If there’s a thing Queen Charlotte does well it’s justify its existence. The narrative purpose of the show is pretty clear from the beginning, but the show never loses sight of the question it has to answer, as it tries to weave a tale of politics, family, and yes, love in front of our eyes. The answer to the question it poses, the question that justifies the show’s existence, might not be the one people expect — or even the one they want, but there is an answer.
Considering that question is who is Queen Charlotte and why, exactly, should we care about her, it’s no surprise that the show does take you on a journey that makes you care for the titular character. Bridgerton had only ever given us Queen Charlotte as a plot device, but the show that bears her name gives us Queen Charlotte, both in the present and in the past, for who she is. That’s both a good thing and at times, a bad thing — which in turn ends up being a real thing. No one is all good, or all bad.
In this regard, Queen Charlotte is both a character exploration and yes, in some ways, a romance. It follows romance genre beats much more closely than Bridgerton Season 2, with internal obstacles instead of a love triangle that came out of nowhere and no one wanted. But it also spends a lot of time on who Charlotte, and yes, George are as people — and how their romance ended up shaping not just the Royal Family, but the world they inhabit.
In this regard, India Amarteifio and Corey Mylchreest are the standout stars of the show, without a doubt. Amarteifio totally owns the role of young Queen Charlotte, and she both feels like she will one day become the Queen we know and that she could have been so many other things, had her life been different. There’s a vibrancy to her performance, a sense of ownership to what she’s creating, that makes you forget this is just the younger version of a character you already knew. Amarteifio is Queen Charlotte, as simple as that.
Mylchreest, meanwhile, makes King George a character that we actually care about. The strength of the show — or at least of the romance — always hinged on his performance. Amarteifio could be good on her own, but when so much of the story of Queen Charlotte we know was about her love for King George, the show needed us to believe in that love, and for that, Mylchreest had to charm us as well as Charlotte. That he not only succeeds, but that he makes us care for George outside of King George, and outside of the romance, might just be the show’s biggest surprise, and also one of its biggest strengths.
There’s more, of course. There are compelling secondary characters and a story that, at times, has more depth than one would expect. There are moments of tenderness and joy that feel almost too intimate to be part of a show. And there’s a sense that, even if this isn’t fully a romance, there is enough of a romance in it for fans of the genre to enjoy.
If anything, though, Queen Charlotte provides a great contrast for the second season of Bridgerton. Everything that works about George and Charlotte’s romance is what the second season should have given Kate and Anthony. And though we will see both of them again in Bridgerton Season 3, the focus will then rightfully be on Penelope and Colin.
Queen Charlotte is a reminder that, yes, these stories, about love, trauma, and fear can indeed be told in this setting. Hopefully, Bridgerton Season 3 can get back to that. But even if they do, Season 2 will always remain a missed opportunity.
However, Queen Charlotte deserves to be judged not by the successes or failures of Bridgerton. There’s enough here for the show to stand on its own two feet. There’s a woman who grew into the Queen she needed to be, even if not always the one she wanted to be. There’s a man who, perhaps, was better suited to be someone’s husband than a country’s King. There’s the country — the world — they changed, together, for better or worse. And there are those beautiful moments that will make you hold your breath and wonder if, perhaps, you are experiencing magic.
And that, well …that’s more than enough.
Queen Charlotte will be available to stream on Netflix on May 4th.