Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — Review

Dearest Reader,

Once again, Netflix has returned to the world of Julia Quinn's scandalous regency romance with Shonda Rhimes's witty quill at the ready to pen this prequel series. Moving away from the Bridgerton family, we focus on the older generation of characters in their younger years and where they are now after the events of season two.

India Amarteifio and Golda Rosheuvel, respectively, star as Queen Charlotte in both timelines. The limited series focuses on how the young Queen Charlotte’s marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in Bridgerton. The past and present blur together as an innocent young woman becomes the formidable Queen viewers know from the previous seasons.

Although Quinn's novels and its adaptation are pure fiction, it is set during King George's reign in the 1800s. It has the broad plot points of Queen Charlotte and King George's lives, but it is not claiming to be a docu-drama. From the very start of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, it's made clear that this is fictional and creative licences have been taken. This is even prefaced in the first episode as Lady Whistledown, voiced by Julie Andrews, reminds viewers:

"Dearest Gentle Reader, This is the story of Queen Charlotte from Bridgerton. It is not a history lesson. It is fiction inspired by fact."

As this is based on this universe's fictional Charlotte and George, their status as the monarchy's first interracial marriage is a central plot thread throughout the past storyline. The racial tensions hinted at in season one during this time are explored in more depth alongside George's mental health struggles. As a romance, this show is superbly written and effortlessly brought to life by the brilliant ensemble cast.

India Amarteifio as Young Queen Charlotte and Corey Mylchreest as Young King George are phenomenal in these roles. They have remarkable chemistry and did a superb job with their characters. Amarteifio had such a strong stage presence and was a perfect counterpart to Golda Rosheuvel. Even down to the most minor details, like recreating Rosheuvel's moles, the attention to detail in how Amarteifio looked and carried herself was superb.

Corey Mylchreest brings to life what James Fleet had previously given glimpses of King George, capturing the nuance and complexity of his storyline. As well as establishing himself alongside the likes of Jonathan Bailey and Regé-Jean Page as Netflix's heartthrob, his character's mental health storyline showed his range as a performer. Without sensationalising this topic, we see a young man struggling with his illness under his doctors' barbaric treatments and the stress of keeping it hidden from his wife.

While this show focuses on the titular character, the ensemble cast are brilliant in their roles, from Brimsley and Reynolds' heart-breaking love story as the palace footmen to Lady Danbury's tragic history with her arranged marriage while still trying to maintain her newfound status as a lady and even the complex portrayal of King George's mother. This had one of the best castings of the franchise. As many characters were played by two different actors depending on the timeline, everyone was excellent in their perspective roles.

While this series as a whole is an escapism for the viewers to delve into a Regency romance, I liked the darker undertone to Queen Charlotte and Tom Verica was a brilliant choice of director for this series. As well as being beautifully filmed with gorgeous sets and costumes, the cinematography differed between the two timelines. While the past was warm and brightly coloured, the future storylines had a darker and colder feel. This perfectly sets the tone for both eras in Queen Charlotte's storyline.

The future storylines focused much more on the older counterparts of the cast. Adjoah Andoh and Ruth Gemmell also reprise their roles of Lady Agatha Danbury and Lady Violet Bridgerton, revealing some surprising twists about their pasts. This friendship deserved much more screen time, which was why it worked so well here. Secrets are discovered that are foreshadowed to be confronted in future seasons. Connie Jenkins-Greig as young Violet and Arsema Thomas as young Agatha Danbury should absolutely have their own prequel spin-off, similar to the format of this series.

Fans of Bridgerton will devour this series and a perfect antidote while they wait for the third outing of the Netflix series. This author highly recommends this to anyone looking for a good period romance to binge on. It's the perfect tonic for that!

My rating for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is ★★★★★.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is exclusively available on Netflix alongside the previous two Bridgerton seasons.