With the arrival of Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, we’ve been as soon as once more swept up right into a Bridgerton fantasy — one through which the story of Queen Charlotte’s ascension to the throne is accompanied by all of the enchanting components of pomp, pageantry, and risqué romance that we love concerning the authentic collection. Solely this time, the Queen and her pure hair assist to propel the story in a approach we hadn’t but skilled in a interval drama earlier than.

This prequel winds again the clock and introduces us to a younger Queen Charlotte (portrayed by India Amarteifio) and King George III (performed by Corey Mylchreest), because the origin of their romance unfolds in six binge-worthy episodes. If you happen to’ve seen any of the Bridgerton episodes, then you definitely’re already acquainted with the gossip-loving Queen Charlotte and her sky-high wigs intricately interwoven with diamonds, pearls, and naturally, crowns. Although after we first meet younger Charlotte in episode one of many new collection, she will not be but a Queen.

Set to marry the King, she arrives in England within the first episode together with her pure curls pulled up into an updo, nonetheless seen beneath a blue satin headpiece. This textured updo stays for almost all of the episode — that’s till her first run-in together with her future husband George — who she is actively making an attempt to flee on the time of their assembly — moments forward of their marriage ceremony. Following a surprisingly heat first encounter through which the King leaves the choice to wed totally in Charlotte’s fingers (after having seen her try to climb a literal *wall* to flee her marital responsibility), the soon-to-be Queen is left with a newfound sense of company. In one among her first energy strikes of the present, she abandons her former updo and arrives on the marriage ceremony ceremony with a wonderfully picked out afro and outlined curls across the perimeter of her face topped with a flower ornamented tiara. With that, she weds the King on her personal phrases — pure hair on full show.

The primary season of Bridgerton, the place Queen Charlotte guidelines over the ton at a a lot older age, is about in 1813 London. So we will surmise that Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story takes place throughout the latter half of the 1700s. Usually, after we consider different interval piece dramas set across the similar English Regency period, we envision ladies like Keira Knightley in Satisfaction and Prejudice with elegant coiffures and Marie Antoinette-esque bouffants accompanied by compelled curls. Bridgerton is understood for its range and inclusion, and this restricted collection is not any exception. Very like most of the characters of color within the Bridgerverse, Queen Charlotte and her naturally textured tresses are a welcome anomaly on this style. The choice to embrace her curls will not be solely a significant assertion about Black ladies and their hair in movie, but it surely additionally helps us to grasp the kind of character Queen Charlotte will turn out to be. “We wanted to show the afro and its beauty,” says hair and make-up head of the brand new collection Nic Collins in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “That was important. It’s her decision, it’s her choice. It’s like she’s just let her hair down and it sits in its glory.”

Regardless of Amarteifio (who has blown us away together with her latest press tour hairstyles) having a full head of superbly outlined coils, it could shock you to study that each single coiffure Queen Charlotte wears is a wig. Why then, would a present with such an adamant deal with embracing pure hair, not embrace its main girl’s pure curls? As a curly lady myself, I take this as an indication of a hair crew that’s well-versed within the workings of textured hair — one which understands our hair is delicate and extra susceptible to breakage. They’re conscious of the truth that our curls might not essentially be capable of face up to rigorous every day styling within the methods different hair sorts can. “If it’s not their natural hair, all characters are wearing wigs because we wanted to be cautious and not damage the lead’s natural hair,” Collins tells the Los Angeles Instances. Using wigs runs deeper than mere on-screen illustration — is a cautious consideration of the actors’ hair in actual life, which is simply as essential.

Because the present rolls on, we’re provided up a spectacular array of elaborate hairstyles that evolve as Queen Charlotte does. We observe her hair wrapped up earlier than mattress (as we natural-haired of us do), in ornate updos, and worn in an abundance of afros adorned with jewels and crowns that seize the regal essence of the present. Collins tells Netflix that the hair stylists used a group of unorthodox instruments like skinny skewers and wire cages throughout the wigs to assist create form and convey varied textures — as a result of a few of us can solely dream of reaching hair that large and bodacious.

Within the remaining episode, younger Charlotte’s ‘fro is fuller than ever, and he or she is able to reign because the mature monarch everyone knows her to be. Closing out the collection having embraced all her kinks and coils, Queen Charlotte reminds us all that sporting a head stuffed with curls is a crown in and of itself.