A Bridgerton prequel series has been in the works for the last year, centering on the romance between a young Queen Charlotte and King George, but now there is, in true synergistic style, a tie-in prequel book coming from Bridgerton author Julia Quinn and showrunner Shonda Rhimes. The queen does not appear in the Bridgerton books, but of the new books, Quinn says, “I’m especially thrilled to have the opportunity to write about Queen Charlotte, who was not in the original novels. Her character—and Golda Rosheuvel’s brilliant portrayal of her—was a tour de force, and I think readers will love getting a chance to know her more deeply.”
I guess? Do people like Queen Charlotte THAT much? Honestly, after season two, I am most interested in Lady Danbury’s backstory. We will meet young Lady D in the prequel series, but she isn’t the focus, Charlotte is. (There will also be a teenaged Violet Ledger.) They’re going all-in on the queen being the main draw for an expanded Bridgerton universe, but there actually are prequel books already. They’re about the Rokesbys, the Bridgertons neighbors in the country, a few of whom marry Bridgerton girls.
But I guess, between the prequel series and a tie-in novel, we’re ditching the Rokesbys for the queen. If they actually do something interesting with the idea of a post-racial Georgian/Regency society, I’m down, but we’re two seasons into Bridgerton and the show remains entirely uninterested in exploring what it would mean for an empire at the height of its power and in the middle of subjugating multiple continents to decide racism is over. I really hope Bridgerton hasn’t bit off more than it can chew.
