The great Bridgerton family is the product of the imagination of writer Julia Quinn, who created the Bridgerton series. But the royals from the Netflix series “Bridgerton” and also its spin-off “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” were real – and while their story is heavily dramatized, many elements are true. For example, Charlotte (India Amarteifio) was a German princess before she married King George III. (Corey Mylchreest), who actually suffered from mental disorders, possibly caused by a metabolic disorder called porphyria.
And who, as a Royals fan, has not only seen the new spin-off “Bridgerton”, but also the TV broadcast of the coronation of King Charles III. in London, may have already wondered: Shouldn’t Charlotte, George and Charles be related? Of course they are – because the bloodline of the queens and kings of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has not been broken for centuries.
Charlotte lived from 1744 to 1818, George from 1738 to 1820. Despite his illness, the king grew very old – which can also be seen in “Bridgerton”, when the very elderly Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) had to manage the affairs of the state alone because her husband is no longer healthy enough, but she is not a widow. In fact, she died two years ago her husband.
King Charles was born in 1948. As you can see, there are several years and therefore generations between: Charles, who was crowned King at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Queen Charlotte and King George!
George and Charlotte’s succession to the throne was bumpy
In “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” the succession of the Queen is even a very big subject. She had given birth to George 15 children, but for a long time there were no royal grandchildren. It was Edward who gave Charlotte and George a granddaughter – Victoria, who later became the famous Queen Victoria.
Edward himself had never sat on the throne. However, his brothers George IV and William IV, who each reigned for a time, had no legitimate surviving descendants to inherit them. So their niece Victoria became the next queen.
Even today, Charlotte and George are with the Royals
And if the names Charlotte and George sound familiar not only from “Bridgerton”, but also from today’s British aristocracy: They are the names of the first and second born children of Crown Prince William and his wife Kate, that is, the grandchildren of King Charles.
Born in 2013, Prince George Alexander Louis of Wales is now second in line to the British throne after his father William. If nothing intervenes, he will eventually become king – and then another George sits on the British throne. His sister Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Wales was born in 2015.