A Welsh-Indian woman has made history as the first woman of Indian heritage to attend the Queen Charlotte's Ball as a debutante. The high-class event gives young women the chance to have the true 'Bridgerton experience', with similar balls being seen on the popular Netflix show. 24-year-old Jasleen Grewal-Dhoot from Cardiff will find herself in a completely different life to what she is used to, worlds away from her upbringing in a council estate.
From an immigrant family who lived in a council house, Jasleen went to a state school and was brought up by her mother in Cardiff, tells the show. In 2021 - relatives of Jasleen's estranged father reached out to and told her that he was in hospital, dying of Covid. This would, ultimately, be her first and last time meeting him. When her father died, Jasleen decided to stop putting barriers in the way of things that she's always wanted to do. This is what prompted her to want to take part in the Queen Charlotte's Ball.
But how will the privileged environment compare to her own life in the Welsh capital? Jasleen's journey to being a debutante is explored in BBC Wales documentary, You Shall Go to the Ball: Our Lives on Monday, May 23. For two hundred years, The London Season, who are responsible for the Queen Charlotte's Ball, has been the heartbeat of upper-class British society. It stages and manages exclusive social, cultural, and charitable events, attracting individual personalities and corporates, including members of royal families from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and China.
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The half-an-hour documentary opens with Jasleen telling viewers a little more about her home life. "Let's be honest, who wants someone from Cardiff?" she asks, but little does she know, that's not what Jennie Hallam-Peel, Chairman of the London Season believes. Jennie says that, upon reading Jasleen's CV, she "liked her enormously".
Jasleen, who is seen having a boogie at Cardiff's DEPOT, will have to swap her party-goer life for something a little more reserved. But first, she will need a gown. After she goes to try one on, Jasleen is astonished by how much she likes the iconic London Season-style gowns. She says: "I never thought I'd see myself wearing something like this."
Gown ready, next up - Jasleen has to find herself a man and so, she heads to the 'Debutantes Drinks', an event where the princesses meet their princes. Unfortunately for the Cardiffian, she finds the event "uncomfortable" but is determined to "fake it until she makes it."
Having learnt how to talk and how to walk, Jasleen finally attends The London Season's famous ball. Looking beautiful in a white dress, she meets the event's special guest - Prince Mohsin Ali Khan, a member of the Royal family in Hyderabad. What follows is an awkward exchange where the Prince, his hearing going due to old age, can't hear what Jasleen is saying.
All in all, Cardiff's very own Cinderella Jasleen says that she has "put [herself] out of her comfort zone and [she has] learnt something" from the experience.
You Shall Go to the Ball: Our Lives aired on BBC One Wales at 8pm on Monday, May 23. It is available to watch straight after on BBC iPlayer.
