Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story has proven a spectacular success for Netflix, winning the hearts of viewers with its lavish aesthetic (by now a Bridgerton signature), charismatic young cast, and affecting plot. Focusing on the origin story of the beloved Bridgerton queen, portrayed by Golda Rosheuvel, it features breakout talent India Amarteifio as her younger counterpart, with further cast additions including Corey Mylchreest as the young King George III and Sam Clemmett and Freddie Dennis as the couple’s right-hand men, royal butlers Brimsley and Reynolds.
At a concise six episodes, the limited series has been billed as a self-contained entity, with no indication of a planned second season (despite heartfelt pleas from fans). Now, however, super-producer Shonda Rhimes has hinted that she hasn’t ruled out more Bridgerton prequels, with particular interest in fan-favorite character Lady Violet Bridgerton.
The founder of production company Shondaland (the makers of Bridgerton and Inventing Anna, among other Netflix Originals), Rhimes is the executive producer on the original Bridgerton series and creator of the new prequel. And while gracing the red carpet at the London premiere for the show, Rhimes opened up about potential ideas for more Bridgerton spin-offs, telling Hello!, “There’s no plan to explore anybody in particular… Although, in writing it I got very interested in Violet’s story. So, we’ll see.”
Rhimes also revealed why she was “so passionate about the subject” of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, explaining, “To me this was a much more intimate story… it’s about a husband’s illness, it’s about race, it’s about a lot more things than we do in Bridgerton, which is supposed to be a much lighter show.”
Best known to Bridgerton viewers (and readers of Julia Quinn’s romance novels, on which the franchise is based) as the matriarch of the sprawling Bridgerton brood, more light is shed on Lady Violet in the new Queen Charlotte series. Touchingly portrayed by Ruth Gemmell, the character is shown hankering for companionship in the wake of her husband’s death; while in the earlier timeline, the young Violet Ledger (Connie Jenkins-Greig) grows up among the shifting sands of high society following Charlotte’s marriage to King George. Viewers also see the older Lady Violet’s reaction upon realizing—spoiler alert—that her friend, Lady Danbury, once had an affair with Violet’s father, Lord Ledger.
Speaking to Tatler ahead of the debut of Bridgerton season two in March last year, Gemmell spoke of her character’s role as a reassuring presence in the background of the action, noting that it was largely “their [the Bridgerton siblings’] stories… I play the mother in the corner, drinking tea and sort of shoving the children into the path of suitors.” She added, however, that viewers are increasingly getting “a bit more of a backstory of Violet’s… Not just her story, but the family’s story and what happens that shapes their future.”
