Is Queen Charlotte and King George's Relationship Based on a True Story?

This story contains spoilers for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

Bridgerton is based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn, but two of its characters are very real: Queen Charlotte and her husband, King George III. The new prequel series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story dives into the backstory of the real-life British monarchs, but just how accurate is it?

For starters, casting director ​​Kelly Valentine Hendry nailed the small age gap between Charlotte and George, who were born just over five years apart. India Amarteifio, who plays young Charlotte, is 21 in real life, while Corey Mylchreest (young George) is 25. If you find yourself thinking that the king looks a bit older than his young bride, it’s because he really was.

Still, there are plenty of other details in the show that aren’t quite accurate, and creator Shonda Rhimes has made it clear that she’s fine with that. “This is not a history lesson. This is fiction inspired by fact,” she explained in an interview with Netflix ahead of the show’s premiere. “It's very important to me that people understand that, because I'm telling the story of Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton, not of Queen Charlotte of England. It's not that world. You really want to make a distinction so that you can tell the story as freely as you need to tell it.”

Even with that caveat, viewers may still find themselves wondering what really happened. Keep reading to find out which parts of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story are accurate.

Related: Queen Charlotte Delivers Off-the-Charts Chemistry—All About the Bridgerton Spinoff

Did Charlotte and George know each other before their marriage?

Queen Charlotte begins with a 17-year-old Charlotte (India Amarteifio) traveling from her home country of Germany to meet her husband-to-be for the first time. Her brother Adolphus (Tunji Kasim) has promised her to King George III of England (Corey Mylchreest) following the death of their parents.

The day that Charlotte arrives in England, George’s mother, Princess Augusta (Michelle Fairley), informs her that she’s set to marry George that very day, without even meeting him first. After some hesitation—and a meet-cute in the garden—Charlotte ultimately goes through with the wedding and becomes the new queen of England.

For the most part, all of that really happened. Charlotte was 17 when George’s family, particularly his mother, selected her as a fitting bride for the young king, then 22. Both of Charlotte’s parents were dead, so her brother Adolphus inherited the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and signed off on her marriage to George.

Charlotte married George the same day she arrived in England, but he was there to greet her, marking their first interaction. It wasn’t quite the charming first encounter depicted on the show, however: his mother was there along with other members of his family. Their wedding also wasn’t as lavish as it is in Queen Charlotte, with only a handful of guests attending with the party who traveled from Germany with the bride.

Did Charlotte and George have a good marriage?

While the Netflix series certainly takes some liberties with the more intimate details of their romance, it’s widely accepted that George and Charlotte had a happy marriage. This was in part evidenced by the fact that George never took a mistress during their 57 years together—a low bar, of course, but one that many of his family members still failed to clear.

Related: How to Read Julia Quinn's Bridgerton Books in Order

How many children did George and Charlotte have?

Some of the funniest moments in Queen Charlotte come in the “present-day” scenes, when adult Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) is interacting with her impossibly large number of offspring. This too is very much based on real life: George and Charlotte shared 15 children, all but two of whom survived into adulthood.

Charlotte’s freakout over her children’s failure to procreate is also based in truth. When the queen’s granddaughter Princess Charlotte died in 1817, she was George III’s only legitimate grandchild. The younger Charlotte was supposed to inherit the throne after the deaths of her grandfather and her father, George, Prince of Wales (who became George IV), but that obviously didn’t happen because she predeceased them both.

Eventually, George and Charlotte’s fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, saved the day. He and wife Princess Victoria welcomed a daughter, also named Victoria, in 1819. You’ve probably heard of her—she ruled England from 1837 to 1901 and was the great-great-grandmother of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Did King George III really struggle with mental illness?

As depicted on Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte, George suffered from an unidentified mental illness that eventually made it impossible for him to rule. The illness is not named in the show, but that’s actually true to the period, as doctors at the time weren’t sure what ailed him. The horrifying treatments shown in the series are also somewhat accurate, as doctors tried forcibly restraining George until he had calmed himself. (The mysterious Doctor Monro, played by Rob Maloney, is loosely based on Thomas Monro, who attended the king in 1811.)

George’s symptoms included periods of mania where he would repeat himself and speak for hours without stopping, but his first serious bout occurred well after he married Charlotte. Historians now think he may have had bipolar disorder or porphyria, a liver disorder that can affect the nervous system.

Was King George III really known as "Farmer George"?

Despite his illness, George was still a successful ruler for a number of years, thanks in part to his interest in developing England’s agricultural capabilities. Farmer George, as he called himself in the show, was a real nickname originally given to him by satirists, but it became more complimentary when the British Agricultural Revolution reached its peak under his reign.

George’s interest in astronomy, which was depicted in the series, was very real as well. He had an observatory built in 1769 so he could witness that year’s transit of Venus, and he funded astronomer William Herschel’s construction of a 40-foot telescope, then the biggest one ever built.

Was the Great Experiment real?

In the world of Bridgerton, society is integrated thanks in large part to the marriage of George, who is white, and Charlotte, who is Black. Their union inspires the ton to undertake “The Great Experiment,” which is what the show’s characters call the practice of interacting with families of different races and classes than their own.

The Great Experiment was invented for the show—and slavery wasn’t abolished in England until 1833—but it is true that some historians believe the real Charlotte was descended from African ancestors.

“We wanted to shine a light on that element and asked, ‘What if society embraced those differences in diversity and elevated people of color to prominent positions and ranks?’” director Tom Verica explained to Netflix ahead of Queen Charlotte’s premiere. “The Great Experiment allows us to reimagine what that world could have looked like if that part of Charlotte’s identity had been embraced.”

So, is the King and Queen’s Relationship in Queen Charlotte Based on a True Story?

The short answer is that it's inspired by a true story—but not meant to replace history books.

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