Everything To Know About Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

If you flew through the second season of Bridgerton and are looking for more royal drama in your life, you’ll be pleased to hear that Shonda Rhimes is serving up a whole other series to keep you satisfied. The showrunner has created a prequel story of the hit show for Netflix based on the life of Queen Charlotte, played by British actress India Amarteifio. In Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte plays matchmaker; in the Queen Charlotte prequel series, we travel back to her own arranged courtship with young King George (Corey Mylchreest).

In the first official trailer for the series, released on March 23, Charlotte is reluctant to meet her future husband. “There are worse fates than marrying the king of England,” her friend tells her. After a chance encounter in the palace garden, Charlotte realizes she and George may have more chemistry than she initially thought.

This marks 20-year-old Amarteifio’s first major role, though she has been featured in shows such as Doctor Who and Sex Education along with Bridgerton star Simone Ashley. In addition to Amarteifio, Netflix cast TV newcomer Arsema Thomas to play a young Lady Danbury (portrayed by Adjoa Andoh in the original show).

“Queen Charlotte has been such a moving character to write and now having the opportunity to work with Julia to adapt this story into a book is such an exciting opportunity,” Rhimes said in a press statement. “I can’t wait for fans of this universe to read the story of a character that has resonated so deeply with our audience.”

In addition to their young counterparts, Golda Rosheuvel and Andoh star in the series as an older Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury, respectively, as will Ruth Gemmell, who plays Lady Bridgerton on the current show.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story premiered on Netflix on May 4.