July 13, 2023 • 49 mins
In this episode we welcome renowned author, Julia Quinn. Julia teases the pages of Queen Charlotte https://juliaquinn.com/books/queen-charlotte/, and uncovers her creative process working on the spin-off novel with series creator Shonda Rhimes. Julia takes us beyond the romanticized days of co-writing the fantasy story, offering a unique perspective on the adaptation process and the nuances of further expanding our favorite characters on screen.
Through Julia's delightful anecdotes and thoughtful analysis, we gain a deeper appreciation for the complexities of Queen Charlotte characters that resonate throughout the narrative. Whether you're a fan of the books or the streaming series, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the enthralling Bridger-verse. Join us for this enlightening conversation with Julia Quinn as we celebrate the brilliant mind behind the Bridgerton book series.
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Queen Charlotte, the Official podcast, is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. Hey, welcome back to Queen
Charlotte of Bridgerton Story, the official podcast, your exclusive destination
(02:22):
for all things going all the way in deep dive
obsessive about Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton. I'm your host, Gabby Collins,
and today we have a delightful episode in store for you.
Joining us is the esteemed Bridgerton Series author herself and
the co author of Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton Story, Julia Quinn.
(02:47):
And today we're going to dive into the captivating world
of Queen Charlotte and all of those secrets that lie within.
Julia Quinn, Hello again, Hi, Hello, how are you.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
I'm good. The sun is shining. I know everybody thinks
the rain's always bad here, but it's usually lighter. But
today we're good.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah. Yeah, Like I was telling you, I really do
love Seattle. Were you there while you were writing Queen Charlotte?
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I was. I was, and it was most of it
was in the summer when it's beautiful here, and so
I actually wrote most of it in my backyard hooked up.
You know, I had a power court in my computer
strung across the whole thing. But what is a little
known fact is my backyard is covered with wisteria and
(03:40):
has been that way since before, since before Bridgerton. The
Whisteria was not in bloom by.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
That, okay, because what oh inspiration, Yes, I would like
for you to take us back to the very early
early beginnings of working on this book. So, okay, tell
me everything. Tell me from the how did it happen?
Speaker 5 (04:00):
So Shanda called me, and I don't speak on the
phone with Shonda that much. Oh so sounds very exciting.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Okay, you just not that much?
Speaker 5 (04:14):
No, I mean, I probably.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I don't.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
And it's it's it's a huge event because usually unless
it's pre scheduled, I get a phone call from her,
her assistant saying can you hold for Shawna. It's like
waiting for the president. It's very exciting. Anyway, So Shawna
called me personally to let me know that they were
going to be doing this spin off of this prequel series,
(04:39):
and I, you know, I was floored and so excited,
as I'm sure you can imagine, you know. And it's
really kind of funny in some ways too, because Queen
Charlotte is the one main character in Bridgerton who wasn't
actually in the books, but she's also hands down my
favorite change that they made. Truly, I would say, you know,
ninety percent because of Golden Rush, who I think we
(05:00):
can all agree is the coolest person on the planet,
so cool and magnificent.
Speaker 7 (05:06):
Her Majesty Charlotte, Queen of the United Kingdo hello, my children.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
So I told my husband and he immediately said, you
have to write the book. And I was like, well,
I don't know. He said, no, no, you have to
write the book. You have to write the book, and
he said, and you should be co writers with Shonda.
So truly it was his idea in many ways.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Shout out to doctor husband.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
And I also have to say most of his ideas
are terrible. His book ideas are really really bad, but
this one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Was quite good.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
And so I wasn't sure you know how to broach
it because I knew they were very busy getting things going.
And then at the premiere, the season two premiere for Bridgerton,
I said to Shonda, you know, I'd love to write
the novel based on the scripts, basically reverse engineer it.
(06:01):
So you know, you've got the Bridgeton books, which created
the series, which led to another series which could make
another book, which is you know, very full circle and
meta and all these crazy things, and she's like, oh,
that's a really neat idea. And then I didn't hear
anything else because you know, she's busy. And then out
(06:23):
of nowhere, gosh, in May, maybe I got an email
from Shanda's book agent, who i'd met, you know, on
the telephone before once before, so I knew who she
was saying, Oh, we need to talk, and I'm thinking,
maybe it's about the book. I can't imagine what else
it would be. And so and she's very very New
(06:46):
York and let's get going. And so she starts talking
when we have the phone call, and finally said are
we talking about the same thing? Because she didn't actually
like preface up and saying let's talk about this book.
She's like, all right, so let's get going on this project.
And I'm thinking, I just want to make sure we're
talking about the Queen Charlotte book, because yeah, I mentioned
it to Shonda while ago, and I hadn't heard anything more.
She's like like, yes, of course, and that was how
(07:08):
we got started. And it's just been so incredibly cool.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That sounds like a whirlwind start, like wow and really exciting.
So after that phone call with Shonda, did you start
putting some ideas down on paper or did you wait
for their scripts to come before you did it? I
waited for the script Okay, so my goodness, co writing?
Can you share what that process is like? And then
(07:34):
I mean you who has this series and this huge
fan base shout out to your Brazilian readers.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
We're the best, right and.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You also have this magnet, this this Shonda Rhymes, who
has this huge body of work and team behind her
as well? How do you to co write something like?
How does that work? Do you strip everything away and
just come together or do you write some and she
writes some? And how does it work?
Speaker 5 (08:07):
You know? It's like we're the best kind of elementary
school best friends. We take turns, we take turns, and
that's what it was. I mean, I think people sort
of had this vision of us, like sitting in a
room somewhere. We didn't really do this. She wrote the scripts,
passed them off to me, and I turned them into
a book.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
What's so interesting? I have a much younger sister, she's nineteen.
She was asked she got the Dune book and she
was like, kebby, did this come out before the movie?
And I just had this moment of like, uh, let
me google really fast. But I think what was really
interesting about that moment for me was there is interest
in seeing something and then going and reading about it.
(08:50):
So when I heard about the Queen Charlotte book, I
got so excited that there's an opportunity to dig in
even more and to live with these characters and this
this prequel even longer. And I'm guessing in a more
kind of juicy, more fat to chew kind of way,
do you expand some of the story that we see
(09:12):
on screen?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Two?
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yes, I mean so what I The first thing I
figured out I needed to do was focus just on
the earlier time period. So in the show, it bops
back and forth between young Queen Charlotte and King George
and what they call in the scripts Bridgerton Present Time,
(09:34):
which is the characters we all know in Love from Bridgerton,
which is actually very funny. They never actually say that.
It just says BPS through the whole thing, and I'm
looking like, what is BPS? I think I had the
scripts for about three weeks before finally I asked somebody,
I'm like, what is BPS? What is this? I was
so confused, so anyway, So BPS is not really in
(10:01):
the books. I just you know, going back and forth
is something that is very effective in a film medium,
but less so in a book medium. I mean, you
can do it, but for the type of story that
I'm known for, for the type of story that I
wanted to tell, it doesn't work that well to keep
bopping back and forth between time. And so I decided
(10:23):
to really focus on the characters when they were young,
and it's bracketed by you know, like a prolog and
epilogue in BPS, but the rest of the story is
all on the young character. So that was the first
big decision. And then the next decision was, Okay, well,
whose point of view is this?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Then?
Speaker 5 (10:41):
How am I going to do this? And so I
realized that I want, I needed more than just two
points of view. And my novels are very tightly written
with only the points of view of the main protagonists.
And so if you read one of my non Queen
Charlotte novels, which is basically everything else, you won't ever
find a scene that doesn't have one of the main
(11:03):
two characters in it, because it's always in their points
of view third person, but always in their points of view.
But this time I thought, you know, this story is
bigger than that. So now we have we have our
our two main love interests, the King and the Queen,
but you also have chapters from Lady Danburry's point of
view and Brimsley's point of view. And I got to
(11:23):
give Brimsley a first name. He didn't have a first name.
He doesn't have a first name in the show, but
I got to He's He's Bartholomew.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Brimsley, Bart, Bart Brimsley.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
No, no, it's Bartholo.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It's we were friends. So I have a nickname for
him already.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Yeah, I'm too much of a Simpsons fan. So my
my Bart goes right there and yeah, he's not that.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Bart Bartholow new Wow, Bartholomew Brimsley.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And nobody calls him that except once in the book
Reynolds calls him Barthel.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
So we get to spend more time with Reynolds too,
then you do.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And you know, that was kind of my biggest regret, Well,
not really regret, because I wouldn't have done it differently,
but wish that we had something from Reynolds's point of view,
because well after I saw the show and went out
to the set once. I mean, Freddie who plays him,
is so good, and I'm like, ooh, I wish I
(12:26):
knew more about Reynolds now, but it would have worked
with the book. But now I'm all like, ooh, I mean, honestly,
spin off. No, this is me wishful thinking spinoffs. I
have to be careful because people think I know things
and I really don't. But I think when you see
the show, you're like, oh, Reynolds is totally a duke
(12:49):
in hiding. He is so so regal.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Oh the way, isn't it. Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Believe me. In romance Landia, which is what they call
the world of romance books, there are plenty of dukes
in hiding. I mean, like who, for whatever reason, are
like hiding as like a groom in the stables or oh,
they're usually like a groom in the stables. They're not
usually like somebody's manservant. But maybe yeah, so, I mean,
(13:21):
he just I don't know. I think Reynolds has a
secret background. Maybe he's really a spy, maybe he's really
a duke. But I'm team Reynolds here. I think he
should have his own show.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
You know. That makes me think about well, First of all,
I was wondering about Reynolds and Brimsley a whole lot
while watching this series. I also absolutely love Agatha Danbury
and everything she represents and Princess Augusta. So there are
some unanswered questions and thoughts that we're curious about from
the series that may or may not be answered. Like
(13:55):
I just have more questions about some of the silences
and interactions and like what is happening in the days
in between what we're seeing, you know?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
So yes, yeah, so that's one thing I did get
to do. So for example, this doesn't give any hopefully
this will just make you more curious about the show
if you haven't seen it. But in the show, you
don't find out how even Days came about.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Right, You don't see how that came up.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
Even Day much.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Just so when I went to visit the set in July,
I hadn't gotten up to that part in the book yet.
So I asked Tom Verica, the director, and I said,
how you know, do we know where even Days came up?
He's like in Shonda's head, and so it's like, okay,
So I'm like, I guess I get to make this
(14:48):
one up, you know, so yeah, I got to write
the scene where they come up with even days, so
that was really fun.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That is incredible. We'll be right back with more. They
are fascinating insights into the creation of Bridgerton's universe and
Queen Charlotte of Bridgeton story.
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that comforting pause. Don't forget to pack the melt in
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lunch pick me up. This magic is baked into simple
short red cookie by Ernie and the Keebler Elves. So
(17:02):
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your me moment, take a pause and enjoy a Keebler Sandies.
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Speaker 2 (18:15):
Welcome back to Queen Charlotte a Bridgeton Story the official Podcast.
I'm Gabby Collins and we're talking with Julia Quinn. She's
taking us also behind the scenes of Queen Charlotte. She
was on set. Let's get back into our chat. I've
been asking everybody for like their full circle moment or
(18:37):
their flash forward or flashback connected to working on this
project or a scene, you know. And the thing that
everyone has said about Shonda, and Shonda has said herself
to is like, I'm not really connecting it like to
my life. I'm just it's in my head. And I
think that is such an interesting thing for us to hear,
(18:59):
especially for creative It's like, you know, just just imagine,
just just come up with something. But yeah, but it
is also very wonderful to hear the connections to everyone's
life too. But when you said Tom said it was
in her head, that that that just reminded me of that.
So are there any Are there any cliffhangers too that
(19:19):
you might have filled in? So cliffhangers or I'm specifically
thinking about what happened to Reynolds because there's a scene
where Hugh Sacks, who plays is just dancing alone and
looking into the distance.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
No, we don't know what happened to Reynolds, but that's
why he needs a spin off. Okay, I didn't fill
in what happened to Reynolds for one thing, it wouldn't
have worked within the scope of the book. And it
just you know, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I almost
feel like if I had tried to say what happened
(19:58):
to Reynolds and and I didn't think about it would
almost kind of ruin the poignancy and the sadness of
that moment.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Part of what makes it so heart wrenching is the question, like, well,
what happened? And I think similarly for one of my
other favorite moments from the series, which is when Lady
Danbury and the now widowed Viscountess Violet sit down in silence.
They're surrounded by Lord Ledger's hats birthday hats all around them.
(20:26):
They just sit down quietly, I guess, agreeing to not
discuss the elephant in the room.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Yeah, So that one storyline did not end up in
the book about Lord Ledger, so Violet doesn't even appear.
You have to pick and choose what's going to work
within the story, and there was already so much to
talk about and to focus on that that in the
novel it just felt like it wasn't going to fit,
(20:55):
and it was distracting actually from other things that Agatha
was going through. And also I felt that, you know,
I'd already made the decision not to have Bridgerton Present
Time in there, right, And I felt that Agatha's relationship
with Violet's father was so tied in with her relationship
(21:15):
with Violet as an adult in terms of the way
it was told in the story that having taken out
her relationship as an adult, well, she was an adult
both times, but in Bridgeton Present Time with Violet that
her relationship with the father, while still meaningful, it just
lost some of its power and it just didn't it
(21:37):
didn't work within the confines of the story. So that
part's not in there.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Okay, Okay, what were some of your favorite parts from
the series, So that we're not giving away the book
too much, we'll we'll just talk about what really sat
with you after watching the series.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Okay. So, the first one that made me just squeal
was the me cute. I mean, I would not call
this rom calm. I mean, it's definitely not a rom com,
but that was a rom calm meet cute, absolutely, And
I remember watching that being like, oh, my gosh, Romance
fans are going to be so here for this.
Speaker 9 (22:16):
Hello, my lady, are you in need of assistance of
some kind?
Speaker 7 (22:20):
I am quite fine, thank you. You can go back
inside and wait with all the other gaucaus.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
I will first. I'm curious, what are you doing? Nothing,
you're doing something.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
I am not.
Speaker 10 (22:31):
You are?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I am not?
Speaker 9 (22:32):
You are if you must.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
No, I'm trying to ascertain the best way to climb
over the garden wall.
Speaker 9 (22:39):
Climb whatever for because I think he may be a beast,
a best or a troll. Who are we discussing?
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Oh, that is impertinent, none of your business. No one
will speak of him, no one. He is clearly a
beast or a troll.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
I understood.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
You know if I grabbed there, yes, perhaps you could
assist me by lifting me up there.
Speaker 9 (22:59):
One question, you do not like beasts or trolls. What
he looks like matters.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
I do not care what he looks like. What I
do not like is not knowing? Now here, Just take
hold hair with a lift. I believe I can make
it over the gouden.
Speaker 9 (23:11):
You want me to lift you over the wall so
you may escape.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
That is what I said.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
Yeah, people will notice you are missing. Well, they're not.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
I shall worry about that later. Now, if you please,
I just need a little help. Come make cayse.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
I have absolutely no intention of helping you.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I'm a lady in distress.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
You refuse to help a lady in distress.
Speaker 9 (23:32):
I refuse when that lady in distress is trying to
go over a wall so that she does not have
to marry me. Hello, Charlotte, I am George.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Those were the best pickup lines I've ever heard.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
I can't remember who I email, but I emailed someone
right away, everything like, oh my gosh, this is the
best meet cute ever. And then the other one moment
that has really stayed with me is the very last
scene of the show where honestly, like I already thought,
Golda Rashvell was an incredible actor. That last scene where
(24:07):
she's talking to her her husband, there's an expression on
her face when she looks at him, and I remember
thinking she needs the Emmy for this one frame that.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Like, I'm sad but excited and so in love and
so sad at all at once, expression that oh I
know what you mean, I know what you mean.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
It's this what I mean. I went back and watched
it and then I froze the frame on it, and
I just thought, this woman is Yeah, she's just a master.
It was especially because you know, we we see Queen
Charlotte so much as this like sassy like you know,
who run the world girls kind of thing, and you
know she's always you know, she's got these great quips
(24:51):
like you know, of course, it's a wonderful idea. I
thought of it, you know that, you know that sort
of things, and then you know, you see these little
flashes of who she is underneath every now and then,
so it's not like we haven't seen that before. But
in that moment, oh, I mean, I'm getting chills. My
heart's like oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
And she's also in that look like asking herself is
she am I crazy? Am I crazy? It's just so
much happening right there.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Yeah, the whole final scene, the way the cinematography is incredible,
but her expression in that scene when she looks at
her husband and when she's not even looking at him
but just sort of thinking, just is spectacular. So I
did love that too.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah. I found myself surprised by several moments like that
throughout the series where I was like let me go
and chill out with my husband for a little bit,
or call my dad, let me just yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
And there was one other scene which is really special.
I don't know if you caught it. It's in the
final episode where Agatha is out walking with Charlotte's break
Olphin and Adelphis. Thank you. And you may have noticed
somebody in the park with a white wig on sitting
(26:09):
on a bench.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Stop playing with my emotions, Julia Quinn, who are you saying?
Make let me make sure you're saying what I think
you're saying.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
What I make an appearance, You make an appearance? What
would I missed me? I can't believe I missed me.
I know, honestly, I'm almost unrecognizable. You put me in
a white wig?
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Wait? What were you?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
What was the dress? Wait? So wait, whoa whoa? You
were on set? You got dressed up the whole thing.
We have to Oh yeah, I don't.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Well, now I'm going to do something even like more
worse for people like on things. I'm actually going to
show you a picture which I don't know. Maybe you
can put it alongside, but here we go.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Wow, Julia is showing me an image of herself in
full did Lynn make this costume for you in full
cost zoom oh and this hat.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
So it was a very last minute thing that I
was going to do this, because the thing is when
you're when you're they don't like call them the mixtus
to the come essays, which I can never remember what
it means. But it actually takes a lot of time
to do this because you have to get all made
up and everything, and actually for usually they they'd spend
like the day before figuring out your look and and
so I have opted not to be an extra in
(27:26):
Bridgerton before because my time on set is so limited
that I want to be able to watch things. But
I had when I was visiting Queen Charlotte, I actually
had much more time than I've had in recent times
with Bridgerton. So at the last minute I was like, Okay,
I'll do this and so, and we were on location,
so they didn't have the full costume hall and so
(27:46):
they had to work with what they just happened to
have with them, and they literally had to sew me
into the dress, like the dress was sewn while it
was on my body, Like I could not have removed it.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
You were draped, you had a drape.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
I was, well, basically they didn't have anything quite large
enough for me. All the other extras are a little
bit more slender, and so they had to like take
it out and then like literally like stitch me in.
And then when I was done, it was like, somebody
needs to cut me out of this? Why did I
hadn't been cut out of the dress? I mean it
didn't have to be. I mean it didn't have to
(28:19):
be ruined. But somebody had to go in there with
scissors and cut the stitches.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
And yeah, stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
We'll be back with Julia Quinn to uncover more of
the magic of Queen Charlotte story.
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Speaker 2 (31:45):
We're back. Julia's insights and creativity are transporting us back
to the days of crafting the book with Shanda and
talk about pinch me moments. Okay, let's talk more about
this incredible journey of Queen Charlotte. You were in that
scene with Agatha. I was wondering going back to the book.
(32:08):
I have a favorite moment with Agatha. But one of
them is the port Wine moment. Yes, that monologue, that
dialogue she has with Quorrel. Does that make an appearance
in the book? Oh yes, oh oh yes, Wow, it's
not surprising. You should mourn him. He was your husband.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
Perhaps some tea instead of what is that?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Poor twine?
Speaker 5 (32:37):
It is owful, but it is Lord done.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Ray's favorite was it was his favorite?
Speaker 5 (32:48):
I would say, you know, of the scenes that are
in the book, gosh, probably at least three quarters of
the dialogue makes it in there, at least because because
it's so good, and that's Also what you know the
show is in many ways is the dialogue. You know,
that's what's in the script, so so much of it
goes in there, and then what will happen is you'll
have that dialogue and you know, and sometimes what it
(33:11):
might be is that you know, might get broken up
by you know, maybe Coral will have a few more comments,
so it's not so much of a monologue. Because when
you're doing a monologue on in film, you can frame
it different ways, so it doesn't seem as long.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You can like break it up sort of exactly.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
With the way you film it. And then the book
that's harder to do. So sometimes these long speeches get
broken up into little pieces, but it's most of it's there.
And then then there's some where I can sort of
add more dialogue, like in you know, in like some
of the meat cutes or some of the fun little
bantry conversations. You know, I can, like if I think
(33:49):
of a fun line, I can put it in, so
you'll have like, you know, this is from the script,
and then you have a few things and then this
is from the script, so you can sort of expand
it a little bit. Then the other thing that's kind
of interesting. Is that which we been touched on. Is
that really what the process was in many ways was
breaking down the architecture of a television script and then
rebuilding it into a novel because a television script has many,
(34:16):
many short scenes. Novels have longer scenes, and so there
are sometimes there be things where like there's a moment
that I love that I want from one person's point
of view, but maybe like I'm telling that scene from
a different point of view, so I like move it over,
or like I have to change the order of things
slightly in order to keep it in a chapter format,
(34:39):
so a few scenes get or parts of scenes get
moved around a little. So I've actually kind of thought
the people who are going to be most fascinated by
the book, or the people who know the scripts really well,
because you know, if you know these scripts inside and
out and you read the book, you'd be like, oh
my gosh, she moved this, you know, because like puzzle
pieces moving around, and it really was a lot like
a puzzle.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That's really cool.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
Yeah, I've talked to some of my writer friends about it,
and they're all fascinated by the process. They're like, that
is so interesting. You know, because we don't get to
do it.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Really. I keep going back to it with you because
I bet you that there's parts of your process that
are just so kind of like innate that that you're
maybe not even realizing it's a part of your process.
Because I am so I just want to be a
fly on the wall in your head watching you think
through how you move these puzzle pieces around and massage
(35:30):
this story.
Speaker 7 (35:31):
Well.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
You know, I've often joked I'm the most left brained
romance writer you'll meet. I'm very mathematical science. Yeah, And
so for me, I think it used some of that
side of my brain that I don't get to use
as much in the creative writing part, which is like ooh, puzzle, puzzle, puzzle.
You know, where do we put this one? And where
do put that one? And you know, moving pieces around,
(35:52):
Oh no, this belongs with this character, not that. And
so it was it was really fun. And also, and
this is something I told was that I was also
very grateful for this project because I had been coming
out of just a period where I didn't really want
to write. We had a big tragedy in my family
in twenty twenty one. My father and my sister were
(36:15):
killed by a drunk driver. And I just hadn't been
wanting to write. It wasn't like writer's block. I just
didn't want to do it. And so this project really
kind of pulled me out of that, I think, because
it was so different and it was bittersweet because you know,
my dad was actually he.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
He was mister wistown Man.
Speaker 5 (36:38):
Well no, but he definitely wasn't mister whistledowm But he
was a man of many trades. And he was actually,
for a short time a screenwriter. Oh I didn't know yet, Yes,
he I think he He was kind of a frustrated
screenwriter for a long time. He wrote like an episode
of the television show Hunter, which who knew. I don't
(36:58):
know much about it except that, you know, now that
I'm managing his estate, you know, we get these residual
checks for like three dollars every now and then. And
he he did write a feature film that he and
his brother made called Heartwood, which honestly wasn't very good,
and he's the first one who will tell you that.
But but it starred Hillary Swank before she got really big.
(37:20):
And anyway, so he was a screenwriter and he had
often talked to me about, like, you know, you could,
he basically saying like, how would you adapt Bridgerton to
you know? And I was like, I don't know. He's like,
it just wouldn't work because of you know, he would
come he'd tell me why it wouldn't work. And then
of course Seanna came along and made it work, which
is amazing. But he would have been really fascinated by
the process of turning a script into a novel, and
(37:43):
so I thought of that a lot doing it, and
just you know how much I wished I could tell
him about this experience because he was also, you know,
this very creative person who was incredibly left branded like me.
You know, he I think he majored in organic chemistry
in college, you know, and then and then went to
business school. He did organic chemistry, then went to business school,
(38:06):
and he actually wrote code for the Apollo Moon project.
That's how he got out of going to Vietnam, is
like as one does, and then try to be a
screenwriter and then ended up sort of finishing out his
life writing children's books, which was really what he should
have been doing all along, because he was really an
eleven year old inside and he was just yeah. So
(38:29):
he would have loved yes, yes, thank you. Yeah. He
definitely lived life and he would have really loved hearing
about the process. He would have been on the phone
with me a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
So I wanted to ask you about the doctor and
like the observatory and all the medical scenes. What did
you do with that and when you received it from
Shonda those scenes, what was your first impression. It's very,
very different from anything that I can think of I've
(39:01):
seen from Shonda Land.
Speaker 5 (39:03):
Well, it's pretty horrifying. Yeah, And what's actually interesting is
that when I turned the book into my editor, she
was looking and she's like, she says, well, I'm guessing
that you know, you're sort of following, you know, you're
taking your cues from the show. But she said that
if it weren't based on a show, she like might
have asked me to tone it down or to shorten
(39:24):
it a little bit, because it was pretty, you know,
pretty disturbing and awful. You know, it's not the first
time I've written about mental illness. Writing about it is
tough because you, again, you're looking at it through a
historical lens, and you're very much aware of all the
things that people did not know or understand, and yet
you're still trying to be respectful and so like I had,
(39:48):
you know, one of the characters say something like this
is in the other book. I wrote just sort of like,
I don't know, I mean, I think you just can't
make somebody happy or.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
You know.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
I was just like, how would hopefully a kind and
an empathetic person maybe view this? And I guess in
the case of the doctor, how would somebody who's not
kind an empathetic view this. It's difficult because you know,
you're looking at this and being like, oh my gosh,
you know, and not just that, I mean, the doctor's
just obviously horrific, but you know, even how the other
characters view the king's illness, you have to sort of
(40:23):
try to pull out everything we know about mental health
now and you know, try to look at these characters
more kindly, be like, how are they managing their feelings
with the information they have? And and so you have
to cut them some slack, just you know, for not
(40:44):
you know, they don't know about serotonin, they don't know
about PTSD, they don't know I mean, there's so many
things that so many tools and bits of information that
we have that they don't, and at the same time,
you know you're trying to. I mean, even Augusta, as
awful as she is at times, you know she's trying.
She's absolutely trying her best and acting out of love.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Oh, I love her, I love her.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
Yeah, she just wants the best for her son and
is trying everything she's got.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
Yeah, drink this pear brandy and come on, let's get
this thing done. I love her.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yeah, shut up and do your job. So it is
interesting to see this all through the historical lens.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
That is really interesting. And I also was curious if
in your head, what Lady Whistledown might have said, if
she existed during this time about Agatha and Herman's union,
because I want to know if Agatha married up or
if she married down? Did she what did she do?
Speaker 5 (41:46):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Before they came over to join the ton?
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Oh, Agatha married across?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Oh, she married across.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
Yes, Agatha and Herman are both descended from Africa and Royalty,
and gosh, I thought that was in the show. It's
definitely in the book.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Now, I'm so glad it's detailed in the book.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Yes, I mean not super detailed, but yeah, but it's
in there that they're both descended from royalty, and in fact,
you know, she her parents basically betrothed her to him
when she was just three, and part of the reason
he wanted her was because she came from a royal bloodline,
as did he.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Yeah, I was just wondering because she has that she
says twice, once to Princess Augusta and once to her son,
a little bit about her background, and that she has
a lot of money, more money even, is what she
says to Princess Augusta. And so just seeing hearing her
(42:45):
say that, and then seeing her try to navigate the
ton and make moves on behalf of her in herman
made me wonder if herman was from the same stock
or had even more money than her family or less.
Speaker 5 (43:03):
I think they both had a lot to begin with,
although you know, he kind of ruined that, as you know, right,
men always seem to do in these books and stories.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Very Featherington of him, very very Featherington.
Speaker 5 (43:15):
Yes, yeah, and so I think, you know, and we
I was very mindful of how to use, you know,
how to call everything. So I think we referred to
sort of their set as the dark skinned elite. You
know you and although now that have said that, I
think that's what made in the final and you know,
(43:36):
think terms like that where I was trying to figure
out how to, you know, what to call different things, like,
you know, do we want to use the words black
and white? Do we want to use dark skinned or
light skinned? You know these So these are things I
always ran by Shanna, be like, you know, how do
we want to have these people man portray their world?
Because on the one hand, it is what they at
(43:57):
the time are calling themselves. But on the other hand,
you have modern audience, right, so you have to be
very careful how you do that. So I was trying
to you know, we don't go into it in detail,
but basically just sort of allude to the fact that
in London at this time, there are two elites that
are kind of separate and don't mix. So you have
(44:18):
this group of people who are not white, who also
have a big sort of their own social system, and
they have their own elites there and their own different
types of snobbery, you know, like Herman for example, he
he would only marry Agatha, you know, and was willing
(44:39):
to wait for her to grow up because he needed
to mix his bloodline with hers because she's of royal bloodline,
so you know, so they've got their own things going
on too. But then you've got the idea that, okay,
you have these two elites and they don't mix, but
one is more elite than the other because one is
like you know, you've got You've got the King of
(45:00):
Great Britain.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
You know, right there, so got it. So the book
is going to fill in those holes, and it's also
helps us to understand why Charlotte's arrival is even more
nuanced and special. Yeah it's not yet. That is fascinating.
I cannot wait to read this. I cannot wait to
(45:22):
read it well and to watch Queen Charlotte again. Julia Quinn,
there's so much to talk about. I enjoy talking with
you all of the time. It's an honor and a
pleasure and a privilege to share time with you. So
thank you so much, and thank you for all the
inspiration as well.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Well. Thank you. You ask such good questions. It makes
me actually think about my process and what I did
more closely, so I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Thank you so so much. As we wrap up this
enchanting episode, we wanted to extend our sincerest thanks to
Julia Quinn for gracing us with her presence and sharing
the magic of Queen Charlotte. And in our next episode,
we're going to be joined by the duo Shonda Rhimes
(46:07):
and Betsy Bears. You gotta listen to this episode. It's
going to be really fun to hear them talk about
their partnership, their creativity and all of the things that
we thought we knew about the inspiration for Queen Charlotte
and the secrets and everything. We're going to be told
we're wrong, left and right, and it's cool. It's gonna
be really fun. Make sure you listen until then, May
(46:29):
love and scandal guide your path. Queen Charlotte. The official
podcast is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Lauren Homan, alex
Alja Tyler Klang, and me Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and
editor is Tarry Harrison. Subscribe to the podcast anywhere you
get your favorite shows. Get the book I'm a Crispy
(46:51):
Turn the Page, Smell the Binding kind of Queen. But
you can download it and you can find Queen Charlotte
a bridgeton story on netflk flicks. We'll see you next week.
Queen Charlotte the Official podcast is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, visit the
(47:13):
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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Speaker 2 (47:54):
What's up, y'all? Janise Tore is here and I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 11 (47:57):
We're the hosts of Mind the Business, Small Business The
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Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially
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a delicious bite of a Keepler Sandys can give you
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life continues to fly by, make the most of your
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Speaker 2 (01:58):
Queen Charlotte, the Official podcast, is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. Hey, welcome back to Queen
Charlotte of Bridgerton Story, the official podcast, your exclusive destination
(02:22):
for all things going all the way in deep dive
obsessive about Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton. I'm your host, Gabby Collins,
and today we have a delightful episode in store for you.
Joining us is the esteemed Bridgerton Series author herself and
the co author of Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton Story, Julia Quinn.
(02:47):
And today we're going to dive into the captivating world
of Queen Charlotte and all of those secrets that lie within.
Julia Quinn, Hello again, Hi, Hello, how are you.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
I'm good. The sun is shining. I know everybody thinks
the rain's always bad here, but it's usually lighter. But
today we're good.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah. Yeah, Like I was telling you, I really do
love Seattle. Were you there while you were writing Queen Charlotte?
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I was. I was, and it was most of it
was in the summer when it's beautiful here, and so
I actually wrote most of it in my backyard hooked up.
You know, I had a power court in my computer
strung across the whole thing. But what is a little
known fact is my backyard is covered with wisteria and
(03:40):
has been that way since before, since before Bridgerton. The
Whisteria was not in bloom by.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
That, okay, because what oh inspiration, Yes, I would like
for you to take us back to the very early
early beginnings of working on this book. So, okay, tell
me everything. Tell me from the how did it happen?
Speaker 5 (04:00):
So Shanda called me, and I don't speak on the
phone with Shonda that much. Oh so sounds very exciting.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Okay, you just not that much?
Speaker 5 (04:14):
No, I mean, I probably.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I don't.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
And it's it's it's a huge event because usually unless
it's pre scheduled, I get a phone call from her,
her assistant saying can you hold for Shawna. It's like
waiting for the president. It's very exciting. Anyway, So Shawna
called me personally to let me know that they were
going to be doing this spin off of this prequel series,
(04:39):
and I, you know, I was floored and so excited,
as I'm sure you can imagine, you know. And it's
really kind of funny in some ways too, because Queen
Charlotte is the one main character in Bridgerton who wasn't
actually in the books, but she's also hands down my
favorite change that they made. Truly, I would say, you know,
ninety percent because of Golden Rush, who I think we
(05:00):
can all agree is the coolest person on the planet,
so cool and magnificent.
Speaker 7 (05:06):
Her Majesty Charlotte, Queen of the United Kingdo hello, my children.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
So I told my husband and he immediately said, you
have to write the book. And I was like, well,
I don't know. He said, no, no, you have to
write the book. You have to write the book, and
he said, and you should be co writers with Shonda.
So truly it was his idea in many ways.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Shout out to doctor husband.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
And I also have to say most of his ideas
are terrible. His book ideas are really really bad, but
this one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Was quite good.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
And so I wasn't sure you know how to broach
it because I knew they were very busy getting things going.
And then at the premiere, the season two premiere for Bridgerton,
I said to Shonda, you know, I'd love to write
the novel based on the scripts, basically reverse engineer it.
(06:01):
So you know, you've got the Bridgeton books, which created
the series, which led to another series which could make
another book, which is you know, very full circle and
meta and all these crazy things, and she's like, oh,
that's a really neat idea. And then I didn't hear
anything else because you know, she's busy. And then out
(06:23):
of nowhere, gosh, in May, maybe I got an email
from Shanda's book agent, who i'd met, you know, on
the telephone before once before, so I knew who she
was saying, Oh, we need to talk, and I'm thinking,
maybe it's about the book. I can't imagine what else
it would be. And so and she's very very New
(06:46):
York and let's get going. And so she starts talking
when we have the phone call, and finally said are
we talking about the same thing? Because she didn't actually
like preface up and saying let's talk about this book.
She's like, all right, so let's get going on this project.
And I'm thinking, I just want to make sure we're
talking about the Queen Charlotte book, because yeah, I mentioned
it to Shonda while ago, and I hadn't heard anything more.
She's like like, yes, of course, and that was how
(07:08):
we got started. And it's just been so incredibly cool.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That sounds like a whirlwind start, like wow and really exciting.
So after that phone call with Shonda, did you start
putting some ideas down on paper or did you wait
for their scripts to come before you did it? I
waited for the script Okay, so my goodness, co writing?
Can you share what that process is like? And then
(07:34):
I mean you who has this series and this huge
fan base shout out to your Brazilian readers.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
We're the best, right and.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You also have this magnet, this this Shonda Rhymes, who
has this huge body of work and team behind her
as well? How do you to co write something like?
How does that work? Do you strip everything away and
just come together or do you write some and she
writes some? And how does it work?
Speaker 5 (08:07):
You know? It's like we're the best kind of elementary
school best friends. We take turns, we take turns, and
that's what it was. I mean, I think people sort
of had this vision of us, like sitting in a
room somewhere. We didn't really do this. She wrote the scripts,
passed them off to me, and I turned them into
a book.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
What's so interesting? I have a much younger sister, she's nineteen.
She was asked she got the Dune book and she
was like, kebby, did this come out before the movie?
And I just had this moment of like, uh, let
me google really fast. But I think what was really
interesting about that moment for me was there is interest
in seeing something and then going and reading about it.
(08:50):
So when I heard about the Queen Charlotte book, I
got so excited that there's an opportunity to dig in
even more and to live with these characters and this
this prequel even longer. And I'm guessing in a more
kind of juicy, more fat to chew kind of way,
do you expand some of the story that we see
(09:12):
on screen?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Two?
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Yes, I mean so what I The first thing I
figured out I needed to do was focus just on
the earlier time period. So in the show, it bops
back and forth between young Queen Charlotte and King George
and what they call in the scripts Bridgerton Present Time,
(09:34):
which is the characters we all know in Love from Bridgerton,
which is actually very funny. They never actually say that.
It just says BPS through the whole thing, and I'm
looking like, what is BPS? I think I had the
scripts for about three weeks before finally I asked somebody,
I'm like, what is BPS? What is this? I was
so confused, so anyway, So BPS is not really in
(10:01):
the books. I just you know, going back and forth
is something that is very effective in a film medium,
but less so in a book medium. I mean, you
can do it, but for the type of story that
I'm known for, for the type of story that I
wanted to tell, it doesn't work that well to keep
bopping back and forth between time. And so I decided
(10:23):
to really focus on the characters when they were young,
and it's bracketed by you know, like a prolog and
epilogue in BPS, but the rest of the story is
all on the young character. So that was the first
big decision. And then the next decision was, Okay, well,
whose point of view is this?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Then?
Speaker 5 (10:41):
How am I going to do this? And so I
realized that I want, I needed more than just two
points of view. And my novels are very tightly written
with only the points of view of the main protagonists.
And so if you read one of my non Queen
Charlotte novels, which is basically everything else, you won't ever
find a scene that doesn't have one of the main
(11:03):
two characters in it, because it's always in their points
of view third person, but always in their points of view.
But this time I thought, you know, this story is
bigger than that. So now we have we have our
our two main love interests, the King and the Queen,
but you also have chapters from Lady Danburry's point of
view and Brimsley's point of view. And I got to
(11:23):
give Brimsley a first name. He didn't have a first name.
He doesn't have a first name in the show, but
I got to He's He's Bartholomew.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Brimsley, Bart, Bart Brimsley.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
No, no, it's Bartholo.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It's we were friends. So I have a nickname for
him already.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Yeah, I'm too much of a Simpsons fan. So my
my Bart goes right there and yeah, he's not that.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Bart Bartholow new Wow, Bartholomew Brimsley.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And nobody calls him that except once in the book
Reynolds calls him Barthel.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
So we get to spend more time with Reynolds too,
then you do.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And you know, that was kind of my biggest regret, Well,
not really regret, because I wouldn't have done it differently,
but wish that we had something from Reynolds's point of view,
because well after I saw the show and went out
to the set once. I mean, Freddie who plays him,
is so good, and I'm like, ooh, I wish I
(12:26):
knew more about Reynolds now, but it would have worked
with the book. But now I'm all like, ooh, I mean, honestly,
spin off. No, this is me wishful thinking spinoffs. I
have to be careful because people think I know things
and I really don't. But I think when you see
the show, you're like, oh, Reynolds is totally a duke
(12:49):
in hiding. He is so so regal.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Oh the way, isn't it. Yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Believe me. In romance Landia, which is what they call
the world of romance books, there are plenty of dukes
in hiding. I mean, like who, for whatever reason, are
like hiding as like a groom in the stables or oh,
they're usually like a groom in the stables. They're not
usually like somebody's manservant. But maybe yeah, so, I mean,
(13:21):
he just I don't know. I think Reynolds has a
secret background. Maybe he's really a spy, maybe he's really
a duke. But I'm team Reynolds here. I think he
should have his own show.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
You know. That makes me think about well, First of all,
I was wondering about Reynolds and Brimsley a whole lot
while watching this series. I also absolutely love Agatha Danbury
and everything she represents and Princess Augusta. So there are
some unanswered questions and thoughts that we're curious about from
the series that may or may not be answered. Like
(13:55):
I just have more questions about some of the silences
and interactions and like what is happening in the days
in between what we're seeing, you know?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
So yes, yeah, so that's one thing I did get
to do. So for example, this doesn't give any hopefully
this will just make you more curious about the show
if you haven't seen it. But in the show, you
don't find out how even Days came about.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Right, You don't see how that came up.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
Even Day much.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Just so when I went to visit the set in July,
I hadn't gotten up to that part in the book yet.
So I asked Tom Verica, the director, and I said,
how you know, do we know where even Days came up?
He's like in Shonda's head, and so it's like, okay,
So I'm like, I guess I get to make this
(14:48):
one up, you know, so yeah, I got to write
the scene where they come up with even days, so
that was really fun.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That is incredible. We'll be right back with more. They
are fascinating insights into the creation of Bridgerton's universe and
Queen Charlotte of Bridgeton story.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
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best selling styles. Their latest innovation features lightweight construction that
provides support where you need it without an ounce of padding.
(15:31):
I cannot stop wearing the Body by Victoria Invisible Lift Demibra.
It is my new every day pick me up bra.
It's lightweight, it's unlined design, so it has this like
barely there feel. Plus it's an invisible lift, which is
come on, it's what we all want. It actually lifts
me up, but it has a super lightweight, unline design,
(15:55):
so it feels like it's barely there and it is
so super comfortable. Plus it has this little dang cute
heart in between the boobies that is just so stink
and cute, so Adam likes it too. Go get one
now Body by Victoria in Visible Lift Demi Broth. It's
available in cups A through G and bands thirty to
forty four. That's forty three sizes in twenty two styles.
(16:15):
Shop now at your nearest Victoria's Secret store and online
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Speaker 3 (16:20):
Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially
when it comes to your finances, So if you're looking
for a financial advisor you can trust. Certified financial planner
professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. That's
why it's got to be a CFP. Find your CFP
professional at Let's make a plan dot org.
Speaker 6 (16:41):
You deserve a moment to yourself every single day, and
the delicious bite of a Keebler Sandy's can give you
that comforting pause. Don't forget to pack the melt in
your mouth magic of a Keebler Sandy's for a post
lunch pick me up. This magic is baked into simple
short red cookie by Ernie and the Keebler Elves. So
(17:02):
as life continues to fly by, make the most of
your me moment, take a pause and enjoy a Keebler Sandies.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
Hi, It's Gabby Reese and this podcast is powered by
Layered Superfood, a brand that's truly close to my heart
because it was founded in my kitchen by my husband,
Big Wave Surfer Layered Hamilton. Today. Layered Superfood boasts an
amazing lineup of products, all crafted with the highest quality
plant based ingredients. Think functional mushrooms, real fruits and veggies.
(17:32):
What makes us unique. We're committed to using only real ingredients,
no artificial and no natural flavors. Two of my absolute
favorites are prebiotic daily greens, really great tasting, and we've
added some mushrooms to support your gut even a little more.
Then there's our instant latte lineup. We've got instant mocha,
instant latte, Chai. If you want to discover Layered Superfood,
(17:56):
you can do it at your local retailer on Amazon
or at laired superfood dot com. And if you put
in the code Gabby two zero two four on our website,
you'll get an exclusive twenty percent off your first purchase.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Welcome back to Queen Charlotte a Bridgeton Story the official Podcast.
I'm Gabby Collins and we're talking with Julia Quinn. She's
taking us also behind the scenes of Queen Charlotte. She
was on set. Let's get back into our chat. I've
been asking everybody for like their full circle moment or
(18:37):
their flash forward or flashback connected to working on this
project or a scene, you know. And the thing that
everyone has said about Shonda, and Shonda has said herself
to is like, I'm not really connecting it like to
my life. I'm just it's in my head. And I
think that is such an interesting thing for us to hear,
(18:59):
especially for creative It's like, you know, just just imagine,
just just come up with something. But yeah, but it
is also very wonderful to hear the connections to everyone's
life too. But when you said Tom said it was
in her head, that that that just reminded me of that.
So are there any Are there any cliffhangers too that
(19:19):
you might have filled in? So cliffhangers or I'm specifically
thinking about what happened to Reynolds because there's a scene
where Hugh Sacks, who plays is just dancing alone and
looking into the distance.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
No, we don't know what happened to Reynolds, but that's
why he needs a spin off. Okay, I didn't fill
in what happened to Reynolds for one thing, it wouldn't
have worked within the scope of the book. And it
just you know, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I almost
feel like if I had tried to say what happened
(19:58):
to Reynolds and and I didn't think about it would
almost kind of ruin the poignancy and the sadness of
that moment.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Part of what makes it so heart wrenching is the question, like, well,
what happened? And I think similarly for one of my
other favorite moments from the series, which is when Lady
Danbury and the now widowed Viscountess Violet sit down in silence.
They're surrounded by Lord Ledger's hats birthday hats all around them.
(20:26):
They just sit down quietly, I guess, agreeing to not
discuss the elephant in the room.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Yeah, So that one storyline did not end up in
the book about Lord Ledger, so Violet doesn't even appear.
You have to pick and choose what's going to work
within the story, and there was already so much to
talk about and to focus on that that in the
novel it just felt like it wasn't going to fit,
(20:55):
and it was distracting actually from other things that Agatha
was going through. And also I felt that, you know,
I'd already made the decision not to have Bridgerton Present
Time in there, right, And I felt that Agatha's relationship
with Violet's father was so tied in with her relationship
(21:15):
with Violet as an adult in terms of the way
it was told in the story that having taken out
her relationship as an adult, well, she was an adult
both times, but in Bridgeton Present Time with Violet that
her relationship with the father, while still meaningful, it just
lost some of its power and it just didn't it
(21:37):
didn't work within the confines of the story. So that
part's not in there.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Okay, Okay, what were some of your favorite parts from
the series, So that we're not giving away the book
too much, we'll we'll just talk about what really sat
with you after watching the series.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Okay. So, the first one that made me just squeal
was the me cute. I mean, I would not call
this rom calm. I mean, it's definitely not a rom com,
but that was a rom calm meet cute, absolutely, And
I remember watching that being like, oh, my gosh, Romance
fans are going to be so here for this.
Speaker 9 (22:16):
Hello, my lady, are you in need of assistance of
some kind?
Speaker 7 (22:20):
I am quite fine, thank you. You can go back
inside and wait with all the other gaucaus.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
I will first. I'm curious, what are you doing? Nothing,
you're doing something.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
I am not.
Speaker 10 (22:31):
You are?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I am not?
Speaker 9 (22:32):
You are if you must.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
No, I'm trying to ascertain the best way to climb
over the garden wall.
Speaker 9 (22:39):
Climb whatever for because I think he may be a beast,
a best or a troll. Who are we discussing?
Speaker 7 (22:47):
Oh, that is impertinent, none of your business. No one
will speak of him, no one. He is clearly a
beast or a troll.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
I understood.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
You know if I grabbed there, yes, perhaps you could
assist me by lifting me up there.
Speaker 9 (22:59):
One question, you do not like beasts or trolls. What
he looks like matters.
Speaker 7 (23:03):
I do not care what he looks like. What I
do not like is not knowing? Now here, Just take
hold hair with a lift. I believe I can make
it over the gouden.
Speaker 9 (23:11):
You want me to lift you over the wall so
you may escape.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
That is what I said.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
Yeah, people will notice you are missing. Well, they're not.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
I shall worry about that later. Now, if you please,
I just need a little help. Come make cayse.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
I have absolutely no intention of helping you.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I'm a lady in distress.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
You refuse to help a lady in distress.
Speaker 9 (23:32):
I refuse when that lady in distress is trying to
go over a wall so that she does not have
to marry me. Hello, Charlotte, I am George.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Those were the best pickup lines I've ever heard.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
I can't remember who I email, but I emailed someone
right away, everything like, oh my gosh, this is the
best meet cute ever. And then the other one moment
that has really stayed with me is the very last
scene of the show where honestly, like I already thought,
Golda Rashvell was an incredible actor. That last scene where
(24:07):
she's talking to her her husband, there's an expression on
her face when she looks at him, and I remember
thinking she needs the Emmy for this one frame that.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Like, I'm sad but excited and so in love and
so sad at all at once, expression that oh I
know what you mean, I know what you mean.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
It's this what I mean. I went back and watched
it and then I froze the frame on it, and
I just thought, this woman is Yeah, she's just a master.
It was especially because you know, we we see Queen
Charlotte so much as this like sassy like you know,
who run the world girls kind of thing, and you
know she's always you know, she's got these great quips
(24:51):
like you know, of course, it's a wonderful idea. I
thought of it, you know that, you know that sort
of things, and then you know, you see these little
flashes of who she is underneath every now and then,
so it's not like we haven't seen that before. But
in that moment, oh, I mean, I'm getting chills. My
heart's like oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
And she's also in that look like asking herself is
she am I crazy? Am I crazy? It's just so
much happening right there.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Yeah, the whole final scene, the way the cinematography is incredible,
but her expression in that scene when she looks at
her husband and when she's not even looking at him
but just sort of thinking, just is spectacular. So I
did love that too.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah. I found myself surprised by several moments like that
throughout the series where I was like let me go
and chill out with my husband for a little bit,
or call my dad, let me just yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
And there was one other scene which is really special.
I don't know if you caught it. It's in the
final episode where Agatha is out walking with Charlotte's break
Olphin and Adelphis. Thank you. And you may have noticed
somebody in the park with a white wig on sitting
(26:09):
on a bench.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Stop playing with my emotions, Julia Quinn, who are you saying?
Make let me make sure you're saying what I think
you're saying.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
What I make an appearance, You make an appearance? What
would I missed me? I can't believe I missed me.
I know, honestly, I'm almost unrecognizable. You put me in
a white wig?
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Wait? What were you?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
What was the dress? Wait? So wait, whoa whoa? You
were on set? You got dressed up the whole thing.
We have to Oh yeah, I don't.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Well, now I'm going to do something even like more
worse for people like on things. I'm actually going to
show you a picture which I don't know. Maybe you
can put it alongside, but here we go.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Wow, Julia is showing me an image of herself in
full did Lynn make this costume for you in full
cost zoom oh and this hat.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
So it was a very last minute thing that I
was going to do this, because the thing is when
you're when you're they don't like call them the mixtus
to the come essays, which I can never remember what
it means. But it actually takes a lot of time
to do this because you have to get all made
up and everything, and actually for usually they they'd spend
like the day before figuring out your look and and
so I have opted not to be an extra in
(27:26):
Bridgerton before because my time on set is so limited
that I want to be able to watch things. But
I had when I was visiting Queen Charlotte, I actually
had much more time than I've had in recent times
with Bridgerton. So at the last minute I was like, Okay,
I'll do this and so, and we were on location,
so they didn't have the full costume hall and so
(27:46):
they had to work with what they just happened to
have with them, and they literally had to sew me
into the dress, like the dress was sewn while it
was on my body, Like I could not have removed it.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
You were draped, you had a drape.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
I was, well, basically they didn't have anything quite large
enough for me. All the other extras are a little
bit more slender, and so they had to like take
it out and then like literally like stitch me in.
And then when I was done, it was like, somebody
needs to cut me out of this? Why did I
hadn't been cut out of the dress? I mean it
didn't have to be. I mean it didn't have to
(28:19):
be ruined. But somebody had to go in there with
scissors and cut the stitches.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
And yeah, stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
We'll be back with Julia Quinn to uncover more of
the magic of Queen Charlotte story.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Hi everybody, Katie Low's here. Discover new technology and endless
comfort with Victoria's Secrets. Number one collection Body by Victoria
with over thirty five hundred five star reviews, see what
all the hype is about when it comes to their
best selling styles. Their latest innovation features lightweight construction that
provide support where you need it without an ounce of padding.
(29:02):
I cannot stop wearing the Body by Victoria invisible Lift
Demi bro. It is my new every day pick me
up bra. It's lightweight, it's unlined, design, so it has
this like barely there feel. Plus it's an invisible lift,
which is come on, it's what we all want. It
actually lifts me up, but it has a super lightweight
(29:24):
unline design, so it feels like it's barely there and
it is so super comfortable. Plus it has this little
dangling cute heart in between the boobies that is just
so stink and cute. So Adam likes it too. Go
get one now Body by Victoria Invisible Lift Demi bro.
It's available in cups A through G and bands thirty
to forty four. That's forty three sizes in twenty two styles.
(29:46):
Shop now at your nearest Victoria's Secret store and online
at Victoriassecret dot com.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially
when it comes to your finances. So if you're looking
for a financial advisor you can trust. Certified financial planner
professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. That's
why it's gotta be a CFP. Find your CFP professional
at Let's make a plan dot org.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
You deserve a moment to yourself every single day and
a delicious bite of a keebler Sandy's can give you
that comforting pause. Don't forget to pack the melt in
your mouth magic of a Keebler Sandy's for a post
lunch pick me up. This magic is baked into simple
shortbread cookies by Ernie and the Keebler Elves. So as
(30:33):
life continues to fly by, make the most of your
me moment, take a pause and enjoy a Keebler Sandyes.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
Hi, it's Gabby Reese and this podcast is powered by
Laired Superfood, a brand that's truly close to my heart
because it was found in my kitchen by my husband,
big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. Today, Laired Superfood boasts an
amazing lineup of products, all crafted with the highest quality
plant based ingredients, functional mushrooms, real fruits and veggies. What
(31:03):
makes us unique. We're committed to using only real ingredients,
no artificial and no natural flavors. Two of my absolute
favorites are prebiotic daily greens, really great tasting, and we've
added some mushrooms to support your gut even a little more.
Then there's our instant latte lineup. We've got instant mocha,
instant latte, chai. If you want to discover layered Superfood.
(31:27):
You can do it at your local retailer on Amazon
or at layerdsuperfood dot com. And if you put in
the code Gabby two zero two four on our website,
you'll get an exclusive twenty percent off your first purchase.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
We're back. Julia's insights and creativity are transporting us back
to the days of crafting the book with Shanda and
talk about pinch me moments. Okay, let's talk more about
this incredible journey of Queen Charlotte. You were in that
scene with Agatha. I was wondering going back to the book.
(32:08):
I have a favorite moment with Agatha. But one of
them is the port Wine moment. Yes, that monologue, that
dialogue she has with Quorrel. Does that make an appearance
in the book? Oh yes, oh oh yes, Wow, it's
not surprising. You should mourn him. He was your husband.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
Perhaps some tea instead of what is that?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Poor twine?
Speaker 5 (32:37):
It is owful, but it is Lord done.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Ray's favorite was it was his favorite?
Speaker 5 (32:48):
I would say, you know, of the scenes that are
in the book, gosh, probably at least three quarters of
the dialogue makes it in there, at least because because
it's so good, and that's Also what you know the
show is in many ways is the dialogue. You know,
that's what's in the script, so so much of it
goes in there, and then what will happen is you'll
have that dialogue and you know, and sometimes what it
(33:11):
might be is that you know, might get broken up
by you know, maybe Coral will have a few more comments,
so it's not so much of a monologue. Because when
you're doing a monologue on in film, you can frame
it different ways, so it doesn't seem as long.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You can like break it up sort of exactly.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
With the way you film it. And then the book
that's harder to do. So sometimes these long speeches get
broken up into little pieces, but it's most of it's there.
And then then there's some where I can sort of
add more dialogue, like in you know, in like some
of the meat cutes or some of the fun little
bantry conversations. You know, I can, like if I think
(33:49):
of a fun line, I can put it in, so
you'll have like, you know, this is from the script,
and then you have a few things and then this
is from the script, so you can sort of expand
it a little bit. Then the other thing that's kind
of interesting. Is that which we been touched on. Is
that really what the process was in many ways was
breaking down the architecture of a television script and then
rebuilding it into a novel because a television script has many,
(34:16):
many short scenes. Novels have longer scenes, and so there
are sometimes there be things where like there's a moment
that I love that I want from one person's point
of view, but maybe like I'm telling that scene from
a different point of view, so I like move it over,
or like I have to change the order of things
slightly in order to keep it in a chapter format,
(34:39):
so a few scenes get or parts of scenes get
moved around a little. So I've actually kind of thought
the people who are going to be most fascinated by
the book, or the people who know the scripts really well,
because you know, if you know these scripts inside and
out and you read the book, you'd be like, oh
my gosh, she moved this, you know, because like puzzle
pieces moving around, and it really was a lot like
a puzzle.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That's really cool.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
Yeah, I've talked to some of my writer friends about it,
and they're all fascinated by the process. They're like, that
is so interesting. You know, because we don't get to
do it.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Really. I keep going back to it with you because
I bet you that there's parts of your process that
are just so kind of like innate that that you're
maybe not even realizing it's a part of your process.
Because I am so I just want to be a
fly on the wall in your head watching you think
through how you move these puzzle pieces around and massage
(35:30):
this story.
Speaker 7 (35:31):
Well.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
You know, I've often joked I'm the most left brained
romance writer you'll meet. I'm very mathematical science. Yeah, And
so for me, I think it used some of that
side of my brain that I don't get to use
as much in the creative writing part, which is like ooh, puzzle, puzzle, puzzle.
You know, where do we put this one? And where
do put that one? And you know, moving pieces around,
(35:52):
Oh no, this belongs with this character, not that. And
so it was it was really fun. And also, and
this is something I told was that I was also
very grateful for this project because I had been coming
out of just a period where I didn't really want
to write. We had a big tragedy in my family
in twenty twenty one. My father and my sister were
(36:15):
killed by a drunk driver. And I just hadn't been
wanting to write. It wasn't like writer's block. I just
didn't want to do it. And so this project really
kind of pulled me out of that, I think, because
it was so different and it was bittersweet because you know,
my dad was actually he.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
He was mister wistown Man.
Speaker 5 (36:38):
Well no, but he definitely wasn't mister whistledowm But he
was a man of many trades. And he was actually,
for a short time a screenwriter. Oh I didn't know yet, Yes,
he I think he He was kind of a frustrated
screenwriter for a long time. He wrote like an episode
of the television show Hunter, which who knew. I don't
(36:58):
know much about it except that, you know, now that
I'm managing his estate, you know, we get these residual
checks for like three dollars every now and then. And
he he did write a feature film that he and
his brother made called Heartwood, which honestly wasn't very good,
and he's the first one who will tell you that.
But but it starred Hillary Swank before she got really big.
(37:20):
And anyway, so he was a screenwriter and he had
often talked to me about, like, you know, you could,
he basically saying like, how would you adapt Bridgerton to
you know? And I was like, I don't know. He's like,
it just wouldn't work because of you know, he would
come he'd tell me why it wouldn't work. And then
of course Seanna came along and made it work, which
is amazing. But he would have been really fascinated by
the process of turning a script into a novel, and
(37:43):
so I thought of that a lot doing it, and
just you know how much I wished I could tell
him about this experience because he was also, you know,
this very creative person who was incredibly left branded like me.
You know, he I think he majored in organic chemistry
in college, you know, and then and then went to
business school. He did organic chemistry, then went to business school,
(38:06):
and he actually wrote code for the Apollo Moon project.
That's how he got out of going to Vietnam, is
like as one does, and then try to be a
screenwriter and then ended up sort of finishing out his
life writing children's books, which was really what he should
have been doing all along, because he was really an
eleven year old inside and he was just yeah. So
(38:29):
he would have loved yes, yes, thank you. Yeah. He
definitely lived life and he would have really loved hearing
about the process. He would have been on the phone
with me a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
So I wanted to ask you about the doctor and
like the observatory and all the medical scenes. What did
you do with that and when you received it from
Shonda those scenes, what was your first impression. It's very,
very different from anything that I can think of I've
(39:01):
seen from Shonda Land.
Speaker 5 (39:03):
Well, it's pretty horrifying. Yeah, And what's actually interesting is
that when I turned the book into my editor, she
was looking and she's like, she says, well, I'm guessing
that you know, you're sort of following, you know, you're
taking your cues from the show. But she said that
if it weren't based on a show, she like might
have asked me to tone it down or to shorten
(39:24):
it a little bit, because it was pretty, you know,
pretty disturbing and awful. You know, it's not the first
time I've written about mental illness. Writing about it is
tough because you, again, you're looking at it through a
historical lens, and you're very much aware of all the
things that people did not know or understand, and yet
you're still trying to be respectful and so like I had,
(39:48):
you know, one of the characters say something like this
is in the other book. I wrote just sort of like,
I don't know, I mean, I think you just can't
make somebody happy or.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
You know.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
I was just like, how would hopefully a kind and
an empathetic person maybe view this? And I guess in
the case of the doctor, how would somebody who's not
kind an empathetic view this. It's difficult because you know,
you're looking at this and being like, oh my gosh,
you know, and not just that, I mean, the doctor's
just obviously horrific, but you know, even how the other
characters view the king's illness, you have to sort of
(40:23):
try to pull out everything we know about mental health
now and you know, try to look at these characters
more kindly, be like, how are they managing their feelings
with the information they have? And and so you have
to cut them some slack, just you know, for not
(40:44):
you know, they don't know about serotonin, they don't know
about PTSD, they don't know I mean, there's so many
things that so many tools and bits of information that
we have that they don't, and at the same time,
you know you're trying to. I mean, even Augusta, as
awful as she is at times, you know she's trying.
She's absolutely trying her best and acting out of love.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Oh, I love her, I love her.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
Yeah, she just wants the best for her son and
is trying everything she's got.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
Yeah, drink this pear brandy and come on, let's get
this thing done. I love her.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
Yeah, shut up and do your job. So it is
interesting to see this all through the historical lens.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
That is really interesting. And I also was curious if
in your head, what Lady Whistledown might have said, if
she existed during this time about Agatha and Herman's union,
because I want to know if Agatha married up or
if she married down? Did she what did she do?
Speaker 5 (41:46):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Before they came over to join the ton?
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Oh, Agatha married across?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Oh, she married across.
Speaker 5 (41:55):
Yes, Agatha and Herman are both descended from Africa and Royalty,
and gosh, I thought that was in the show. It's
definitely in the book.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Now, I'm so glad it's detailed in the book.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Yes, I mean not super detailed, but yeah, but it's
in there that they're both descended from royalty, and in fact,
you know, she her parents basically betrothed her to him
when she was just three, and part of the reason
he wanted her was because she came from a royal bloodline,
as did he.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Yeah, I was just wondering because she has that she
says twice, once to Princess Augusta and once to her son,
a little bit about her background, and that she has
a lot of money, more money even, is what she
says to Princess Augusta. And so just seeing hearing her
(42:45):
say that, and then seeing her try to navigate the
ton and make moves on behalf of her in herman
made me wonder if herman was from the same stock
or had even more money than her family or less.
Speaker 5 (43:03):
I think they both had a lot to begin with,
although you know, he kind of ruined that, as you know, right,
men always seem to do in these books and stories.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
Very Featherington of him, very very Featherington.
Speaker 5 (43:15):
Yes, yeah, and so I think, you know, and we
I was very mindful of how to use, you know,
how to call everything. So I think we referred to
sort of their set as the dark skinned elite. You
know you and although now that have said that, I
think that's what made in the final and you know,
(43:36):
think terms like that where I was trying to figure
out how to, you know, what to call different things, like,
you know, do we want to use the words black
and white? Do we want to use dark skinned or
light skinned? You know these So these are things I
always ran by Shanna, be like, you know, how do
we want to have these people man portray their world?
Because on the one hand, it is what they at
(43:57):
the time are calling themselves. But on the other hand,
you have modern audience, right, so you have to be
very careful how you do that. So I was trying
to you know, we don't go into it in detail,
but basically just sort of allude to the fact that
in London at this time, there are two elites that
are kind of separate and don't mix. So you have
(44:18):
this group of people who are not white, who also
have a big sort of their own social system, and
they have their own elites there and their own different
types of snobbery, you know, like Herman for example, he
he would only marry Agatha, you know, and was willing
(44:39):
to wait for her to grow up because he needed
to mix his bloodline with hers because she's of royal bloodline,
so you know, so they've got their own things going
on too. But then you've got the idea that, okay,
you have these two elites and they don't mix, but
one is more elite than the other because one is
like you know, you've got You've got the King of
(45:00):
Great Britain.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
You know, right there, so got it. So the book
is going to fill in those holes, and it's also
helps us to understand why Charlotte's arrival is even more
nuanced and special. Yeah it's not yet. That is fascinating.
I cannot wait to read this. I cannot wait to
(45:22):
read it well and to watch Queen Charlotte again. Julia Quinn,
there's so much to talk about. I enjoy talking with
you all of the time. It's an honor and a
pleasure and a privilege to share time with you. So
thank you so much, and thank you for all the
inspiration as well.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Well. Thank you. You ask such good questions. It makes
me actually think about my process and what I did
more closely, so I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Thank you so so much. As we wrap up this
enchanting episode, we wanted to extend our sincerest thanks to
Julia Quinn for gracing us with her presence and sharing
the magic of Queen Charlotte. And in our next episode,
we're going to be joined by the duo Shonda Rhimes
(46:07):
and Betsy Bears. You gotta listen to this episode. It's
going to be really fun to hear them talk about
their partnership, their creativity and all of the things that
we thought we knew about the inspiration for Queen Charlotte
and the secrets and everything. We're going to be told
we're wrong, left and right, and it's cool. It's gonna
be really fun. Make sure you listen until then, May
(46:29):
love and scandal guide your path. Queen Charlotte. The official
podcast is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Lauren Homan, alex
Alja Tyler Klang, and me Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and
editor is Tarry Harrison. Subscribe to the podcast anywhere you
get your favorite shows. Get the book I'm a Crispy
(46:51):
Turn the Page, Smell the Binding kind of Queen. But
you can download it and you can find Queen Charlotte
a bridgeton story on netflk flicks. We'll see you next week.
Queen Charlotte the Official podcast is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, visit the
(47:13):
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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What's up, y'all? Janise Tore is here and I'm Austin Hankwitz.
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