Dearest gentle reader, clear your diary and hide the remote from the kids. The Bridgerton spinoff we’ve all been quietly begging for is officially happening.
Netflix and Shondaland have confirmed a brand new Bridgerton Lady Violet prequel, telling the story of how a young Violet Ledger met and fell head over heels for Viscount Edmund Bridgerton. Yes, THAT love story. The one that gave us eight children, a lifetime of matchmaking and more misty-eyed flashbacks than we can count.
What do we know about the Lady Violet Bridgerton prequel?
For now, it’s an untitled limited series that Netflix is simply calling the “untitled Bridgerton project”. The streamer says it will follow a similar rollout to Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, so fans have already nicknamed it Lady Violet: A Bridgerton Story. Seems fair to us.
The creative team is a very good sign. Shonda Rhimes is writing and co-showrunning alongside Nicholas Nardini, who wrote on Queen Charlotte. Tom Verica will direct and executive produce, and longtime Shondaland partner Betsy Beers is on board as executive producer too.
Rhimes has been flirting with this idea for years. While writing Queen Charlotte, she admitted she became very interested in Violet’s story. Clearly, that interest stuck.
What we don’t have yet: no cast, no official title, no filming dates and no premiere date. So if you were hoping to binge it over the summer school holidays, we’d settle in for a bit of a wait.
Who is Lady Violet Bridgerton? A quick refresher
Most of us know Violet as the warm, wise and gently meddling matriarch played by Ruth Gemmell. She raised eight kids, Anthony, through to Hyacinth, and named them in alphabetical order. Honestly, the most organised thing any mum has ever done.
Before she was a Bridgerton, she was Violet Ledger. We met her younger self in Queen Charlotte, played by Connie Jenkins-Greig, as a kind and curious teenager yet to enter the marriage mart.
That series also dropped a juicy family secret. Violet’s father, Lord Ledger, had an affair with a young Agatha Danbury, who later became Violet’s closest friend. Awkward … and very Bridgerton.
Here’s the exciting bit. Queen Charlotte is set in 1761, while Bridgerton season one kicks off in 1813. That’s more than 50 years of untold story for the new series to fill.
Violet and Edmund: the love match that started it all
There’s a reason Violet is so determined to see every one of her children marry for love. She had a true love match herself, in a world where most marriages were about money, titles and land.
We’ve only seen glimpses of Edmund so far. Rupert Evans played him in season two flashbacks as a devoted husband and doting dad, the kind of man whose absence still shapes every Bridgerton dinner table years later.
Shondaland says the new series will reveal how Violet met and fell in love with Edmund, whose eventual tragic death looms over his wife and children. So expect swoons, and expect to need a box of tissues.
How did Edmund Bridgerton die?
If you’ve forgotten, brace yourself. Edmund died suddenly from a bee sting, suffering a fatal allergic reaction while a young Anthony watched helplessly. Violet was heavily pregnant with their youngest, Hyacinth, at the time.
It’s the moment that defines the whole family. It explains Anthony’s terror of falling in love in season two. It also explains Violet’s quiet grief, and why opening her heart to Lord Marcus Anderson in later seasons felt like such a big deal.
For mums, this is where the story really lands. Behind the gowns and the gossip, it’s a story about losing your person, raising eight kids on your own and slowly finding joy again. Plenty of us will feel that one.
Is there a book about Violet and Edmund?
Sort of. Author Julia Quinn wrote a short novella called Violet in Bloom, which covers the couple’s courtship. Quinn has said a full novel about them would be too bittersweet, given how their story ends.
That means the show has a little source material and a lot of room to play, just like Queen Charlotte did.
Who could play young Violet and Edmund?
Nothing is confirmed, and it’s not yet clear whether Connie Jenkins-Greig will reprise the role. Fans have a clear favourite for Edmund, though. Jonah Hauer-King, Prince Eric in the live-action The Little Mermaid, has been the internet’s pick for years.
When can we watch it?
There’s no release date yet. In the meantime, Bridgerton season five, centred on Francesca, is in production and due in 2027. All four seasons of Bridgerton, plus Queen Charlotte, are streaming on Netflix now, making for a perfect rewatch while we wait.
One thing’s for sure. After years of hearing about Violet’s great love, we’re finally going to see it. We’ll be first in line, tissues in hand.
You might also like:
- A Spectacular Bridgerton Wedding: Abby and Tiago’s Love Story Like No Other!
- 17 Reasons We’ve Fallen in Love with Bridgerton. Do You Agree?
