What Happened to Queen Charlotte and King George in Real Life?
Here are some facts about Queen Charlotte and King George's life together that have or still may find their place in the Bridgerverse.
The new Bridgerton spin-off, which rocketed to the top of the Netflix charts this week, has raised public interest in the real-life royal couple of 18th- and 19th-century England and left many fans wondering if their on-screen relationship is actually based on historical events.
And the most important question is, of course, what lies ahead for the beloved characters.
We prepared a few answers for you.
The Best Candidate
The Bridgerton spin-off begins with the young Princess Charlotte being sold by her brother as a wife to the new King of England. This is actually close to real life — the couple never saw each other before the wedding day, and the 17-year-old Charlotte was chosen by the future king's mother among other suitable candidates.
The Wedding
The wedding took place within six hours of Charlotte setting foot on the shores of England. Her voyage was over rough seas, and the young bride was so seasick that she lost a great deal of weight and her bejeweled wedding dress nearly fell off during the ceremony.
The Marriage
While we don't know all the details of the real-life couple's relationship, their marriage is widely believed to have been a happy one. George and Charlotte rarely separated, and when they did, their letters to each other were truly affectionate.
The Children
As in the show, Charlotte and George had 15 children, 13 of whom survived childhood. Also, like in the Shondaland story, they had no legitimate surviving grandchildren before the future Queen Victoria was born in 1819.
The Mad King
King George's mysterious illness is a big part of the prequel, and it was a problem for the real-life couple too. In their early years together, George reportedly showed no signs of the disease, and Charlotte was unaware of his mental problems until the first bout of the illness occurred four years after the wedding.
The second serious bout occurred in two decades, leading to conflicts in the royal family. In the following years, the King's mental health deteriorated and the episodes became more frequent. For this reason, George III was known as The Mad King.
The End
George finally succumbed to his illness in 1811, and his eldest son became regent until his father's death in 1820. Charlotte remained George's loyal wife and guardian until she died two years before her husband in 1818.
George IV was crowned king in 1820 and ruled until his own death in 1830. His younger brother William IV held the throne from 1830 to 1837, when he died and passed the baton to the famous Queen Victoria, whose birth the fictional Charlotte celebrated in the final episode of the spin-off.