“Loneliness is a battle even queens must fight for themselves.” – Lady Whistledown.
The Queen Charlotte we’ve come to know in “Bridgerton” is a formidable figure who is the most powerful person in the United Kingdom and the dominant tastemaker of London society—but is also consumed with the rumors peddled by the columnist known as Lady Whistledown. The queen consort initially comes across as rather icy, but beneath the steel exterior, her heart breaks for her husband King George III as he spirals further into dementia.
Golda Rosheuvel delivers magnificently layered work as Queen Charlotte, and it’s wonderful to see her return in “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” but the “present-day,” i.e. Regency Era, queen is a supporting player in flash-forwards. This six-episode arc is primarily her origin story, with a brilliant star turn by India Amarteifio as the young queen.
“Queen Charlotte” tells the tale of one Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany, who is just 17 years old when she is plucked from relative obscurity and selected to be the bride of the young King George III. Filmed in the lavish and sparkling colors we’ve come to expect from the BEU (Bridgerton Extended Universe), featuring a heaving helping of sexual liaisons and delivering a poignant, star-crossed romance, “Queen Charlotte” is certain to be binge-worthy eye candy for the legions of fans of Shonda Rhimes’ smash hit creation.
The parallels to the real-life story of Meghan Markle are clear in the premiere episode of “Queen Charlotte,” as some members of the palace are taken aback by the “dark” color of this outsider from another country who will be marrying into the royal family. In what is dubbed “The Great Experiment,” it has been deemed that wealthy of people of color will be integrated into high society and bestowed with land and titles. Charlotte’s brother Adolphus (Tunji Kasim) brokers the deal for Charlotte to marry young King George (Corey Mylchreest, who looks as if he stepped off the cover of a romance novel), and just like that, the young and naïve but also smart and headstrong Charlotte is rushed into a marriage to man she will meet for the first time on her wedding day. Charlotte will now be forever bonded with George as they “live for the happiness and the misery of a great nation,” as it’s often phrased.
Amarteifo and Mylchreest have instant, Jane Austen-esque, period-piece rom-com chemistry from the get-go, as George goes to great lengths to avoid consummating the marriage while Charlotte gets increasingly frustrated with dining alone, or should we say without the king’s presence, because Charlotte is never really alone, what with staffers shadowing her every move and not even allowing her to pluck an orange from a tree without making a huge production out of it.
From time to time we flash forward several decades, with Rosheuvel’s Queen Charlotte at her wit’s end because none of her 13, that’s right, thirteen grown children has proved capable of producing a legitimate heir to the throne. The wonderful Adjoa Andoh returns as Lady Danbury in the Regency Era timeline, while Arsema Thomas is equally compelling playing the young Lady Danbury who befriends Charlotte and becomes a trusted advisor, even as she feels neglected and disrespected by her much older husband, the crude and social-climbing brute Lord Danbury (Cyril Nri).
When the young Charlotte and George finally christen the marital bed, it’s time for those trademark “Bridgerton” steamy scenes—but even this early on, we see signs of George’s mental health problems. Here is a man who is so young and handsome and charming and born to such privilege, and yet there is nothing he can do to control his future. We know how things will turn out for George, and it’s heartbreaking to see his character already on that long and tragic journey. (In this late 18th century setting, the methods of treating mental illness, even for someone with access to the “best” possible medical care, are ignorant at best, barbaric at worst.)
“Queen Charlotte” is filled with terrific supporting work, led by Michelle Fairley (“Game of Thrones”) as Princess Augusta, who is obsessed with her son and daughter-in-law producing an heir (“A baby seals the Great Experiment, we cannot fail!”) and Sam Clemmett as the young Brimsley, the queen’s secretary, who is involved in quite the sexually charged and complicated romance of his own, and we’ll reveal no more about that.
This being a “Bridgerton” chapter, we’re also treated to the requisite elaborate and breathtakingly beautiful dance/music numbers, e.g., an exquisitely choreographed ballroom soirée set to the sounds of “If I Ain’t Got You” by regular contributors Vitamin String Quartet. (Those big-production numbers often make for some of the most emotionally resonant moments as well, with key characters exchanging intimate dialogue, or sharing knowing glances across a room.) The costumes are gorgeous, the people are pretty, their problems are sometimes petty, sometimes life-altering. Whether “Queen Charlotte” is trafficking in frothy gossip or heavy dramatics, it’s never less than enthralling.
After all, this is a love story.
