Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a Netflix spin-off of the hugely successful Bridgerton. But just which period of British history does it take place in?
The show is split into two interwoven storylines. The first timeline takes place in 1761. We see a young Queen Charlotte meet King George III for the very first time. George had ascended to the throne the previous year. These scenes have India Amarteifio as the young queen and Corey Mylchreest as the king. Charlotte’s age is mentioned as just 17 in the second episode. We can assume George, who was born in 1738, is 23.
The series also shows us the “present” timeline, set in the world of its parent show Bridgerton. In it, we see a much older Queen Charlotte (played by Golda Rosheuvel) attempt to marry her 13 children off to noble families so that the royal bloodline can be secured. The story takes place at some point between Bridgerton season two and Bridgerton season three, making it likely to be set around the time of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. These tumultuous years in British history were known as the Regency.
Both Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton are set in an alternate history where people of color have been accepted into British nobility. Sadly, the reality was very different. Georgian England and its colonies were mired in slavery. Though abolitionists were increasingly active in the latter half of the century, it was only in 1807 that the slave trade was halted, and it would take until 1838 for slavery to finally end in British colonies.
Though it is unlikely the real Queen Charlotte was Black, it is possible she had “Moorish” ancestry through her Spanish relatives. Her husband was certainly opposed to enslaving African peoples, even writing a political essay denouncing the practice. While the show is mostly fictional, perhaps George had a personal stake in trying to create a diverse Britain.
