The Queen Charlotte prequel features two timelines: One, in the past, follows the love story of a young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and a young King George III (Corey Mychlreest); the other shows the present-day Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) consulting her friends Lady Danbury (Ajdoah Andoh) and Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemell) about the fact that none of her children are married.
But when does this "present-day" timeline of Queen Charlotte take place within the Bridgerton-verse?
One line from Violet Bridgerton in episode five, "Gardens in Bloom," gives us the viewers an answer: "I am out of sorts. My household is... Anthony is on his honeymoon," she tells Lady Danbury, "Gregory has grown what seems, what, twice his height in a month.. Eloise is in some kind of squabble with Penelope, and you know how close those two are. So she is stomping around the house, looking like a cloud of thunder. I could go on... Do you understand?"
This refers directly to the end of Bridgerton season two, after we learn Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) have just spent six months honeymooning. It also references Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) discovering her best friend, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) is actually Lady Whistledown, leading to a huge fight between the two women; though of course Violet does not know the cause of the fight. During their falling out, Eloise tells Penelope she wishes to never speak to her again—so we can guess that this is still while they are fighting.
Since Anthony is on his honeymoon, we can pretty confidently say that Queen Charlotte takes place after the events of Bridgerton season two, but before whatever happens in Bridgerton season three.
In a recent interview, Shonda Rhimes said the romance between Brimsley (who appears in Bridgerton) and Reynolds (who only appeared in the prequel) could show up in future Bridgerton episodes. "We talk about it a lot," Rhimes told Variety. "And for a while, I was holding it very close, and didn’t necessarily know that I wanted to play it out in a Bridgerton season. But now we’ve been talking about what it would look like if we saw a little bit in Bridgerton’s present day, with Brimsley and Reynolds, and what that would mean." She added, "I think it deprives us of a chance to tell that story the way it should be told, though." (Could she be teasing a second season of Queen Charlotte, or the rumored prequel about Violet?)
While we wait for more Bridgerton, catch up on Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels:
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
