How Do We Feel About Netflix’s New ‘Bridgerton’ Spin-Off?
The prequel will reportedly explore how Queen Charlotte's marriage singlehandedly fixed racism.
“You are the bane of my existence and the object of all of my desires.”
It’s the line that Anthony delivers to Kate in the latest series of Bridgerton, but the same could be said of how I feel about Bridgerton — a show that’s both compelling and infuriating.
And now, we’ve had word that the Bridgerton universe is expanding, with a prequel about young Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) in the works. Reportedly, the limited series will also feature a young Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury.
India Amarteifo (Line of Duty) has been slated to play young Queen Charlotte in the new series with Corey Mylchreest (Sandman) set to play a young King George.
Netflix delivered the news via their publication Tudum in late March writing: “In this prequel, viewers will learn all about Queen Charlotte’s origin story, including her marriage to King George and the great love story — and societal shift — that follows.” Ah, yes.
If you recall, in Season 1 Lady Danbury revealed that Queen Charlotte (who is Black in Bridgerton) and her marriage to King George (who is white), singlehandedly fixed racism. “We were two separate societies, divided by colour, until a king fell in love with one of us,” Lady Danbury told the Duke of Hastings last season. How good!
After Bridgerton premiered in 2020, commentators pointed out that this isn’t how racism works. Racism isn’t just hatred — it’s a system of power. As Michele Theil explains in gal-dem: “A marriage can’t undo the racial superiority of the British empire, which was closely linked to the ‘civilising mission’, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, or the ongoing racial discrimination and resentment towards people of colour after slavery was abolished.”
Pretending that love and marriage can do otherwise isn’t escapism, it’s just annoying, especially for the people of colour who have to hear about this ahistorical fantasy, again and again.
Anyway, since it looks like this prequel will delve further into the ‘love conquering racism’ thing, it doesn’t look like the creators have any regrets about their approach to world building, and I’m fascinated to learn how this one marriage gave rise to widespread social change.
No release date has been set for the premiere of the new Netflix series.