We have a title for the upcoming Bridgerton Netflix spin-off! Officially titled Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Netflix has released the first glimpse of the upcoming series, which wrapped shooting a few weeks ago.
The new limited series spinoff will chronicle the early years of Gold Rosheuvel’s Queen Charlotte from the main Bridgerton series that is currently shooting its third season. India Amarteifio plays the young Queen Charlotte, although Rosheuvel will be appearing in the series as well.
In addition to our first look at the upcoming series, Netflix has also released a description of the upcoming series:
Centered on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power, this ‘Bridgerton’-verse prequel tells the story of how the young Queen’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.’
This ‘societal shift’ has already been referenced in the main Bridgerton series when Adjoa Andoh’s Lady Danbury and Regé-Jean Page’s the Duke of Hastings discuss the acceptance of people of color into the world of the ton when the King fell in love with an African-British woman and made her their queen. Many members of the ton are depicted as people of color, including Kate Sharma, the new Viscountess Bridgerton and Anthony Bridgerton’s new wife, and Simon, the Duke of Hastings and Daphne Bridgerton’s husband.
Four cast members will be reprising their roles from the original Bridgerton series: Rosheuvel will appear as the older Queen Charlotte, Adjoa Andoh as Lady Agatha Danbury, Ruth Gemmell as the dowager Lady Violet Bridgerton and Hugh Sachs as Brimsley. Lady Danbury is Simon’s godmother (in the Netflix series), Lady Violet Bridgerton is the mother of all eight Bridgerton children, and Brimsley is the Queen’s right-hand man.
Additionally, the cast includes Michelle Fairley as Princess Augusta; Corey Mylchreest as young King George; Arsema Thomas as young Agatha Danbury; Sam Clemmett as young Brimsley, Freddie Dennis as Reynolds; Richard Cunningham as Lord Bute; Tunji Kasim as Adolphus; and Rob Maloney as the Royal Doctor; Cyril Nri as Lord Danbury.
Shonda Rhimes serves as showrunner, executive producer, and writer. Tom Verica is the director and executive producer, and Betsy Beers is also an executive producer.
In addition to the spin-off series, there will also be a book based on the Queen Charlotte prequel series, written by showrunner Shonda Rhimes and the Bridgerton book series author, Julia Quinn. While the Bridgerton Netflix series has differences from the original Bridgerton book series, the book that Rhimes and Quinn are writing will be more closely connected to the limited spin-off series.
There is no release date yet for the prequel series, but given that Bridgerton Season 3 is still being filmed, it appears that it will air before fans get to watch Penelope and Colin’s love story on the screen. Unlike the Bridgerton book series, which featured Benedict and Sophie’s love story in the third book, An Offer From a Gentleman, the Netflix series is skipping ahead to the fourth book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, which focuses on Penelope and Colin’s romance.
Until the prequel series airs on Netflix, check out our theories about the direction the fourth season of the Bridgerton Netflix series will take, catch up on Julia Quinn’s novels, and read all news about the world of the ton here!