The spin-off of ‘The Bridgertons’ has been on Netflix for just a week with its story of love and power inspired by Queen Charlotte’s accession to the throne of England. Now that ‘The Crown’ comes to an end with its sixth season, ‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’ takes over with new plots of royalty and high society. Now, ‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’, the new series by Shonda Rhimes, makes it clear from the outset that “not a history lesson” since it is “fiction inspired by fact”.
The universe of ‘The Bridgertons’ grows thanks to this derivative series inspired by one of her characters who curiously did not figure in the plots of Julia Quinn’s books in which the saga is inspired and that was added in the series. In fact, contrary to what usually happens on this occasion, Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes have written a novel based on the television character.
The Serie revolves around the transformation of Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Streliz (1744-1818) into Queen Charlotte after she married King George III (1738-1820). Through six episodes, the difficulties of marriage are narrated, which despite everything stars in a love story and reflects the social change that it gives rise to, creating a diverse and racialized high society that can be seen in ‘The Bridgertons’. In ‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’ not everything is real, and then we review what coincides and what does not with the historical facts.
Was Queen Charlotte black?
Queen Charlotte’s African ancestry is a matter that continues to be the subject of discussion among historians today. According to the archives and genealogical information, Sofía Carlota de Mecklenburg-Streliz was the descendant of an African woman, as explained by the historian Mario de Valdes y Cocom. As collected by a BBC article the wife of King George III “was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Souda, a black branch of Portuguese royalty”.
In the series, the discomfort of the mother of King George III is shown with the “too dark” color of the future queen’s skin. In fact, the artist Allan Ramsay is shown painting a portrait of the couple (without the king present) and in the scene Queen Charlotte asks to be painted with darker skin, while her mother-in-law asks the painter to lighten her skin. .
Indeed, there are portraits of Queen Charlotte among Ramsay’s works and, although her skin tone is white, the African features of her face do stand out. In fact, researcher Joseph Johnson dedicates a chapter of his book ‘African Impact: Historical Cross Reference’ to Queen Charlotte.
However, Queen Charlotte’s African ancestry is a controversial theory that not all expert voices share, basically because the connection on which it is based is really distant, separated by 15 generations.
The series also reflects what apparently were two of the queen consort’s passions; the arts and, specifically, music and botany. Considered one of the promoters of the London Botanical Garden, she often appears in the series walking through the gardens and what appears to be a greenhouse in the palace. At another point, one of her court ladies is shown to question her taste in music during a Mozart performance, a fact that would be somewhat real even if it occurred in other circumstances. The composer performed at age 8 for the king and queen on the fourth anniversary of his coronation. In addition, the musician dedicated six sonatas to the queen.
The illness of King George III
‘Queen Charlotte: A Story of The Bridgertons’ starts with the contract signed by the brother of the future queen and the mother of King George to unite the noblewoman of German origin and only 17 years with the monarch. Although the series fictionalizes a romantic version of events, it does seem true that they had a happy marriage from which 15 children were born, two of whom did not survive childhood. Another fact that shows the series.
A happiness that, however, would be marred by an indeterminate illness that affected the behavior of the king. Although the series does not get too involved in political affairs, a subtle reference is made to the loss of the colonies that would mark his reign.
In the series, King George’s illness is a central part of the couple’s story, but at no time is it specified what he has. Director Tom Verica explains in Tudum that the ailment serves to show “the perseverance of his love”. The creator Shonda Rhimes has ensured that fiction avoids taking the disease lightly. “It bothers me to talk about King George’s madness, so I tried to treat him in a humane way.”
Over time it has ended up assuming that King George’s mental and nervous disorders would be the result of a blood disease known as porphyria. On the other hand, scientists have recently detected high levels of arsenic in samples of the monarch’s hair that could be due to the king’s health problems. Other sources have spoken that he could suffer from bipolar disorder.
The series reflects a harsh treatment applied by Dr. John Monro. The techniques applied are part of the fiction, although Monro was actually director of the Bethlem Asylum for the mentally ill and one of the doctors who was consulted about the real disease.
King George’s fondness for agriculture and astronomy also coincides with reality. “Of the historical facts that I decided to keep on the show, one was the fact that Jorge was a farmer,” as Rhimes explained. He became known as the ‘Farmer King’ or ‘Farmer George’. Another true theme is his interest in astronomy and the construction of one of the first and best observatories in England. The astronomical phenomenon of the transit of Venus that obsesses the king in the series occurred at that time and there are notes by the king about it in books and archives such as the Georgia Papers.
Desperate search for heirs
The new Netflix series takes place in two time lines, one during Queen Charlotte’s accession to the throne and another, which is located after the events recounted in the second season of ‘The Bridgertons’. We would be talking about between 1817 and 1819 when the wife and daughter of the prince regent died in childbirth. In the absence of legitimate heirs, Queen Charlotte of ‘The Bridgertons’ desperately tries to get her older children to find a wife and have children. This fact, indeed, would be based on real history.
The ‘Great Experiment’ only happens in the series
The series drinks directly from the universe created for ‘The Bridgertons’ in which a diverse aristocracy is shown with the presence of families from all continents. An exoticism that, however, would not be so real. In fact, this miscellany of origins of ‘The Bridgertons’ is explained in the spin-off of Queen Charlotte.
In the series it is said that upon seeing the dark skin tone of Queen Charlotte, who arrived in London on the same day as her wedding, the king’s mother distributed titles among families of different origins to imply that it was a intentional decision. It is what in the plot is called the great experiment to create a high mixed society.
This fact also serves to explain how Lady Danbury became a powerful woman at court. But Rhimes herself explains that she does not know if there really were black nobles, although for the story of Agatha and Lord Danbury she looked for inspiration in the book ‘Black London’, by Avril Nanton and Jody Burton.
A homosexual relationship in court
It is not the first time that a relationship between two men has been shown in ‘The Bridgertons’ since in the previous installments of the franchise one of the brothers of the noble family, the bohemian Benedict, experiments with his sexuality and maintains relationships with men and women.
In the new series, there is more space to tell a love story between two men within the court. They are Queen Charlotte’s personal secretary, Brimsley, and the King’s secretary, Reynolds. The lovers suffer the ups and downs of the monarchs’ relationship, since they can only be together when the kings are, who spend a lot of time living in different residences, he at Kew and she at Buckinham. What is not known, at the moment, in this season is how their relationship ends and we will have to wait for future installments to find out what happens between them. It is a clandestine and probably fictitious story that there is no way to verify, but that has made the couple one of the favorites of the public.
