'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' explores King George's mental health issues as hinted in 'Bridgerton'
LONDON, ENGLAND: Netflix’s new prequel‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’ dropped on Thursday, May 4, and has already sparked many speculations among its viewers. While the show offers an exciting and fresh touch to the original ‘Bridgerton’ storyline, a lot has been explained in this new series. The creator of the show, Shonda Rhimes, timelines the story in two parts- portraying the young life of Queen Charlotte and King George III and, on the other side, highlighting an older Charlotte struggling with her 15 children.
Both shows are entirely based on fictional stories, illustrating historical royal art, romance, culture, and political and social issues of the monarch. The major talk of the new spin-off highly revolves around the struggles and life of young Queen Charlotte and King George III amidst his mental illness. Although ‘Bridgerton’ indicated its fans about King George III’s mental illness, it didn’t talk much about it.
RELATED ARTICLES
‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’ Episode 3 Review: King George’s illness revealed to the Queen
‘Bridgerton’ hints explained in ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’
In the ‘Bridgerton’ series, Shonda gave a clear hint to viewers concerning the mental illness of George through Queen Charlotte. The Queen is portrayed as deeply concerned about his health, being aware of his symptoms and helping him cope. Her devotion and concern for her husband highlight the love between them. However, the series does not provide a detailed explanation of his illness, nor is Charlotte seen explaining what exactly is wrong with him.
According to Julia Quinn’s books, King George III was always known to be the “mad king who lost America.” There are moments in history showcasing his mental illness. But Shonda gave the series a bit of ‘her own taste,' as per Insider.
The ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’ uncovers the epic love story of Charlotte and George III from the beginning. It discovers the real reason for his illness and how he struggled throughout. After he marries Charlotte, he separates himself from her, keeping his sickness a secret. Frustrated and angry, Charlotte tries to find the reason behind his distance, but the King hides the truth from her. Unfortunately, during one of his mental episodes, Charlotte finds him murmuring words, scratching the walls, and running naked to the garden, shouting at “Venus.” Although Reynolds (King’s right-hand man) doesn’t reveal the truth to the Queen, later, she finds it out. But episode 4 of ‘Queen Charlotte’ explains King George III’s mental illness and what he went through during his “wedding night.”
King George III likely suffered from bipolar disorder
There were many theories that ruled out stating the cause of King George III’s mental illness. For many years, it was believed that the King suffered from acute porphyria. However, with growing development and understanding of psychological illness, it is now believed that the king likely had bipolar disorder, as per LA Times. In addition, the fictional stories predicted blindness and dementia as well.
What was the ‘Tortured treatment’ King George III went through?
In ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,’ the king was seen going through torture and horrifying treatment to cure himself. Although he left Charlotte due to illness, his love for her encouraged him to adopt ‘bizarre treatments.’ He forced Dr Monro to treat him using any means necessary. The show highlights various instances of him undergoing treatment, being tied to a torture chair, having hot-cold baths, etc. Nonetheless, Charlotte rescued him from this torture and cared for him herself.
