sam Clemmett/Hugh Sachs) and Lady Danbury (Arsema Thomas/Adjoa Andoh).
Meanwhile, the third season of Bridgerton, the first four episodes of which drop today, follow Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) as she begins her courtship with Colin (Luke Newton).
Queen Charlotte will still feature heavily in the new series, but is it important to catch up on the first prequel before diving in?
“We’re also entering the season with a very different knowledge of Queen Charlotte and Brimsley, because Queen Charlotte has now come out,” Rhymes explained.
“Compared to that prequel in mind, you approach everything differently, and you approach the friendship of Lady Danbury and Violet (Ruth Gemmell) very differently as well.”
Violet appears in flash-forwards in the prequel, where viewers learn about her sexual frustration as well as Lady Danbury’s brief relationship with her father.
The prequel also reveals Queen Charlotte’s secretary Brimsley had a forbidden romance with the King’s secretary Reynolds (Freddie Dennis), who has yet to appear in the main storyline.
“I think we bring some things forward that we learned in Queen Charlotte that carry over into this show, which I think is really great,” Rhimes continued in her Netflix Q&A.
“The way we cross-pollinate the shows affects a lot of the relationships that we see, and it also gives us a new feeling about people like Brimsley and Lady Danbury.
“When you understand their past, you understand them so much more, and that was one of the things that I really loved; getting to stare at them through this new lens of deeper understanding.”
While fans certainly have more context behind the story in the 1810s, it’s not completely necessary to go back and watch Queen Charlotte to understand the main plot.
As well as Penelope and Colin’s romance, season three will also follow the third Bridgerton daughter Francesca’s (Hannah Dodd) first foray onto the marriage market.
