What Bridgerton Gets Right (and Wrong) About Regency London

Bridgerton is a completely fictional show but it uses regency-era London as a setting. I have watched it and found it quite fun, but decided to delve deeper to uncover what elements were imagined or not. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, real life was even more dramatic than the show.

Sources
"George IV" by E. A. Smith
"Inside the World of Bridgerton" by C. Curzon
"Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency" by S. David
"The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain" by Ian Mortimer

Photo/Art Credits (in order of appearance)
All depictions of Bridgerton are the intellectual property of Netflix, Inc or associated rights holders
"Ranger's House" by Ricardalovesmonuments
"George III in Coronation Robes" by Allan Ramsay
"George III and Queen Charlotte with their thirteen children" by Thomas Stothard
"St. James Palace, Pall Mall" by Thomas Shepherd
"King George III" by William Beechey
"Princess Amelia" by William Beechey
"George IV" by Thomas Lawrence
"Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover" by James Lonsdale
"Maria Anne Fitzherbert" by Joshua Reynolds
"Carlton House Circular Room" by Charles Wild
"Windsor Castle" by Paul Sandby
"George IV (Coronation)" by Thomas Lawrence
"North Front of Carlton House" by Richard Reeve
"Carlton House Conservatory" by Charles Wild
"Carlton House Main Staircase" by Charles Wild
"Printed Banyan" by Unknown
"Princess Charlotte" by Thomas Lawrence
"Queen Charlotte" by Thomas Gainsborough
"Jane Austen" by Cassandra Austen
"Queen Charlotte" by Benjamin West
Assorted Outfits (Victoria and Albert Museum)
"Lady Emily Lamb" by Thomas Lawrence
"John Fawcett" by Thomas Lawrence
"John Motley" by Thomas Philips
"Wilhelmina Bowlby" by Thomas Lawrence
"Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington" by Thomas Lawrence
"Peter Leopold Nassau Cowper" by John Hoppner
"Julia, Lady Peel" by Thomas Lawrence
"Sir Joseph Banks" by Thomas Philips
"Warren Hastings" by Thomas Lawrence
"Miss Marthe Carre" by Thomas Lawrence
"Mirza Hassan Khan" by Thomas Lawrence
"Mr and Mrs William Lindow" by George Romney
"Elizabeth Taylor" by George Romney
"Amelia Stewart" by Thomas Lawrence
"Sarah Sophia Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey" by Alfred Edward Chalon
"David Lyon" by Thomas Lawrence
"Elizabeth Ramus" by George Romney
"Sally Siddons" by Thomas Lawrence
"The British Institution" by Thomas Rowlandson
Assorted Fashion Prints by way of thegraphicsfairy
Assorted Fashion Prints by Rudolph Ackermann
"Drury Lane Theatre" by Thomas Rowlandson
"Quae Genus Gives a Grand Party" by Thomas Rowlandson
"Quae Genus Committed, with a Riotous Dancing Party, to the Watch-House" by Thomas Rowlandson
"Almack's Assembly Rooms" by George Cruikshank
"Willis Rooms, King Street, London" by Thomas Shepherd
"Clementina Sarah Drummond, Lady Willoughby de Eresby" by Thomas Lawrence
"Maria Theresia of Thurn und Taxis Princess Esterhazy" by Ernst Lafite
"Dorothea von Lieven" by Unknown
"Miss Mary Tadman" by John Smart
"3rd Viscount Palmerston" by Carl Wildt
"Execution of Louis XVI" by Georg Heinrich Sieveking
"The sorrows of Boney, or meditations in the island of Elba" by John Wallis
"Royalty in a rage or family quarrels" by Robert Cruikshank
"Queen Victoria of England" by Alexander Melville
"Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward" by Luke Fildes
"Amritsar Massacre" by Unknown

Further Assets from Epidemic Sound, Storyblocks, Envato Elements and Provideofactory

[LetitiaViolet]

The chalk on the floor in ballrooms had a practical purpose. They used to chalk their shoes so they didn't slip on the floor while dancing before they began making an art form of chalking designs on the floor.

[kuroneko]

You forgot that woman also had to learn to lead the houshold, most of that work of course would be done from the staff and overseen by the housekeeper but as the Lady of the House you had to oversee that they make a good Job. You where in charge to hire staff for the household and see as well as hiring Nannys, tutors and Governesses for the Children. Oh and you had to be able to plan social functions as well. Yes, all this was to please the men in your live and match social expectations but those are still importent tasks the Lady of the House had to deal with and oversee since she would have to take the blame if something went wrong.

[carolshannon]

You raise some very good points. We always like to think of things as simpler in the past, the further back in the past the simpler things were. But people are people, and things are never simple between people. Cultures are nothing more than a set of unspoken rules, internal stories that justify/demand those rules, and people jostling up against those rules while trying to live their lives. Great video!

[animallover]

Actually, the Fearringtons' are Barons. Lower than the Bridgerton's but still in the peerage.

[baniboo]

Interesting video. Of course ultimately the changes in Bridgerton are done to entertain and to modernize a period piece. We're all aware that 18th century aristocracy were not tolerant in the slightest, but it's not something that needs to be accurate in a romantic drama that's meant to take us out of reality. They're very blatant about the fact that they're not trying to be historically accurate. But comparing it with how society actually functionated was very educational!

[explodingmangos]

7:27 actually the Featheringtons are Barons, but idk if they ever touch on that outside of the first episode

[authorccdragon]

Lord Featherington was a Baron...not as high as a Viscount but not untitled.

[unique]

I did like the video exploring this topic, but the speed was very slow, and the pronunciation was very stilted. It felt like an AI voice readover . Please consider changing the speed and diction in the future. Thanks

[elizabethrambo]

“bishop” is not a viable job choice unless the young man starts at the bottom as “parish priest.”

[OcarinaSapphr-]

They added what they wanted to, & ignored whatever they felt like, for the drama; things like chaperonage matter- until they don't - society expectation matters, until it doesn't.
The biggest issue for me: it's a bit strange that people who historically would have been growing up, knowing only war (1789-1813, when the show starts - meaning 24 years have passed, from the Revolution - 'present day'- with a brief period or two of short-lived 'peace'- & by the time the wars end, the better part of **3 **_decades_**** will have passed); yet there's next to no references to the Revolution/ Napoleonic Wars, here - the Navy seems to be non-existent, & there seems to literally be only two men in the Army connected to Society; Marina's lover, & the general/ general's wife that Daphne gets in contact with- the Peninsula campaign is given all of a minute of reference when Marina & Pen are talking about Sir George.
There's no officers on leave at any party - no mention of something like- an officer using his matured prize money to acquire a baronetcy^ - no soldiers billeted in Hastings' village, in preparation for deployment - next to no one mentions _anything_ related to the wars, there's no hint of it outside of its' direct impact on the immediate plot- & then it at once disappears into the ether, as if it were never there - there's no foreign dignitaries, representing England's allies- foreign nobles displaced by the chaos of the wars^^ - no poor veterans in the neighbourhood Portia & Marina stop in - nor comments about fundraising for officer's widows, to give them a pension (given all the issues over inheritance & Primogeniture, it could have been a pertinent topic to touch on for a side character, maybe) - no disabled officers (they had a dude in a wheelchair at the balls for crying out loud- *_one_* conversation to reference it being the result of a battlefield injury, could have been something- there was historical precedent in Nelson; he lost an arm & an eye! Yet he was a popular inclusion at parties. Hell, they could have thrown in a 'Sharpe', 'Hornblower', or 'Master & Commander' Easter-egg)

People *cared* about what was going on in the world around them, no matter what their social class; the idea that the wars - just somehow wouldn't register with them, because they're rich gits who care only about gossip & getting their ends away, is absurd- a ton of officers (ie. of the upper classes) were wounded & *died* (friends, acquaintances, relations, & *_family members_* ). It's ludicrous that it warrants no mention beyond the most minor & superficial.
And as for a commenter who said Jane Austen's stories had 'minimal' references to military matters... *the **_hero/ love interest_* of 'Persuasion' was *in the Navy* (as were most of Jane's brothers- she was *very* aware of what was going on. But people who make comments like that are ignoring that her writing was forced to have a certain form, because she was 'a lady'/ genteel- & even then, she was as subversive as she dare be at the time -- this is what happens when people only watch adaptations, without reading her actual writing- to understand why an author like her stands the test of time; she *had* to be creative with how she wrote, in how she phrased things- to get published - people who've read her work more closely understand how she was masterful in using subtle language to critique _numerous_ things).

These showrunners & writers seem to have an odd view on how narrow the world of the English upper class was, they were *all* discussing world events, even the ladies- & the very obvious & shallow 'pick-&-choose' of what history/ social factors they want to include, smacks of chronological snobbery; the American Fetherington cousin is another can of worms that I don't have the mental bandwidth to critique at this point, I'll just say: _remember that the Napoleonic Wars are going on at the moment, & _*_where_*_ America stood_ -- in the 'Queen Charlotte spinoff- they cover flashbacks to Queen Charlotte's wedding & the early weeks/ months of their marriage -- while the present-day book-end covers Princess Charlotte's death- the succession crisis it sparked, & the resulting future Queen Victoria's conception - but *nothing* about the Napoleonic Wars- it's 1815 at this point - & _no one's_ talking about Waterloo?!!!! When it would have unquestionably been **THE** talking point of drawing rooms & ballrooms.
However, 'slight' flaw or two: the year of Princess Charlotte's death was *wrong*, & Queen Victoria's somehow conceived 2-3 years _before_ her birth- to say nothing of the fact that there's a portrait of Queen Victoria at her coronation, & one of Prince Albert on the wall- during Queen Charlotte's Wedding dance...

I understand that they're doing 'fantasy/ alternate history' here - but this whole 'Hur dur- it’s obviously not historically accurate; it’s meant to be lighthearted & fun- hur dur' - it's so asinine. Either commit to the goddamn world you're portraying, or don't bother -- I _had_ been willing to give it a chance, when I thought it was just colour-blind casting- but it's gotten progressively worse, so I'm done with it; it's nothing more than Gossip Girl-lite in an unintelligent & shallow Regency skin-suit...



^There was a doco/ reality TV-type show called 'Regency House Party' that- even with some flaws- was still a great watch; it included popular interests of the time, like science & sports - there were characters like a Naval officer (who I loved) & an army officer (who was lame)- the former's 'character' being based on his ancestor- which I thought was so clever.
^^One of the women in the series was playing an impoverished emigre` Russian countess- whose story was, that she had to hide her financial state- to make an advantageous match. There was a companion (a young woman who was of the right 'class', but had no money), & another that was an early industrial heiress.

[petebartlett]

It’s a fantasy piece, loosely based on events, and history…
It’s commercial tv

[anotherjunkie]

Not true. Lord Featherington was an earl.

[siyrean]

I think your speed is off. Did you accidentally slow it down?

[silviahannak]

Ok true. It's not a Political Story but it has also the Things about Classes. It is not a gustoric Drama and It's not always like the Books. It's Period Drama. If you don't get it. It is fiction. Love Drama. If you want Politics in it than it would beca different Genre. D u d e. Maybe watch something else? It's about Love Stories. Go watch Napoleon. If this is historical correct. Some Period Shows also have Difficulties. Ehm sorry, It's no political Drama. What Point didn't you get?

[dolorescordell]

Clothes and hair?? Totally fanciful fabrics and outlandish hair styles, almost to the absurd.

[SofiiGolding]

There was a war raging. Second or third sons had certain other jobs to fulfill. Many were officers. Trade was looked down upon for a while but it became necessary to become less snobby because business people had more money than poor aristocrats. There are many things that was pointed out here that was missed in these series which became more outlandish every season. Cressida Cowper and her ridiculous outfits. What on earth? The first season made more sense, then things got crazier in the third season. It’s too much.those blinding outfits were so over the top. It’s like they had tossed the rule book out the window and gave up.