Bridgerton remains a trending series on Netflix and viewers can not get enough of it. The costumes during the first season of the series are a big topic. But Queen Charlotte’s famous afro is also exciting. As it turns out, Queen Bey, Beyoncé, is the inspiration for Queen Charlotte.
Queen Charlotte in ‘Bridgerton’
Most characters in the Bridgerton series are fictional, but Queen Charlotte was a real figure and is not shown in the series Bridgerton romance. Guyanese-British actor Golda Rosheuvel plays Queen Charlotte, who was a real person.
Queen Charlotte was the wife of King George III. According to PBS, some historians believe that Queen Charlotte was a descendant of a Portuguese royal family of African descent.
In Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte is a social butterfly who delights in scandals in society and remains aware of everything that is happening in the city. Her approval of the women in the city takes place, though it is hard to earn.
When Queen Charlotte’s nephew, Prince Friedrich of Prussia, arrives in the city, she immediately tries to set him up with Daphne, the most popular single in the city. However, Daphne’s heart has already been beaten with someone else.
Queen Charlotte’s personal misery is also being investigated, which includes a drug habit and the deteriorating health of her husband.
What Rosheuvel thinks about her role, she marvels at the idea of a black queen fighting for social change, and tells Insider: ‘It’s so empowering for an actress to have the background and the feeling that a person in the 1800s could fight for her people and could fight for representation. ”
Queen Charlotte’s Beyoncé-inspired hair in ‘Bridgerton’
Apparently, Beyoncé’s influence goes beyond the present, because the hair department is busy Bridgerton feels that one of Beyoncé’s classic looks is appropriate for the Regency-style Netflix series.
In one episode, Queen Charlotte amazes with a massive afro. Per Bridgerton’s makeup and hair designer Marc Pilcher, is the inspiration for the look thanks to the famous Beyoncé in her first film role.
“When I researched Queen Charlotte and found out she was of African descent, it gave me so much more room to create her beautiful appearance,” Pilcher told Vogue. ‘I used the silhouettes of the period, but during a celebration of her ethnicity I used locks, braids and style with afro texture. Her gigantic Afro was in the form of a Gainsborough wig, but influenced by Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember. ‘
Related: ‘Bridgerton’ costume designer unveils wardrobe ‘No-no’ except hood
He shared a similar explanation with Essence, saying:
I looked at some pictures and then I saw Beyoncé Knowles in Austin Powers Goldmember and then I thought, ‘This is what I want.’ I wanted the biggest afro anyone has ever seen. Especially that wig was actually four or five wigs that were all put together. So we had the wigs for the ringlets, and then we bought afros, then fixed them and put them back on curling irons and smeared them through so we would get the best volume afro, and then sewed on each other just to get that beautiful shape.
Marc Pilcher, ESSENCE magazine
Pilcher revealed to Essence that the wig took three or four weeks to create, but the outcome was worth it.