Queen Charlotte is not an outfit repeater. Nor would she ever wear the same wig twice. That would be unbecoming — and uncharacteristic.
In fact, the queen’s singular fashion sense gave the hair and makeup team for Bridgerton, headed in its first season by Marc Pilcher — who won an Emmy award for his work on the series — a clear direction for the powerful regent. “Everything is big and out there because she’s there to impress,” Pilcher, who died from COVID-19 in October 2021, explained to Netflix last year.
Early discussions between Pilcher and Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton’s creator and showrunner, determined that the queen would wear a different wig every time she appeared on screen — and that the wigs would always match her outfits. “She’s got nothing else to do,” said Pilcher. “She’s waiting for her husband to die, and she’s quite bored.”
The final wigs were a real team effort, with Golda Rosheuvel, who plays the glamorous queen, collaborating on different looks with Pilcher and Adam James Phillips, the designer of each of the wigs. “I think he is a genius,” Rosheuvel said of Phillips. “He really involved me in the decisions and allowed me to bring my own ideas.”
“I went to him at one point with African wraps that I found on the internet,” she said. “He came back with a wig that has a real African feel to it, yet still steeped in Regency curls.”
While the queen’s penchant for wigs — and tall ones at that — was intense, not everyone in 1813 high society felt the same way. “Regency England was actually a really exciting period,” said Pilcher, “because [people] started to pull away from the strictness of the massive dresses and wigs.”
Not Queen Charlotte, though — something Bridgerton executive producer Shonda Rhimes really appreciated. “The beauty of getting to make the show was that we got to bring to life all of the incredibly gorgeous, lush, amazing things that are there for the taking in Regency England,” she said.
And Season 2’s wigs have been no exception. But this time around, the Bridgerton production team built a neck brace for Rosheuvel, since, after all, heavy is the head that wears the crown — and the wigs. “The amazing crew guys built me this thing,” she described at a Bridgerton superfan event, attended by Tudum. “So it gets linked onto the chair, and I can lean back on it, and it comes around and I can just literally rest my chin. It’s really great. I was really chuffed about it.”
As the queen’s humble subjects, we are compelled to bestow our own admiration for the great heights her wigs have reached in the series. Below, we’ve assembled a gallery of all Her Majesty’s hair creations in Seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton. They’re ranked by height, but, in case you’re wondering, no, the queen’s curls are not necessarily full of secrets.
We find the queen at leisure in her shortest coif, but sadly not enjoying her relaxation time, as she discovers that Lady Whistledown’s latest dispatch neglects to mention the queen’s recent luncheon during which she rather unceremoniously threw out the Featheringtons. Wonder why…
Queen Charlotte’s ribbons pack more punch than the marriage mart this season; the lack of even a single announcement of a compelling proposal has left the queen terribly unexcited.
The queen is a woman on a mission — and we don’t just mean in terms of wig height. Rather, she’s busy imploring her nephew, Prince Friedrich (Freddie Stroma), to get busy charming this season’s diamond, Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor). After all, “Her heart is no matter, as long as her hand remains free.”
The queen is never wrong, of course, but she is free to ponder that she may have been a bit hasty in the naming of her diamond.
The queen — and her corgis — do not like to be left waiting, so she takes it upon herself to kick the season into high gear by inviting Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) to tea.
Devoted to her family, the queen only wants the best for her nephew and voices her displeasure with Daphne’s betrothal to the Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page).
As it’s Regency England, perhaps we should say they’re not to be thrown under the carriage? Her Majesty does not take kindly to Lady Whistledown hurling blame in her direction for the royal wedding not going as intended.
The queen is on her way to what shall be the wedding of the season — or, dare we venture, the century — if she has anything to say about it. Here, we see her attending to every last detail to make her diamond’s wedding a practically perfect affair.
The queen adores her husband and is pained to see his illness consume him. Instead of hiding secrets, this wig hides sorrows.
The queen sympathizes with Simon and Daphne’s plea for a special marriage license once she learns that their potential union would be rooted in the best foundation it could possibly have — friendship.
The queen has 100 guineas wagered on there being a Hastings heir within the year, so Daphne and Simon had better see to satisfying their monarch — and soon.
Without Whistledown’s post to keep her occupied, Her Majesty summons her dear friend Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) for some stimulating conversation… and an update on the latest gossip of the ton.
Good things come to those who wait — including waiting for the queen to take her measured time naming the season’s incomparable. ’Tis not a decision to be taken lightly.
Just when Her Majesty thought she had the true identity of Lady Whistledown in her grasp, her whole theory unravels after the latest scandal sheet slings mud at her prime suspect.
The queen may be giving Lady Danbury and the Sharmas a tour of her royal menagerie, but perhaps the greatest attraction on display is her powder blue-on-blue ensemble.
Lady Whistledown may ruffle the queen’s pink hair ribbons, but the scribe’s call for the season’s diamond to do more than just shine is a challenge the queen accepts with the aplomb worthy of such royalty.
Young men — including princes — need a push now and again, and the queen is happy to remind Prince Friedrich to give Daphne a necklace and attempt to earn her favor.
The queen misses her king, and here the couple is granted a rare moment of felicity when his memory of their life together returns.
The queen decides to take the unmasking of Lady Whistledown into her own hands and demands a collection of portraits of all the young women her diamond has been conversing with as of late — all in order to narrow down her search for the salacious author.
Beaming with pride, the queen is thrilled to see that the season’s diamond may finally join her own personal crown jewels collection, as she watches Daphne dance with her nephew.
A paragon of elegance, the queen made quite a statement when she was first introduced to Bridgerton viewers. And that’s in part thanks to the sky-high wig she wore for the important occasion of greeting the debutantes of the season.
A small country affair? Pshaw! The proposed nuptials between a certain prominent couple of the ton will be hosted by the queen herself.
And the thorn in the side of the queen’s rose-strewn wig is that she must bestow the highest of honors to a most fortunate young lady already, ideally at her own ball… before Lady Whistledown does the job herself. And who else but Lady Danbury to pull the strings on instigating the queen to shake up the ton by naming Miss Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) as the season’s favorite?
When the queen demands answers, you must deliver — especially when it comes to unmasking Lady Whistledown.
Not one for subtlety, Queen Charlotte hints to Daphne that she really ought to step up her game on the marriage mart, otherwise that striking first impression Daphne made may ultimately prove fleeting.
Queen Charlotte is a vision in white, but no debutantes have shined bright enough as of yet to earn the coveted title of the season’s diamond. Thankfully, Lady Whistledown’s return with a new scandal sheet to kick off the season enlivens the monarch’s spirits. Her rival has shown herself once again! Let the games begin.
Donning an afro truly fit for a queen, Queen Charlotte makes a grand entrance with her nephew, newly arrived from Prussia and already on the prowl.
It’s only proper that the bride and groom humbly pay their respects to their generous patroness who made their dreams of a wedding a reality… well, at least until a “sign of the times” intervenes.
As the queen has plenty of experience spotting true love in her midst, she knows it when she sees it. And if she can use one love match to set up another couple of her choosing? All the better.
As the guest of honor at Daphne and Simon’s wedding reception, ’tis the queen’s duty to look and act the part... even as she insists Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) tell her all that she’s discovered in her investigation of Lady Whistledown.
At the first ball, the Grand Dame of London makes her official entrance on the scene, with a wig piled high as she surveys the abundance of flowers about her. Blossoms are beautiful, but what she seeks above all is a gem.
The Hastings Ball sets the stage for the queen’s final look of the season, so of course her wig is reaching for the highest of heavens, in a cloudlike tower that only the most powerful woman in all the land could wear.
