Bridgerton might be coming back to our TV screens for a second series, but it's the real-life connections between the show and the British Royal Family we're obsessing over today.
On Christmas Day 2020, Netflix aired the show to critical acclaim, and later revealed that the series had become the platform's biggest ever launched series after it reached 82 million households in the show's first 28 days. To put that into context, that figure equates to a staggering 41% of all of Netflix's subscribers, according to Deadline.
In recent months, members of the royal family have revealed they’re fans of the show, with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, noting that she loved the series so much she watched it twice. ‘I'm obsessed with it,’ she told US Weekly.
While we wait in anticipation for season two to arrive on the steaming platform, it recently came to our attention that there are several links between the series and the Royal Family that extend far beyond Ferguson’s binge watching habits.
Here are all the connections between the Royal Family and Bridgerton:
Princess Diana’s family home features in season one
After Bridgerton season one aired in December 2020 its creator, Chris Van Dusen, revealed that the Bridgerton house was ‘inspired’ by Princess Diana’s family home, Althorp House.
‘Elegance. Opulence,’ he tweeted of the Spencer abode, noting that he loved its staircase.
Earl Charles Spencer, the late Princess’ brother, is the custodian of Althorp House and tweeted Van Dusen, noting that his words were a big ‘compliment’ for his family.
‘Just seen this, below - such a compliment to those of my family who went before me, making @AlthorpHouse what it still is today. #bridgerton,’ he wrote on the social media platform.
According to the Althorp website, Diana’s brother has been in charge of the estate, located in Northampton, for 29 years.
Princess Diana lived in the house after parents' divorce until her marriage to Prince Charles.
Following her death in 1997 the mother-of-two was interred on a small island in the middle of the Round Oval lake on the estate. Her burial is marked with a white memorial plinth, and a temple with her name inscribed is situated across from the lake, where visitors can visit to pay their respects.
Queen Charlotte was a real-life royal
Not only does Queen Charlotte’s name in the series remind us of Charlotte, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s daughter, but it turns out the character is based on a real royal from centuries ago.
Queen Charlotte (born Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) was born in 1744 and became the queen of Britain and Ireland, aged 17, following her marriage to King George III in 1761.
According to the royal family's official website, the pair wed just house after Charlotte’s arrival in Britain and later gave birth to 15 children.
The Washington Post reports that there’s a theory that Queen Charlotte might have been the first mixed race or Black British royal.
‘Queen Charlotte, wife of the English King George III (1738-1820), was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a Black branch of the Portuguese Royal House,’ historian Mario De Valdes y Cocom wrote for PBS' Frontline.
Queen Charlotte’s popularity in the show has inspired Van Dusen to create a Charlotte-inspired spin-off series. Actor Golda Rosheuvel plays the royal character on screen.
‘Queen Charlotte opened up an entirely new world for us,’ he previously told Oprah Daily.
‘What really struck me with the books from the beginning is that this was an opportunity to marry history and fantasy in a really exciting, interesting way. So in Queen Charlotte, that was the history. And then it was thinking of these fantastical scenes and situations to put her in that were really fun to write, too.’
Prince Friedrich was also a royal, IRL
The character of Prince Friedrich is also believed to be based on a royal - Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig of Prussia.
Sotheby's states that the real-life royal he lived from 1794 to 1863 and was born to Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who later became Queen of Hanover and related to Queen Charlotte after she married the latter’s son Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover.
Nicola Coughlan's Style File: Every Time The 'Derry Girls' And 'Bridgerton' Star Nailed Sustainable Style
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
