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Who Do The Bridgerton Siblings Marry In The Books?
A rundown of each main character’s happily ever after.
Oh, those frisky Bridgertons. Ever since romance readers first met this Regency-era family in Julia Quinn’s 2000 novel, The Duke and I, they haven’t been able to get enough. And almost immediately after the Shondaland adaptation premiered on Netflix in late 2020, romance-loving TV audiences were hooked as well. The first season of Bridgerton saw doe-eyed eldest daughter Daphne marry the smoldering Duke of Hastings, and Season 2 saw Anthony find love with Kate Sharma. The latest installment, which premiered on May 16, is all about Colin’s friends-to-lovers romance with Penelope Featherington.
But who else marries whom in Bridgerton? If you just can’t wait to see the rest of the Bridgerton kids get hitched on the show, keep scrolling for all the details on their marriages and families as laid out in the books. Major spoilers for Netflix’s Bridgerton and Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series follow.
Set in the Regency era and spanning more than 14 years, the novels trace the ups and downs in the romantic lives of eight siblings: the sons and daughters of the late Edmund, Viscount Bridgerton, and his wife, Violet. In addition to the eight main titles of the Bridgerton series, Quinn has also published several companion titles, the spin-off Rokesby series, and many other non-Bridgerton-related titles. Altogether, it makes for a captivating, long-running story.
Here’s everything you need to know about each Bridgerton romance.
Daphne Bridgerton Marries Simon Basset, Duke Of Hastings, In The Duke And I
She wants to marry for love and raise a family. He has vowed never to marry or have children, all to spite his cruel father. Together, Daphne and Simon hatch a plan that will serve them both: As the Duke of Hastings’ obvious favorite, Daphne is sure to accrue dozens of proposals from London’s most eligible bachelors; meanwhile, with Daphne on his arm, Simon won’t be expected to feign interest in the city’s marriageable girls and their insistent mamas.
Unfortunately for these two lovebirds, their plan hits a major snag when Daphne’s eldest brother — who happens to be Simon’s best friend — catches them in a passionate embrace. Anthony demands that Simon marry his sister, but he refuses. They’re on the verge of dueling when Daphne, having learned that they were seen by someone other than Anthony, runs in to insist that Simon must marry her. If he doesn’t, her reputation will be tarnished, putting not only her future at stake, but her younger sisters’ prospects as well.
That’s not the only reason Daphne and Simon’s marriage gets off to a rocky start. The Duke of Hastings warns his wife that he will never be able to give her children, which Daphne takes to mean that he is sterile — and she’s happy to learn that he isn’t impotent. Inexperienced and largely uneducated about sex, however, Daphne doesn’t realize that her husband is using the withdrawal method to avoid getting her pregnant. When she discovers Simon’s lie, things... don’t go well.
Because The Duke and I is a romance novel, it doesn’t take long for the Duke and Duchess of Hastings to patch things over with one another. In The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, which takes place 28 years after the first novel, we learn that Daphne and Simon have had five children — all named alphabetically — and five grandchildren, as well. They are:
- Amelia, who marries Robert Joliffe, Viscount Lowestoft, with whom she has two sons, Charles and Thomas
- Belinda, who marries Kellan Butler, Earl of Wexford, with whom she has a daughter, May
- Caroline, who marries Lord Geoffrey Findlay-Watt, with whom she has two children, Henry and Victoria
- David, who is not married in Happily Ever After
- Edward, who is not married in Happily Ever After
Lord Anthony Bridgerton Marries Katharine Sheffield In The Viscount Who Loved Me
By the beginning of The Viscount Who Loved Me, Anthony’s been the Viscount Bridgerton for 12 years, ever since his father passed away at age 38 from an allergic reaction to a bee sting. He’s managed to convince himself that he will never live to be older than Edmund was, and so this reformed rake doesn’t see any use in marrying for love. Anthony just wants to find a smart and pretty wife, with whom he can make a new batch of smart and pretty Bridgertons to carry on his legacy.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Anthony pursues Edwina Sheffield. She’s the belle of all the London balls in the 1814 season, and she’d make a perfect wife, or so Anthony thinks. There’s just one problem: Edwina won’t marry anyone that her older half-sister, Kate, doesn’t approve of. It’s really too bad for Anthony, because Kate knows all about the young viscount’s history with women, and she’ll be damned if she’s going to let him marry Edwina.
Try as she might to hate Anthony, though, Kate always comes away from their interactions feeling flushed. She finally realizes that he’s truly good at heart when she sees him step in to stop someone from insulting Penelope Featherington. But just as she finally gives Anthony her approval to court Edwina, Kate’s stung on the chest by a bee, leaving the Viscount Bridgerton with no choice but to be valiant and rescue her... by sucking out the venom.
You guessed it. Just like Daphne and her duke, Kate and her viscount are caught in a compromising position. And they’re not seen by just anyone. Oh no, it’s Lady Violet, Mrs. Sheffield, and Mrs. Featherington who catch them clinging to one another. There’s no choice but for Anthony to marry Kate and save both her and Edwina’s reputations.
The drama doesn’t stop there, however. Anthony still doesn’t believe in marrying for love, and that includes falling for his own wife. Even as Anthony starts to have feelings for Kate, he keeps her at arm’s length. That’s pretty agonizing for the young viscountess, who was in love with him even before she agreed to let him marry Edwina.
When Anthony finally realizes he can’t stand to be apart from Kate any longer, he wastes no time in finding her, but it’s almost too late. Kate and Edwina are in a carriage accident that breaks Kate’s leg and leaves her pinned in the wreckage. Confronted with the very real possibility of his wife’s death, Anthony finally tells her he loves her, and explains his reasons for maintaining distance between the two of them.
In Happily Ever After, which takes place long after Anthony’s dreaded 39th birthday, we meet his and Kate’s four children: Edmund, Miles, Charlotte, and Mary.
Benedict Bridgerton Marries Sophia Beckett In An Offer From A Gentleman
Do you want a Cinderella-inspired Bridgerton story? Of course you do, and An Offer from a Gentleman is just that.
Life hasn’t been kind to Sophia “Sophie” Beckett. She’s the late Earl of Penwood’s bastard daughter, and the only thing stopping her stepmother Araminta from turning her out onto the streets is her father’s will, which gives his widow £6,000 a year if she cares for Sophie — and only £2,000 if she does not. Taking care of Sophie doesn’t mean being kind to her, however, and Araminta has seen to it that no one will mistake her for anything but a common bastard, forcing her to work as a servant to her step-relatives.
Thankfully, this Cinderella has a fairy godmother... sort of. When Araminta and her daughters are invited to Lady Violet’s masquerade ball, the other servants arrange for Sophie to attend in secret. There, she meets Benedict Bridgerton, who only has eyes for her. Sophie doesn’t give him her name, but when she leaves a distinct glove behind, one that could only have come from her late father’s household, Benedict pays Araminta a visit. He leaves without answers, and Sophie finds herself cast out of the house when her stepmother figures out what she’s done.
Two years later, Sophie’s working for a man who can’t keep his hands to himself. He ambushes her when she tries to leave his house, but Benedict — one of that night’s party guests — swoops in the moment he realizes something is amiss. Sophie loses her job, but Benedict promises to get her a position in the Bridgerton household.
Benedict doesn’t recognize Sophie from the masquerade ball, and she doesn’t tell him they’ve met before. That’s truly unfortunate, because Benedict has sworn not to marry before he has another chance to get to know his mysterious dance partner. Still, he can’t deny his feelings for Sophie, and so he asks her to be his mistress: an offer she turns down for fear of bringing her own bastard child into the world.
Frustrated and believing that he cannot marry a woman in service, Benedict continues to pursue an illicit relationship with Sophie until Colin and Lady Violet finally talk some sense into him. Just as he’s about to propose, however, Benedict finally realizes that Sophie is the woman from the ball. Angry that she did not tell him who she was, he picks a fight with Sophie — instead of, you know, telling her he wants to marry her.
Sophie quits her job, and Araminta quickly shows up to have Sophie arrested for stealing. After the arrest appears in Lady Whistledown’s bulletin, Benedict and Lady Violet visit Sophie in jail. There, they meet one of her stepsisters, Posy, who confesses to stealing from Araminta and reveals that the late Earl of Penwood left Sophie a handsome dowry... which Araminta spent on herself and her other daughter, Rosamund.
Things finally start to look up from there. Lady Violet concocts a backstory for Sophie and threatens Araminta with exposure if she tells anyone that Benedict’s fiancée is a bastard. She also extends an invitation to Posy to come live with the Bridgertons, who will undoubtedly treat her better than Araminta ever has.
Sophie and Benedict marry three days later. Happily Ever After introduces readers to their four children: Charles, Alexander, William, and Violet.
Colin Bridgerton Marries Penelope Featherington In Romancing Mister Bridgerton
Bridgerton Season 1 had everyone aching for total sweetheart Colin to realize that Penelope was in love with him. Alas, readers had to wait a very long time to see Eloise Bridgerton’s best friend get hitched.
Every romance reader knows that there’s usually at least one heartbreaking moment when you don’t think the heroine is going to wind up with her hero. That moment comes early in Romancing Mister Bridgerton, when Penelope overhears Colin announce to his brothers: “I am certainly not going to marry Penelope Featherington!” She musters her dignity and suggests to Anthony that Colin spend some time abroad before he chooses a wife.
Cut to 1824. Penelope has been in love with Colin for 12 years, ever since she was 15 years old. Now approaching 30 and decidedly an old maid, she’s not on anyone’s list of potential mates... which makes it all the worse when Colin returns to town, ready to marry. Still, the two old friends manage to pick up a little better than they left off, with Penelope getting a peek at Colin’s new writing endeavors and encouraging him to continue his work.
That’s not the only work Colin plans to pick up, however. Someone’s just promised a £1,000 purse to the person who uncovers Lady Whistledown’s true identity, which is still a mystery as of Romancing Mister Bridgerton. Determined to set himself apart from his older brothers, Colin sets out to win the prize and Penelope agrees to help him.
Spending lots of time with Penelope has an unexpected effect on Colin — he can’t get her out of his head. When he inevitably kisses her, what’s meant as a friendly joke turns into something bigger and more confusing.
He quits the house, leaving Penelope to believe that he only kissed her because he pitied her. He doesn’t get a chance to set the record straight before the ton is rocked by a shocking confession: Lady Twombley — formerly Cressida Cowper — outs herself as Lady Whistledown and claims the £1,000 prize for herself. Colin’s in for another shock, however. When he tries again to apologize, he stumbles upon the real secret: Penelope, not Lady Twombley, is Lady Whistledown.
Colin confronts Penelope and demands to know why she spent more than a decade risking her reputation to publish the society papers. They argue the whole way back home, but Colin proposes at the last minute. Penelope accepts, which means everything should be smooth sailing now, right?
Wrong. The Lady Whistledown column exposing Lady Twombley’s lie comes out a few days before schedule, on the night of Colin and Penelope’s engagement party. Cue more arguing between Colin and Penelope... which turns into a spicy pre-marital romp.
The column might have cleared the air regarding Lady Twombley, but she’s not out of Penelope’s life just yet. After Lady Twombley figures out that the soon-to-be Mrs. Colin Bridgerton has been spilling all of the London tea for the last 11 years, she blackmails her, asking for a whopping £10,000 to keep silent. That’s the final straw for Colin, who proudly announces Penelope’s achievements at their next social engagement.
By the events of Happily Ever After, Colin and Penelope have four children: Agatha, Thomas, Jane, and George.
Eloise Bridgerton Marries Sir Phillip Crane In To Sir Phillip, With Love
Would you marry a man you’d never met? If you were the adventurous and impulsive Eloise Bridgerton, you might!
Bridgerton Season 1 introduced fans to Marina Thompson, the Featheringtons’ cousin, who finds herself in an impossible situation when she learns that she is pregnant by her ex-lover, George, who has been called to war. Marina later finds out that George has been killed, when his brother, Phillip, arrives and proposes to her.
In the books, Marina is the Bridgertons’ distant cousin, who marries her fiancé’s brother after his death at Waterloo. Her marriage to Sir Phillip produces twins, Oliver and Amanda, but is cut short when Marina dies by suicide. After learning of her cousin’s death, Eloise writes to Sir Philip with her condolences. Her letter sets off a lengthy correspondence that ends when he asks her to visit him, in the hopes that they will be married.
Once Eloise has moved in with the Cranes, however, she begins to realize that Sir Phillip isn’t quite what she’d imagined. He’s distant, more concerned with his plants than his family, and he ignores his children’s attempts to get his attention. In spite of Eloise’s hopes that they would fall in love, Sir Phillip doesn’t want a wife. Oh sure, he’ll marry her, but only because he needs a mother for his children.
Unfortunately, it’s not like Eloise can back out of her relationship. After all, she turned up on Sir Phillip’s doorstep unannounced after receiving his letter, which left him with no chance to get them a chaperone. Of course, Eloise is 28 and unmarried, having refused her fair share of suitors, so it’s not like she has any other prospects, but that doesn’t mean it’s not scandalous — a point that the worried-sick Anthony makes when he finally tracks her down. (Yeah, she didn’t tell her family, either.)
Forced into marriage, Eloise soon discovers that Sir Phillip’s emotional distance isn’t just about his grief over Marina. He’s a big guy, rugged and oafish, and he’s got a lot of unpacked trauma. Free-spirited Eloise is just the right kind of woman to show him all the love he’s been missing out on, and then some.
In Happily Ever After, we learn that Amanda Crane has married Charles Farraday, and we meet Sir Philip and Eloise’s three youngsters: Penelope, Georgiana, and Frederick.
Francesca Bridgerton Marries John And Michael Stirling, 8th And 9th Earls Of Kilmartin, In When He Was Wicked
Francesca Bridgerton is all set to marry John Stirling, 8th Earl of Kilmartin, when she meets his cousin, Michael. Michael is instantly smitten, but he puts his feelings aside for John’s sake, and instead builds a deep and lasting friendship with Francesca. Then John dies unexpectedly, and nothing will ever be the same.
Michael’s inheritance hinged on one thing: the sex of Francesca’s baby. If the grieving widow has a son, then he would become the 9th Earl of Kilmartin. When she miscarries, Michael becomes his cousin’s official heir. Now, not only does he have a title, but his beloved cousin is dead, leaving his wife — the woman Michael still loves — to grieve the loss of both her husband and their baby. Michael doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, and so he runs away. To India. For four years.
It turns out the four years is exactly the amount of time Francesca needs to realize that she wants to remarry and have a child. She gets gussied up and heads for her old house in the ton... only to run smack into Michael, who’s just come back from India. For propriety’s sake, Francesca moves back into Lady Violet’s home until her former mother-in-law and Michael’s mother arrive to chaperone them. They both need to get married — and to have children — but neither of them thinks of the obvious solution until Colin points it out: Why don’t they just marry one another?
It’s a good plan, but Michael can’t figure out whether their marriage would insult his cousin’s memory. Meanwhile, Francesca’s received a lot of attention from London’s eligible bachelors, and Michael can’t stand it. When things finally come to a head in an argument between the two, they kiss. Now, it’s Francesca’s turn to run away. To Scotland.
Colin once again intervenes, and Michael heads off to Kilmartin to find Francesca and ask her to marry him. He first pitches the idea as a practical one — she keeps her title and gets a baby, he gets an heir, win-win — but when that fails to convince her, Michael calls on his rakish past to give her a little taste of what she’s in for as his wife. They have several steamy encounters before wedding bells ring, but — with Eloise having run off to marry Sir Phillip, and London’s most infamous gossip columnist ready to join the Bridgerton ranks — theirs is hardly the most scandalous union of the bunch.
Francesca and John’s marriage sadly did not produce any living children. She and Michael have two children, John and Janet, in Happily Ever After.
Hyacinth Bridgerton Marries Gareth St. Clair In It’s In His Kiss
If you thought Simon Basset’s relationship with his father was bad, wait until you get a load of Gareth St. Clair. The second son of a baron, he’s grown up in his brother’s shadow and has been routinely slighted by their father. Baron St. Clair tried to arrange a marriage for Gareth when he was a teenager, to a young woman with intellectual disabilities. Their marriage would have brought some much-needed money to the St. Clair coffers, but Gareth refused. His father denied him any further financial support and revealed the reason for the long years of animosity between them: Gareth is not his biological son, but the product of his mother’s affair with an unknown man.
Fast forward a few years and Gareth becomes heir to the baronetcy when his older brother passes away unexpectedly. Baron St. Clair hasn’t completely disinherited him, but he has decided to bankrupt the estate before his son inherits it. The only thing Gareth wants is his paternal grandmother’s old diary, which purportedly contains the name of his father, along with several other family secrets. There’s just one problem: It’s written in Italian, which Gareth doesn’t read.
Thankfully, Hyacinth Bridgerton does. The youngest of the late viscount’s eight children agrees to help Gareth translate the diary, not knowing what it contains. She’s entering her fourth season on the marriage market and his maternal grandmother thinks they’re an excellent match, so no one’s going to say anything about the two of them spending time together. And the longer they work together on the mystery journal, which includes a rumor about some jewels hidden in the baron’s estate, the closer Hyacinth and Gareth get, until he finally pops the question.
But, even with everyone’s approval — including Anthony’s! — and a yes from his bride-to-be, Gareth can’t help but fixate on his father’s smugness. Baron St. Clair knows that he holds the power to ruin Gareth’s fortune forever, and he’s just waiting on Hyacinth to find out and leave him, all so he can gloat.
Gareth decides to get ahead of the story by telling Hyacinth himself. She’s surprisingly receptive when she learns that her husband-to-be is a bastard, but when she learns that Baron St. Clair taunted his son into proposing to her, she’s angry and feels as if his proposal wasn’t heartfelt.
While they’re on the outs, Hyacinth finally reaches the big reveal about Gareth’s parentage. He’s the son of the baron’s brother, which means he’s still part of the family, and therefore less likely to be disinherited. She tells him the news, which they then break to his father — or uncle? — together. Gareth proposes again, this time from the heart.
Like Francesa and Sir Philip, Hyacinth and Gareth have only two children — George and Isabella — whom we meet in Happily Ever After. By that time, Gareth has become Baron St. Clair, and Isabella has found the hidden jewels... but told no one.
Gregory Bridgerton Marries Lady Lucinda Abernathy In On The Way To The Wedding
Gregory Bridgerton wants to make a love match, and he’s set his sights on this season’s diamond, Hermione Watson. With so many men vying for Hermione’s affections, however, Gregory needs a way to stand out from the pack if he wants her hand.
Enter Hermione’s best friend: Lady Lucinda “Lucy” Abernathy. She’s not out yet, but she’s already betrothed to Lord Haselby, so she has no problem helping Gregory win Hermione over. They’ve got their work cut out for them, however, because Hermione is already in love with her father’s secretary — a doomed match if ever there was one. Lucy wants to find Hermione a suitable bachelor, but her friend just isn’t interested in marrying anyone she meets in town.
Until Richard, Earl of Fennsworth, comes along. He’s got the hots for Hermione like every other straight man in London, but he’s the one who finally gets her to notice him. Richard proposes and Hermione accepts, much to Gregory’s chagrin.
After she shares an awkward, drunken kiss with Gregory on the night of her brother’s engagement, Lucy retreats to her uncle’s home. She’s held there at the insistence of her fiancé’s father, who wants London society to meet her only after she’s married his son. He also makes her feel more like a horse he’s chosen for breeding than a daughter-in-law, which only compounds Lucy’s misery.
When Gregory and Lucy finally run into one another again, he tries to invite her to a ball at Daphne’s home, only to learn that she’s not to attend any fêtes until she’s married to Lord Haselby. Gregory insists that he can find a way to get her to the ball, and enlists Lady Violet’s help.
Once the party’s in full swing, Hyacinth joins in to help get the two some much-needed alone time, and Gregory tries to sway Lucy into breaking her engagement to Lord Haselby — who, it turns out, is gay. Lucy tries to tell her uncle that she wants to cancel the wedding, but he insists that she must marry the son of the nasty old earl. Otherwise, everyone in England will know that her father betrayed his country. Her fortune, along with Richard’s and Hermione’s, would be ruined.
And so, she and Gregory have one night of illicit passion before she heads off to the church to marry a man she does not love. Gregory tries to interrupt the wedding, but it’s of no use. Lucy marries Lord Haselby right in front of him.
There’s still hope for Lucy Bridgerton yet, however! She and her husband don’t consummate their marriage, so it can still be annulled, but Gregory’s going to need some help to make things right. He enlists two unlikely allies, Richard and Lord Haselby, who are outraged at the earl’s gross way of finding his son a wife. Together, they go to tell Lucy’s uncle... only to learn that he was the man being blackmailed all along.
With her uncle’s name rendered into mud, but her father’s reputation left intact, Lucy has her marriage to Lord Haselby annulled. His father is disgraced as a traitor as well, and Lucy’s uncle is forced out of England, which means there are no villains around to keep her from marrying Gregory and having a boatload of children.
Which they do! Happily Ever After reveals that Gregory and Lucy are a family of 11. Their children are: Katharine, Richard, Hermione, Daphne, Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Eloise, and Francesca.
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