Rejoice, dear reader! May 2024 has truly given us something to be excited about, as after a very long wait, Bridgerton Season 3 will finally arrive for those with a Netflix subscription this month. While this time around will see Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton as the main couple, anyone who’s watched the Regency romance will know that there are many characters to know, as well as how they’re all related or connected to one another.
So, as you finish reading the Bridgerton books in order to prepare for the new season, feel free to take a look at all of the main characters and how they’re connected, below, to keep yourself educated on those we already know and those who we’ll meet shortly!
The Bridgertons
Let’s start with the family for without whom we wouldn’t even be able to have this wonderful series. Here are the Bridgertons (in birth order) and who else they’re connected with!
Lady Violet
The matriarch of the Bridgerton household, Lady Violet is the doting mother of eight children, all of whom she’s hoping to see off to happy marriages, homes and families of their own. Though her husband has been dead for many years, she finds enjoyment through her family, as well as her main friend in the Ton, Lady Danbury. And, her romantic prospects are now looking up.
Lord Anthony
Anthony is the oldest of the Bridgerton children, and when their father died, he became Lord Bridgerton and took over the running of their holdings/estate and helps their mother find suitable partners for all of his sisters after they’re introduced to society. In Season 2, he married Kate Sharma, and we’ll see more of their relationship in the third season.
Benedict
As the second oldest of the children, Benedict has been a bit of a free spirit who’s looking for his purpose. We’ve seen him as a bon vivant and an eager art student, but we’ve yet to see him with a serious romantic relationship. He is, however, very close to his younger sister, Eloise.
Colin
As noted, third child Colin will be part of the focus for Season 3. He’s been good friends with Eloise’s best buddy, Penelope, since childhood, but has (so far, because he’s not that bright) failed to notice her crush on him or realize how perfectly suited the two could be. He dated her cousin, Marina Thompson, and was briefly engaged to her in Season 1, but that… ooooh, ended badly. He occasionally hangs around with other young, unmarried men of the Ton (which seemingly makes him even dumber), but shares most of his deep thoughts with his older brothers.
Daphne
Here’s the star of Season 1. We watched as Daphne was presented to society, met, fell in love with and married Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, then gave birth to their first child about a year after marrying. We’ve been told we won’t see Daphne or Simon in Season 3, but we could see their young son, Augie, as Violet would certainly want to spend time with her grandson.
Eloise
The fifth sibling is a bit of an anomaly for the time, as Eloise has no interest in being a typical debutante of the Ton, who seeks only to marry and make a home filled with babies. She’s smart and has a desire to become known for her own amazing deeds and intellect. Until the end of Season 2 she was besties with Penelope.
Francesca
As Bridgerton #6 has largely been absent from the proceedings so far, not a lot is known about Francesca, except that she left London for a time to study pianoforte with their aunt, Winnie. However, the new season will see a new Francesca, who’s adjusting to becoming more of the action after being presented to Queen Charlotte.
Gregory & Hyacinth
We are finally down to siblings seven and eight! Gregory and his younger sister, Hyacinth, have been around for the two previous seasons, but seeing as how they were very young, only played very small roles. They’re starting to get older now, so even if the series doesn’t get to Seasons 7 and 8, we will likely get more of them this time around.
The Featheringtons
The Featheringtons, who are neighbors of the Bridgertons, may be members of the Ton, but they are not looked on anywhere nearly as favorably. Here are the black sheep family of London’s society:
Lady Portia
The head of the Featherington household since the death of her husband toward the end of Season 1, Portia can best be described as a true frenemy to Violet and a class-A schemer. She has very specific plans for each of her daughters, and that is to marry the colorfully dressed, red-headed lot off as soon as possible so that the family’s rough financial future can be secured. Also? She’s not been the nicest to Penelope.
Prudence & Philippa
Older sisters to Penelope, Prudence (the oldest) and Philippa (the middle child) have seen their fortunes change lately. The Featherington clan is somewhat looked down upon, making it difficult for the ladies (who are also not seen as smart, talented or even very attractive, and Prudence is…well, rather mean) to secure matches. But, the second season saw Philippa marry long-time love Albion Finch in a small ceremony. Prudence was briefly engaged to their fourth cousin, Jack, but when he was revealed to be a con artist with no actual money of his own, that opportunity was spoiled for her.
Penelope
The youngest Featherington has a far more interesting life than anyone has been able to give the wallflower credit for, as while Penelope’s had an unrequited love for Colin since childhood, she’s also spent several years making her own money covertly as society gossip queen Lady Whistledown. Eloise found out near the end of Season 2, leading to a massive fight and estrangement going into the new episodes, So, as she comes ever closer to getting her happily ever after with Colin, her secret is at even greater threat of being exposed.
The Ton
These two families move about in a society with some very strict rules that need to be followed in order to be able to live the lives of those with titles, money (ostensibly) and power (if they’re smart and lucky). They also party a lot and enjoy “the season” yearly, where all of the ladies of marrying age attempt to land a rich husband. Here are the most important players in the Ton:
Queen Charlotte & King George III
It’s hard to talk about English society and the Ton without their leaders, and that would be Queen Charlotte and her husband, King George III. George has been battling an illness since before they married, so the crafty, smart, independent and stubborn Charlotte is the royal that we see the most of, usually with her trusted right-hand man, Brimsley, or in the company of sort-of friends Lady Danbury and Lady Violet. She’s been determined to figure out who Lady Whistledown is, even pegging Eloise as the gossip monger.
Lady Agatha Danbury
She may only be a member of the Ton because of the king’s marriage to Charlotte (and her own marriage to a much older, not very nice rich man), but once Agatha was widowed as a young woman and able to keep her husband’s fortune, she made the best of it. She’s one of the ultimate players in society, a sounding board for the queen, and also godmother to Simon, who shepherded him through the beginnings of his romance with Daphne. She’s also a friend to Violet, but after her odious husband died, she moved on by having a brief affair with her father, Lord Ledger, which Violet is now suspicious of.
Lord Debling
Here’s one of Season 3’s newbies, as Lord Debling is entering the picture to take a liking to the more confident, recently glowed-up Penelope, and give Colin a run for his money as the only other man who’s ever shown any interest in her.
Other Characters
This new season is also set to feature two more additions to the Ton, Harry Dankworth and Marcus Anderson. It looks as if we’ll see Harry interact with Prudence, while Marcus (who’s seen with Lady Danbury, above) just might help Violet begin to move on after the death of her husband.
We’ll also see more of characters like Cressida Cowper (an unmarried member of the Ton who is a constant thorn in the side of marriage-aged ladies and appears to now have made a “friend” of Eloise), former boxer/new gentleman’s club owner/friend to the Duke of Hastings Will Mondrich and his wife, Alice. And, we’re also likely to see Genevieve Delacroix again. The Ton’s favorite modiste (who’s been having very lowkey sexytimes with Benedict) just so happens to be assisting Pen in her Lady Whistledown work by sewing the scandalous writings into dresses so they can secretly be shipped to the printer.
As you can see, the connections between characters new and returning in Bridgerton Season 3 will continue to provide us with endless possibilities for romance, excitement and intrigue!