"Bridgerton fans, I have news: the author behind the series, Julia Quinn, loves the show just as much as we do. I had the opportunity to chat with the author of the Bridgerton books about her new book Queen Charlotte , which she co-wrote with Shonda Rhimes and based on the Netflix series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
I immediately knew I liked Julia when we briefly discussed the lighting in the respective rooms we joined the Zoom meeting from. If that isn’t relatable, I don’t know what is. She also loves Taylor Swift songs, is just as delighted to see her books come to life as fans are, and delivers the same sense of humor in person that one comes to love in her books. All things that did not surprise me in the slightest, but it’s always wonderful to meet someone who is arguably the definition of success, and yet is clearly and thoroughly themselves.
In our conversation, I learned all about Julia’s creative process for Queen Charlotte, including the collaboration between Julia and Shonda, who was the executive producer, showrunner, and writer for the series on Netflix, and executive producer for the first two seasons of Bridgerton. So, for all Bridgerton fans new and old, here’s everything I discovered:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel of Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte and King George III's great love story and how it sparked a societal shift, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.
How the idea for the book came about
While the first two seasons of the Bridgerton series are inspired by Julia’s books, the opposite happened for Queen Charlotte. The character of Queen Charlotte is actually not in the original books. Julia recalled, “I got a phone call from Shonda saying that they were going to do this spin-off about Queen Charlotte, a prequel, and I was completely floored… I was just stunned and delighted. I loved the Queen Charlotte character. She’s incredible.” Once the streaming series was in the works, the book was something both Shonda and Julia were interested in pursuing. Although they had spoken many times, because of the pandemic, the first time Julia and Shonda met was at the Bridgerton Season 2 premiere. It’s wild to think that these two didn’t meet for so long, given all the incredible gifts they’ve given us as collaborators. I truly would have loved to be a fly on the wall for their first meeting.
On that day, Julia mentioned her interest in writing a book about Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, and later found out Shonda had been thinking the same thing. It would be a brand-new challenge for Julia—writing a book based off a show is something that hasn’t been done much before. Julia detailed, “We want to make sure people understand [the book] is not the scripts with just a few extra words thrown in. It really is a fully formed novel. But I started doing some research.” Julia could only find a few examples where a similar creative process happened, and most of them were in the superhero world. (Since Bridgerton is now a Bridger-verse, a term most often used for fantasy or superhero worlds, this seems apt.) And then in a very relatable way, Julia added, “So at that point I realized, well, people may say I did it badly, but nobody can say I did it wrong. Because it just didn’t exist.”
How collaboration on the book worked
The first thing Julia received for reference was the scripts. She detailed, “In terms of how the collaboration went, it was very much each of us taking our turn. We weren’t ever holed up in a room coming up with ideas. [Shonda] wrote the scripts and handed them off to me and said, ‘You do your thing, I don’t know how to write a novel, but you do.’ Which is a lot like me handing off the books to her saying, ‘You do your thing. I don’t know how to write television, but you do.’ So, it was an incredible feeling for me to feel so trusted and respected by somebody I admire so much.”
Julia noted that throughout her writing, she would check in with Shonda on big decisions to make sure they were aligned. For example, the book focuses on the first timeline and the experiences of the younger versions of Charlotte, George, Agatha, and Brimsley. The reasoning for this? “I think there are things that work well on film that don’t work as well in a book and vice versa,” Julia said.
The script informed the book in many ways. Some of Brimsley’s inner monologue in the book was inspired by the script, for example. I loved hearing Julia talk about Young Brimsley—she clearly adores all of her characters. She said of Brimsley, “I feel like he kind of lives in this perpetual state of terror in a way.” Julia said that in the script, there is a scene where Brimsley is searching for Charlotte and is described as trying to walk really fast while also trying not to attract any attention. That stage direction was a jumping off point for Young Brimsley’s chapters. Once the book was finished, Julia handed it off to Shonda to confirm she was correctly interpreting everything in the script. And with that, the book we now all get to read was created.
How (some of) the real history was incorporated
One of the introductory pages to the book has a simple note that proclaims in part that the book “is not a history lesson. It is fiction inspired by fact.” As some of the characters are real figures in history, namely King George and Queen Charlotte, viewers and readers may wonder how much history played a role in crafting the story. Julia explained, “For the most part I looked at the bits of history that had already been included in the script and tried to learn more about them so I could flesh those out, rather than putting in extra things.” As many of the historical references she used were from the framework of the script, Julia followed Shonda’s lead. However, there were a few additional historical details that Julia added to the book.
In the show, Shonda featured the fact that Charlotte was a German Princess from Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a territory in Northern Germany. German was Queen Charlotte’s first language. While we never hear Charlotte speak German in the show, there are many references throughout the book about Charlotte’s favorite German words, her frustration when she’s not able to communicate as fully as she would like, or her desire to create long German words to describe a situation.
Furthermore, according to Shonda’s research, George III was in fact fascinated with astronomy and built a groundbreaking observatory. The Transit of Venus, which is so important to King George’s character in the show, also actually happened during the time period that King George and Queen Charlotte lived. While we don’t know if the historical George ever saw it, Julia did quite a bit of research on the Transit of Venus to add it into the book and make sure his interest in astronomy carried over. Readers may notice that when George speaks about numbers within the chapters, they are specifically in reference to the dates the Transit of Venus happens in history.
So at that point I realized, well, people may say I did it badly, but nobody can say I did it wrong. Because it just didn’t exist.
How Young Charlotte came to be
In the first two seasons of Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte is regal, powerful, and highly involved in the matchmaking of the ton. She is often a central part of humorous moments, and we rarely get to see her vulnerable side. I asked Julia what it was like to shift into the mindset of Young Charlotte from the Queen Charlotte we already know on screen. Julia noted that Shonda calls Queen Charlotte the “Beyoncé of Regency times” and that most importantly readers needed to see in Young Charlotte a kernel of what she was to become.
Julia noted of Charlotte, “She’s confident and headstrong and she’s got that thing, she sparkles, but she’s also unsure of herself. I mean, she’s a teenager, and you get to see how she manages to find her place and find her power.” Julia worked on showing real moments where Charlotte is honestly depressed, sad, and realizing that she needs to look out for herself. Readers also get to see that humorous spark in the Young Charlotte that is so familiar in the Queen of later years. Of that, Julia noted, “I don’t think I could write a book without humor in it. I mean, it’s sort of how I see the world. I think love is inherently funny.”
How Taylor Swift’s “You’re On Your Own, Kid” from Midnights inspired the book
Yes, Julia is clearly a Taylor Swift fan and I loved to hear it. Every book Julia writes has a soundtrack, and “You’re On Your Own, Kid” inspired her for Queen Charlotte. Julia said, “I love that song and it’s true… there’s this whole thing about ‘we are one crown’ but you know what, she is on her own, kid. She’s got to stand up for herself, and look out for herself, and looking out for herself means looking out for her husband because she knows he can’t in the same way that she is going to be able to.” This made me immediately want to go listen to Midnights and curl up with a Bridgerton book.
I don’t think I could write a book without humor in it. I mean, it’s sort of how I see the world. I think love is inherently funny.
What it’s like seeing her books come to life
Talking to Julia was kind of like talking to a friend that I am inspired by and really proud of. It’s been over two decades since the first Bridgerton book published, and to see the journey she’s been on since then is nothing short of epic. When asked about seeing her books on screen, Julia said, “Seeing my books come to life is incredible. It’s as surreal and crazy and wonderful as you would imagine. I’m not a very visual writer so to see the visual beauty that is Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte is incredible.” And what is even more exciting for Julia is the existence of the Bridger-Verse and all that it entails. She said it “is very exciting to have a Verse.” We also spoke about how Bridgerton has become such a huge part of pop culture and all the various things the world has expanded into.
At that moment, Julia hopped up to show me an incredible Queen Charlotte Lacoste baseball hat she received. She went on to add, “It still blows my mind. Every now and then I’ll be like, how did that happen? Not just the merch, but the merch is the tangible thing that you can point to and be like, this is nuts.” Julia also mentioned that she loves to see fan interactions on her Instagram and Facebook, particularly when original fans of the books geek out about the shows. Julia told me, “People come on and say things like, ‘Is it weird that I love the fact that I was a fan before the show, and I feel like I’m in on the secret club, and we were in it together first?’” She went on to say, “It’s so sweet, how happy [the fans] all are for me as a person too.” And that sort of sums up how I feel about talking to Julia Quinn. I feel really happy for her, Shonda Rhimes, and the entire team that worked on Queen Charlotte. And I feel grateful that the stories that came from her imagination went on to be the Bridger-verse that every Gentle Reader dreams of.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel of Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte and King George III's great love story and how it sparked a societal shift, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.