The Netflix hit may be mostly fiction, but Queen Charlotte was a real historical figure and her ties to today’s Royal Family are still strong
A historian has taken to TikTok to share how Queen Charlotte from Netflix’s Bridgerton is related to Princess Charlotte of Wales – and the real life royal the character is based on is not so removed from the nine-year-old Princess.
Bridgerton and The Crown may both be hit Netflix dramas detailing the lives of royals and those around them, but the former is a little less realistic, it feels fair to say. While we’re wondering about whether Francesca Bridgerton is gay and if it’s age-appropriate to let teens watch season 3 of the show, questions prompted by storylines in The Crown are far more rooted in fact than fiction.
But that doesn’t mean everything in Bridgerton and it’s spin-off Bridgerton: A Queen Charlotte Story is fiction.
In fact, Queen Charlotte is based on a real life Queen of England, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became Queen in 1761 after marrying King George III. And while the fictionalised Queen of the show seems a far-distant relative of the Royal Family as we know them today, a historian has highlighted her links to today’s Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and they’re closer than you’d think.
Beginning the family tree with King George III and Queen Charlotte, historian Suzie Edge draws a simplified family tree to get us to today’s Princess Charlotte because, as she says, the royals of old ‘had a lot of children’ and that can confuse things pretty quickly.
The child of Charlotte and George that we’re most interested in is their third son, Edward. He himself never became the monarch but when his eldest brother died, and then his second brother did too, both without a legitimate heir, his daughter Victoria became Queen.
Victoria’s son Edward became King, then so did his son George, and then so did George’s son who was also called George and became King George VI – are you keeping up so far?
George VI’s daughter then became Queen, known as Queen Elizabeth II and we now get into the royal line of succession as we know it today. Queen Elizabeth II’s son is King Charles III, England’s current King and his son Prince William’s daughter is Princess Charlotte of Wales. That makes Princess Charlotte Queen Charlotte’s seven-times great granddaughter.
It’s a super fun link not only for Bridgerton fans, but also history buffs and many people took to the comments to share their thoughts on the family tree.
One wrote, “Princess Charlotte comes from a long line of strong women. She is going to do great things,” while another picked up on the large number of Charlottes and Georges in the lineage, “Monarchs do have access to a baby name book right?! How many George and Charlottes do they need!”
In other royal news, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis share first ever Instagram post with a sweet message. Plus, Prince George is going to be so upset he’s missing out on Prince William’s birthday plans – but the reason why is pretty understandable. And Prince William reveals sweet nickname for King Charles in simple but heartfelt Father’s Day message.
