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Yes, King George From Queen Charlotte Is The King From Hamilton
The projects take very different approaches to history.
As Lady Whistledown explains at the beginning of Netflix’s new Bridgerton prequel, “This is the story of Queen Charlotte from Bridgerton. It is not a history lesson. It is fiction inspired by fact. All liberties taken by the author are quite intentional.” The handy disclaimer makes it easy to turn off fact-checking mode (this isn’t The Crown!) and slip into the fantasy of the royal, rollercoaster romance. But it also has the effect of catching viewers off guard when bits of real-life history manage to slip through: like the fact that Queen Charlotte’s King George is King George III, who reigned during the American Revolution. Yes, this also means he’s the same king from Hamilton.
This might be an obvious connection to some viewers — but if you didn’t catch it the first time around, you’re not alone! For starters, their depictions are very different. Hamilton’s King George sings “You’ll be back” with white hair curling under his crown, while Queen Charlotte’s sports dark hair and a pretty modern cut. Yes, the Queen Charlotte character is a younger version, and the Hamilton character’s hair was probably a powdered wig. But still, it’s hard to look at Corey Mylchreest and register that his character is the same guy the Founding Fathers would call a “tyrant” in the Declaration of Independence, prompting the very creation of the United States as we know it.
And, of course, Queen Charlotte explores a very different side of the monarch. In the Netflix series, he’s a young man juggling royal pressures, a mysterious illness, and his rocky arranged marriage with the titular queen. Yes, you’ll hear the occasional reference to the political side of his job. In Episode 6, for example, George briefly mentions the colonies while preparing a speech for Parliament — but in general, his personal life takes center stage.
It’s a far cry from the man we met in Hamilton (originated on Broadway by Jonathan Groff), who only sings about love when he’s using it as a manipulation tactic against the colonies: “You say our love is draining, and you can’t go on / You’ll be the one complaining when I am gone.”
In the Tony-winning musical — and in your history class, probably — you didn’t really learn much about George’s illness or relationship. So if it took a while for the realization to settle in, don’t worry!
Viewers took to Twitter to share their surprise.
As many pointed out, it’s jarring to think that Queen Charlotte and Hamilton’s kings are the same guy — with several praising the creative chops it took to tell such different stories.
Others said Queen Charlotte made them revisit Hamilton — which does sound like quite the double feature.
