7 Bridgerton Scenes That Take On A Whole New Meaning After Queen Charlotte

If your first thought after finishing Queen Charlotte was, “I need to rewatch Bridgerton,” you are not alone. The juicy prequel series practically begs viewers to revisit the core series after unloading a heaping helping of new backstory, so much so that Bridgerton reentered Netflix’s Top 10 charts right after Queen Charlotte premiered. All the new information about Queen Charlotte and King George’s past adds a ton of color to the royals who were never really fully fleshed out in Bridgerton. But upon rewatching these specific Bridgerton scenes now, they hit so different.

It would be a massive understatement to say that Queen Charlotte changed Bridgerton fans’ perspectives of the title character and her husband King George. In the first two seasons of Bridgerton, the royal couple mostly remained on the sidelines. Queen Charlotte was presented as an over-involved gossipmonger, while her rarely-seen husband only popped up in silly, eccentric moments. But Queen Charlotte explained the emotional, deeper meaning to why these two are they way they are. Charlotte’s love for George is so much stronger than any viewer would have guessed from solely watching Bridgerton, and her anguish in George’s moments of mania are actually rooted in decades of sticking by him through his mental health struggles.

If you’re one of the many people rewatching Bridgerton in a whole new light after Queen Charlotte, these are the moments that you probably thought nothing of before, but are guaranteed to hit you in the feels now.

1. George’s Observatory

In one of King George’s few appearances on Bridgerton, Charlotte pays him a visit while he’s marveling at the planets in his observatory. It’s a small moment in the show, but after Queen Charlotte revealed how important George’s observatory is to him as his one refuge during his panic attacks, the setting becomes much more meaningful.

2. Lady Danbury’s Ball

At the start of Bridgerton Season 2, Queen Charlotte makes a point to emphasize that Lady Danbury must always host the first ball of the social season. Before watching Queen Charlotte, fans would assume this was merely a simple favor for a friend, but the prequel revealed a much more important reason this rule came to be. When Lady Danbury initially attempted to host the first ball of the season, it was nearly ruined by the racist ladies-in-waiting threatening to not attend. But Charlotte convinced George to go with her, forcing all the rest of the court to show up as well, and the ball was a success.

3. George’s Wedding Outburst

Without a doubt the scene that’s reconextualized by Queen Charlotte the most is in Season 2, Episode 6 of Bridgerton. At Edwina and Anthony’s wedding, King George bursts into the room raving about fireworks and confusing the occasion for his own wedding. It was a somewhat emotional scene at the time, but after learning so much more about George’s condition, it becomes absolutely heartbreaking to rewatch. Especially when George worries he’s late for the wedding, which now seems to reference his worry that he would be too late to stop Charlotte from climbing the wall and leaving at their wedding.

4. Charlotte’s Offer To Daphne

Chances are, you’ll be hit with a whole new view of Queen Charlotte right away when you start rewatching Bridgerton. In the very first episode, Charlotte tells Daphne that despite the social pressures the choice is hers whether she wants to marry Simon or not. The moment now echoes what George first said about marrying Charlotte: “The choice is entirely up to her.”

5. Violet And Lady Danbury’s Friendship

Bridgerton mainly just presented Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury as buddies who liked to bond over gossip, but their scenes together take on a whole new tone once you’ve seen Queen Charlotte. The prequel series revealed that a young Violet idolized Lady Danbury, unaware that the widow had slept with her father. Violet eventually figured out the truth in the flash-forward moments of Queen Charlotte, but those took place after the events of Bridgerton Season 1 and 2, so that tension is now thick in the air upon rewatching their scenes together.

6. Charlotte’s Wardrobe

Prior to her spinoff series, Queen Charlotte was most known to Bridgerton fans for her over-the-top gowns and wigs. Interestingly, her style is noticeably different from every other Bridgerton character’s, and it’s not just because of her money and status. Fans pointed out she specifically dresses in the style of the previous era, and now it’s clear why: She wants George to still recognize and be comforted by her.

7. Charlotte’s Vendetta Against Lady Whistledown

To Bridgerton viewers, Queen Charlotte’s obsession with exposing Lady Whistledown seems to merely spring from her devotion to keep the social season free from interlopers. But Queen Charlotte may have revealed a more personal reason for her hatred. In one of Whistledown’s first missives, she made a mocking nod to King George’s mental illness. Obviously, Queen Charlotte viewers now know how deep that one-time throwaway line must have cut. So deep, in fact, that it could have been the very thing to set off Charlotte’s thirst for revenge on Whistledown.