Given the original Bridgerton’s huge popularity, it makes sense for Netflix to move ahead with a prequel featuring the earlier years of the society.
The Netflix hit Bridgerton has unsurprisingly spawned its own franchise, and a number of key characters have already been confirmed to appear in the spinoff series set to focus on Queen Charlotte. Even though Charlotte has been only a secondary character in the main series, she has nevertheless exerted a strong pull on the audience. She wields extraordinary power, and her favor can either raise up a young woman (such as Daphne Bridgerton) or send them tumbling into scandal and shame. Throughout her appearances in Bridgerton, she has shown herself to be a woman of many depths, even though she often shows a rather inscrutable face to those who aren’t part of her inner circle.
Queen Charlotte
Queen Charlotte will be the Bridgerton prequel’s centerpiece. Golda Rosheuvel, who played the royal figure in the original series, will reprise her role for this series, while India Amarteifio will play the younger version of her. The prequel will focus, at least in part, on her romance with George, showing how the two young royals came to love one another. Given that their relationship opened the door to other interracial couples in Britain-in the series’ version of events-the radical nature of their bond will also be a part of their story. Theirs is a love that will have a tremendous impact on their entire realm.
Lady Danbury
Bridgerton’s older Lady Danbury is a sharp-tongued and acerbic matron. However, she is also a bit of a hopeless romantic, and she seems to truly enjoy encouraging and nurturing young love. As with Queen Charlotte, a main Bridgerton cast member, Adjoa Andoh is scheduled to play the older version of the character, while Arsema Thomas plays the younger iteration. In Bridgerton, she seems to be one of the queen’s best friends, so it seems likely that the new series will explore how these two formidable women came to know, and to respect, one another. She might even get a little romance of her own.
Violet Bridgerton
Each season of Bridgerton focuses on a different member of the family as they try to find love and marriage in the crowded and contentious world of early 19th-century London. Violet Bridgerton has been a constant in Bridgerton, but for the most part, she has been a supporting character for her children. In the Queen Charlotte prequel, by contrast, she is slated to get her own backstory, and the series will no doubt depict her romance with the man who will become her husband and the father of their several children. Portrayed remembered by Ruth Gemmell in Bridgerton, she will be portrayed by Connie Jenkins-Greig in the prequel series.
BrimsleyLike many other successful series, Bridgerton excels at creating memorable secondary characters, one of whom is Brimsley. Played by Hugh Sachs in the series, he is one of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte’s most faithful servants, and he is one of those who provide her with the gossip that she loves so much. Although he hovers mostly on the edges of the story in the original series, he will no doubt play a much more significant role in the young Queen Charlotte’s life. Sam Clemmett is scheduled to play the younger version of Brimsley in the Queen Charlotte spinoff, and the series will hopefully provide some more context and depth to their relationship.
King George III
Queen Charlotte isn’t the only royal who will make an appearance in her spinoff series. One of the other key characters will be King George III, who will no doubt be a far cry from the rather feeble figure that his illness makes him in the main Bridgerton series. Corey Mylchreest is scheduled to play the young royal (he is played by James Fleet in the original series). At the time that the Queen Charlotte prequel takes place, he won’t yet have shown the unmistakable signs of the mental illness that will necessitate a regency. The prequel has also cast Michelle Fairley as his mother, Princess Augusta, suggesting that the series will partly focus on his family relationships.
Who Could Potentially Appear
In addition to the confirmed members of the cast, there are a number of other individuals from the main Bridgerton series who could make a prequel appearance. Since Violet is scheduled to appear, it makes sense that there might be at least a cameo appearance of her husband, Lord Bridgerton. Likewise, given the centrality of the Featheringtons- particularly the scheming and ruthless Lady Featherington- to the drama of the main story of Bridgerton, it makes sense that she might also make an appearance. It would be particularly fascinating to see how she tries to climb the social ladder. There might even be a cameo appearance from the elder Duke Basset.
