Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
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One could argue it is needed because, well, what do we know about our erstwhile king?
He likes stars and farming?
He is good in bed?
He suffers from a nonspecific mental illness that he will grapple with for the rest of his life?
If you were hoping to learn a lot more about the latter, you are in luck!
Allow me to put on my Nonspecific English Degree hat on (literature, maybe?
I truly couldnt say) and provide you with a quick background on King George III and his madness.
This would certainly bother me in a contemporary show, where real medical practices would likely be utilized.
And still, it is a punishing episode.
After spinning back in time, we end up a week before Georges wedding.
They surround George, who is silently sitting in a chair as they debate his care.
This, of course, is treasonous to suggest, and everyone reacts with the appropriate outrage.
Dr. Monro is unbothered by this and grabs Georges face to give him an old-fashioned talking-to.
You command an entire kingdom.
you’re able to command yourself too.
George blinks and seems, if notfine,certainly more in command of his own mind.
I must confess that this tricked me.
Did I truly think thatQueen Charlottewas going to introduce talk therapy and mood stabilizers to this AU England?
Moments before the wedding, Brimsley murmurs to Reynolds that Charlotte is straight-up MIA.
Dr. Monro is there and reassures George that he is perfectly all right.
Then he backhands him.
It does not get any better!
In fact, I would boldly call the majority of this episode a super bummer.
Charlotte gets up and has her meals alone while Dr. Monro repeatedly dunks Georges head in an ice bath.
Charlotte wanderers through the orangery while George is tied to a chair and … leeched?
Is that the proper tense?
It is all deeply unpleasant, and it goes on forso long.
I trust you might hear how big and sarcastic those air quotes are.
And we know this victory is a hollow one.
The king is furious.
Dr. Monro coolly responds that the queen is pregnant and happened to hear that the kings doctor is around.
Im sure she just wants to get to know her mother-in-law better!
Has Your Highness ever tried cutting mutton with a dull knife?
Charlotte asks after bursting into the room.
Ah, not a time for bonding, then.
To her credit, Princess Augusta tries to play this off, claiming she is not a Shakespeare enthusiast.
First of all, maam, I hoped you would have better taste!
Second of all,thats the one about the mad king.
Im no queen or anything, but that does seem like a big risk to take.
Is that something you are familiar with?
Clearly, she had not counted on Charlotte.
Strap me back in.
Hmmm, something tells me this isnt going to go great!
Sorrows, Sorrows.
If you guessed because she never served as queen, you are right!
King Georges father, Frederick, died before his father, King George II.
Thus, Augusta was only ever the Princess of Wales and Dowager Princess after her husband died.
Something I thought was very sweet in this otherwise painful episode was how much Reynolds really loves George!
Nevertheless, I was touched, and that is my truth!
