Queen Charlotte: Worse Fates Than Marrying The King Of England

Season 1, Episode 1

If TikTok drove you here, hello. If not, still hello. I know reels and TikToks have already spoiled things for you, or to be more precise, have gotten you hooked to the phrase “my heart calls your name” because now, we expect a proposal that’s nothing less than that.

I am going to be spilling THE TEA about the premiere episode, which had some non-steamy steam because come on, it is George we are talking about.

And if you came here through word-of-mouth, you are a person that hates spoilers, so spoiler alert!

Worse Fates

Do you think getting married to the King of the most powerful nation on the earth is the worst fate of all? Did Charlotte’s brother try to signify anything by saying that there are “worse fates” than marrying the King of England because this episode flows pretty quickly to when Charlotte and George get married, (because apparently, the King of England can charm the heck out of a young woman that tries to elope minutes before the royal wedding) but the end of the episode is where it all makes sense? Did we know what Lady Danbury meant when she asked Queen Charlotte to “be careful?”

Episode Checklist

Princess Charlotte is not successful at climbing the wall of the Royal Palace — Checked

King George is the gentleman we all expected him to be — Checked

It is Queen Charlotte now — Checked

A steamy kiss — Checked

The Great Experiment is a partial success — Checked

King George is not the gentleman we all expected him to be — Checked

The Great Experiment

As Lady Whistledown claims at the start of the episode, this series is the story of the Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton and not a history lesson. The Great Experiment didn’t happen, but it was inspired by real events. Here, we are talking about Georgian-era England, the one in Jane Austen’s books. Over 10,000 Black people lived in London during the Regency Period and about an estimated 30,000 Black people lived in all of England during the period.

Bridgerton did take some historical liberties in portraying Black people as lords when in real life, slavery existed till around 1801, and ‘Queen Charlotte’ takes place in the 1700s. Around that time, most Black people were still doing paid and unpaid domestic work. Yet, the makers of the series did a pretty good job of showcasing how Black people were still not given the full taste of liberty, despite the arrival of the Great Experiment, as Lady Danbury describes Lord Danbury’s urge to fit in with the “other side” (the White side) of the aristocracy, “He’s been given the taste. Now he cannot be denied”.

The Great Experiment was formulated by King George’s mother Princess Augusta and the House of Lords to show the English society that their queen of choice, Queen Charlotte, a young woman of color, was intentional and not a she-got-out-of-the-chariot-only-for-us-to-find-out-that-she-is-Black kind of surprise, even though Princess Augusta claims to the Lords that she didn’t expect her to be “very Brown”, but who cancels the royal wedding, right?

According to the book ‘Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain”, there were Africans in Britain before the English people came there. The book also proves that the Queen Charlotte series is not wrong about how Black people were treated in Britain back in the day, and it started with Queen Elizabeth back in the 1500s. She expressed disapproval of the presence of Black people in the nation and claimed that they should all be deported. It is no debate that the nation of Britain, like many other nations, was built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of Black people, and still, all those nations continue to raise their children in racist conditions.

While the race of Queen Charlotte of Britain remains unknown, in a lot of places it is mentioned that she might have been biracial or multiracial. This series might be a potential gateway for young people to be intrigued to learn real history, unlike what is taught in schools.

You Walk There And I Walk Back Here

No matter how much I wanted Brimsley to stop walking five paces behind and walk beside Queen Charlotte, he must be our second favorite man before the end of episode one, because after you watch the end, there is no going back: Brimsley would be your first favorite man (despite the fact that he only stated facts about the Kind to Charlotte).

First Look At The King

King George must be one of the very first people to witness their brides try to climb a wall minutes before the wedding, and King George is a male character written by a woman, so he certainly treats Charlotte like the Queen she is. While Charlotte doesn’t know anything about “George”, like he asks her to address him and not “King George”, he makes an effort to give her what she needs: to get to know him. “You may be too beautiful to marry me” possibly showed the female demographic in the audience that they all deserve to hear that.

Be Careful, Ma’am

Well, I’ve decided to not spoil too much for my readers, so I am not going to discuss the end of Episode 1. Did Lady Danbury mean what she said? “Be careful, ma’am”. What could that possibly mean? What is that big danger awaiting Charlotte’s encounter? I guess we have to wait till episode 2 to know in detail or the end of episode 1 to know briefly.

Until Next time! See y’all in a day or two (because this series is too smooth-flowing for me to keep y’all waiting for a week).