One week on, and the Polin obsession remains as through-the-roof as ever. All that’s left for Bridgerton to do in this third season is to bring it all crashing down with some Whistledown-adjacent drama, after which Penelope and Colin will inevitably reconcile and marry thanks to the power of television.
Upon those closing moments, Bridgerton will have adapted the stories of three of the Bridgerton children, and while there’s still a bit of a ways to go, the sheer momentum possessed by the Shondaland romance series just might take it all the way.
So how many marriages, then, constitute “all the way”?
How many Bridgerton children are there?
Viscountess Violet Bridgerton and her late husband, Viscount Edmund Bridgerton, had eight children, all named in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest.
Anthony is the firstborn and took up his father’s title as the Viscount after the latter’s death. The title that put an immense amount of pressure on him from a young age, particularly from his mother, who wound up lost in her grief in the early days of Anthony’s Viscounthood. He was the Bridgerton sibling of interest in the show’s second season, and would go on to marry Kate Sharma.
Benedict came after, and the second-eldest Bridgerton sibling is chiefly characterized by his sense of humor, penchant for good-natured mischief, and a muted disdain for society. His story, based on Julia Quinn’s 2001 Bridgerton novel An Offer from a Gentleman, has yet to be adapted for the Netflix series, but it shouldn’t be too far off at this point.
The third-oldest Bridgerton child is Colin, one of the co-leads of the third and current season of the Netflix phenomenon. A journeyman of sorts, Colin’s travels abroad are nothing compared to the emotional adventure he’s taking and will continue to take with one Penelope Featherington, and his boyish immaturity will soon be a speck in the proverbial rearview mirror.
Up next is Daphne, the fourth-eldest sibling, and the oldest Bridgerton daughter. She was the first of her siblings to wed, serving as the Queen’s diamond in the first season of Bridgerton, and marrying Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. As the Duchess, Daphne now tends to estate duties while mothering her son August. She returned to the ton as a sort of courtship mentor for her brother Anthony in the second season of Bridgerton, and ultimately succeeded in knocking some sense into him.
Eloise comes after Daphne, and like her older brother Benedict, the fifth-oldest Bridgerton boasts marked contempt for society. albeit with much more intensity than Benedict. Indeed, Eloise would prefer to think, occupy space, and generally just be an actual human being than try and play the game that society has laid out for her and other women. She’s one of the few people who knows Lady Whistledown’s true identity and will likely be one of the cruxes of this season’s drama in the final four episodes.
The case of Eloise’s story is a curious one; in the novels, she courts Sir Philip Crane, who we all know has since married Marina Thompson in the Netflix show. Should she ever wind up as a Bridgerton protagonist, then, her story will be unique, and seeing such a fiery personality lead her own, original story would be quite the sight indeed.
Francesca is the third-youngest Bridgerton who also happens to be the Queen’s “sparkler” this season, having caught the Queen’s favor amidst her disinterest with the current wave of debutantes, and who has therefore been subject to the Queen’s influence in her love life. The thing is, Francesca is doing just fine with the company of her piano, sheet music, and the more-than-comfortable silence with one John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin; she needs no favors anywhere, much to the dismay of the Queen. Of course, if her story When He Was Wicked is any indication, John will only be on her mind for so long.
Gregory and Hyacinth, meanwhile, are the two youngest Bridgerton siblings, both of whom have yet to enter society and, for the moment, effectively serve as cute mascots for their older siblings more than anything. That will change with time, of course; should the show closely honor the events of Gregory’s and Hyacinth’s stories, the former will eventually follow in Anthony’s wedding-crashing footsteps, while Hyacinth will take after her sister Eloise in all the best ways.
The third season of Bridgerton is now streaming its first four episodes on Netflix. The final four will arrive on June 13.
