The Bridgerton story has expanded, giving us a look into one of the show’s more interesting characters, Queen Charlotte. Netflix’s spinoff series to the hit show looks at how Her Royal Highness came to be in one of the most powerful positions on earth in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. But this is, of course, no historically accurate drama, but a playful romance filled with whimsical anachronisms, so who is playing the dashing King to Charlotte’s Queen?
Though, as just stated, this isn’t entirely historically accurate, it is based on the true story of Queen Charlotte and King George. When the latter ascended to the throne after his father’s death in 1760 he was 22 years old and unmarried, a position that his mother found to be very unsuitable and it was decided that he must marry immediately. Here enters Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a relatively low-profile royal that the new King believed to be suitable for the role given that she would likely not meddle in politics and ruling.
Charlotte was brought to London and met with King George on September 8, 1761 in the afternoon and married him that very evening. Though their courtship may have been extremely short, it is reported that the couple was in fact very happy together, with the King apparently never taking a mistress (as was common) and they had 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood. When George’s health and mental health started to decline, the Queen was left extremely distressed.
This is the story that the show follows, and given that we have already met a mentally unwell King in the Bridgerton series, we now look at the happy couple prior to the illness and at its onset. It is the perfect setting for a tragic romance, which is why it isn’t surprising in the least that they chose to use this story as a spin-off for the series.
The show runs two timelines simultaneously: one in the timeline we have already seen much of with the role of the Queen played by the phenomenal Golda Rosheuvel, with other characters such as Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton played by Adjoa Andoh and Ruth Gemmell respectively, and the occasional sighting of King George played by James Fleet. But what about the younger generation?
India Ria Amarteifio portrays a young Charlotte, with Arsema Thomas as Lady Danbury, and the new addition to Bridgerton‘s list of heart-swooning leading men is Corey Mylchreest.
Mylchreest is the new kid on the block, and would seem to have landed the role fresh out of his graduation from one of Britain’s mostprestigious drama school, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) which has seen so many greats through its doors including Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Arterton, and Alan Rickman.
Mylchreest graduated in 2020 and was cast in the series in 2022, obviously, the pandemic got in the way a little bit as well, but still a very fast turnaround for a recently graduated actor to be starring in a lead role in a hit Netflix series. This is not his first time appearing on the streaming service though, as he has another hit Netflix show already under his belt before this, making a very brief appearance in The Sandman as Adonis in the very first episode.
Other than that the actor keeps a pretty low profile on social media, so not a huge amount is known about him as of yet, though, of course, you can catch him in the many videos he has done in the press run-up to the show’s release if you wish to find out some more. Given his newness, there isn’t much to say about the actor yet, though we are sure he will be one to watch after his portrayal of “Mad” King George.
You can now catch Mylchreest in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story streaming on Netflix.
