The Bridgerton family as seen in the first season of the hit Netflix period drama All on-screen adaptations of books make changes and take creative license with the original source material, and Bridgerton is no exception. Over the last four seasons, the Netflix period drama has made a number of significant changes to Julia Quinn’s series of romance books when bringing them to life for the small screen. When original showrunner Chris Van Dusen first took on the task of bringing Julia’s world to Netflix in 2020, he knew he’d have to make some changes and modernise the stories of regency romance. “Even though the show is set in the 19th century, I still wanted modern audiences to be able to relate to it,” he told Oprah Mag in 2020. As a result, the book makes numerous tweaks to the source material, switching key romances, making major changes to some characters and cutting others completely, helping to create the show the whole world has become obsessed with. Here are 13 of the biggest differences between Julia Quinn’s books and the Netflix show… Queen Charlotte, a real historical figure who was married to King George III, is not featured in the Bridgerton books Golda Rosheuvel has played Queen Charlotte in all four seasons of Bridgerton It’s hard to imagine Bridgerton without Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte, gossiping in court while sporting her fabulous headwear. However, the real-life royal never actually appeared as a character in Julia Quinn’s book series. In fact, Queen Charlotte is only mentioned once in the novels, when she’s briefly spoken about in passing during the sixth book. Original showrunner Chris admitted that he wanted to expand the world of Bridgerton through the monarch who was on the throne in 1813, when the first series takes place. “What really struck me with the books from the beginning is that this was an opportunity to marry history and fantasy in a really exciting, interesting way,” he explained to Oprah magazine. Julia Quinn loved this addition, even admitting she wished she had thought of it herself. “I go back and forth between wishing I had actually written her in the books and then being glad I didn’t, because I don’t know if I could have done as good a job,” Julia added. Julia would later write a prequel book about Queen Charlotte – which was itself adapted for Netflix in the show’s first spin-off – inspired by her addition to the Bridgerton universe. “I had never done any type of writing where I had source material before and especially to have source material that’s in a very specific structure,” Julia told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. “So what you really have to do is break down the architecture of a television script and then figure out how to put the pieces back together as a novel. To somebody like me who loves puzzles, it is really fun.” The Bridgerton TV show puts a much greater emphasis on Lady Whistledown than the books Nicola Coughlan's Penelope Featherington was hiding a secret in the early episodes of Bridgerton Much of season one revolved around the mystery surrounding gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, later revealed to be the alter-ego of Nicola Coughlan ’s character, Penelope Featherington. But the Whistledown saga is a much smaller plot point in the books. Although the notorious columns appear in the novels at the beginning of some chapters, it’s not revealed who is actually behind them until the fourth novel. In the books, Colin learns about Penelope’s alter ego before Eloise, and even before he proposes. Conversely, in the Netflix series, Eloise learns that her close friend, Penelope, is Lady Whistledown at the end of season two, which causes a rift between them. Meanwhile, because Queen Charlotte is not a character, there isn’t an investigation into Lady Whistledown in the novels. As for why they kept Colin in the dark for so long about his love interest’s hobby in the show, showrunner Jess Brownwell told Vanity Fair : “After Colin took so long to figure out his feelings for Penelope, we wanted to live in the love bubble between Colin and Pen a little bit longer before the Whistledown secret came out.” She pointed out: “It also amps up the tension for him to find out when he does, because Pen has now held it from him much longer than she should have.” Jess also didn’t want to keep viewers in the dark for as long as the book did readers, mainly because she realised people could just Google Whistledown ’s identity, which had already been revealed in the books by the time the show came out. Bridgerton’s controversial season one sex scene is much less consensual in the book Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor's characters' romance took centre stage in season one of Bridgerton When executive producer Shonda Rhimes revealed she would be producing an adaptation of the Bridgerton books, readers wondered how the writers would deal with a controversial non-consensual sex scene . In The Duke And I, Daphne (played in the show by Phoebe Dynevor) takes advantage of a drunken Simon (Regé-Jean Page) and coerces him into having sex without using the pull-out method. The series still followed this plot, although they made it a little less controversial, with the couple having consensual sex, and Daphne switching position midway through so Simon physically as not able to pull out. Although the moment is much less creepy than in the 2000 book, it still earned a response from audiences who felt it was still “marred with dubious consent” . Responding to the backlash former showrunner Chris Van Dusen told Esquire : “We are a show that allows our female characters to be complicated and to be far from perfect. They often have to make complicated choices. “In the writers’ room, we discussed that scene at length. We felt that the female characters on this show – Daphne, especially should be allowed to do just that.” Season one lead Regé-Jean Page also told Oprah mag that he was “very happy that we had a different scene in the TV show than in the book”. The Bridgerton novels’ Sheffield sisters became the Sharma sisters in season two Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran joined Bridgerton in its second season One of the biggest changes between season two of Bridgerton and the books is the background of the Sharma sisters. In the book The Viscount Who Loved Me, Simone Ashley ’s Kate and Charithra Chandran ’s Edwina are described as blonde, pale-skinned English women with the surname Sheffield. In the show, the pair come from India to try and find Edwina a husband. Executive producer Shonda Rhimes explained to Town & Country that making the girls South Asian was a “very simple choice.” “I wanted to feel like the world we were living in was as three-dimensional as possible, and I wanted to feel like the representation was as three-dimensional as possible, too,” she said. “Finding some South Asian women with darker skin and making sure that they were represented on screen authentically and truthfully feels like something that we haven’t seen nearly enough of. I felt like it was time for us to make sure that we were seeing as much as possible.” Anthony and Kate’s relationship also plays out a little differently in the Bridgerton books Season two’s love triangle plot was invented purely for the Bridgerton series. In the novels, Anthony never proposes to Edwina, nor does Edwina ever get jealous of her sister’s romance with the Bridgerton brother. The TV show evolves Edwina into a much more complex character, which changes the entire tone of their story. Edwina Sharma and Kate Sharma became embroiled in something of a love triangle with Jonathan Bailey's Anthony Bridgerton in season two Benedict’s attitude towards Sophie in season four of Bridgerton is very different in the book An Offer From A Gentleman The recent fourth season of Bridgerton is based on the novel An Offer From A Gentleman, and one of the key differences between the show and the book is Luke Thompson ’s character’s attitude towards Sophie, played by newcomer Yerin Ha . While the recent episodes show Benedict acting in a kind and accommodating way towards Sophie, readers of the books have branded him a “controlling and manipulative jerk”. As someone on Goodreads noted after checking out the novel: “Where the hell is that artsy, coy, carefree, vulnerable, bisexual Benedict that we saw on the streaming series?” Benedict is much nicer in the show, but he isn’t without his faults, one example being the divisive moment he asks Sophie to be his mistress . In the novel, Benedict blackmails Sophie into becoming his mistress because he can’t marry someone of her lower social class. Showrunner Jess knows that it would be unappealing to bring the character to life exactly as in the book. “We wanted to make sure that we preserved the character’s thoughtfulness and the character’s sensitivity, which again is a big credit to Luke Thompson and what he brings to the character,” she claimed to Town & Country . Benedict and Sophie's romance is a lot easier to root for in the Bridgerton series than the books Bridgerton’s writers turned Sophie into a Korean character in season four to honour the actor Yerin Ha In the book, Sophie Beckett is depicted as the illegitimate, blonde daughter of the Earl of Penwood. In season four of the Netflix series, she becomes Sophia Baek, a descendant of the Earl, who is working as a maid. This change isn’t just a switch in surname, it makes space for Yerin Ha’s Korean identity. “A name is the first bit of identity that you share with the world, and that’s why changing a name can be so powerful,” Yerin told Tudum last year. “To make Sophie’s name fit someone who looks like me is really empowering. All credit to Jess Brownell, our showrunner.” It’s not just Sophie who gets a name change in the recent series. Araminta Gunningworth becomes Aramint Gun while her daughters, Posy and Rosamund, get the surname of Li, unlike their book name, Reiling. Sophie and Benedict's forbidden romance is the major storyline of Bridgerton's fourth season Michael Stirling has been gender-swapped in the Netflix series to create Bridgerton’s first queer lead romance When Bridgerton introduced Michaela Stirling in season three, it marked one of the series’ biggest departures from Julia Quinn’s source material. In the original book series, Francesca Bridgerton falls in love with Michael Stirling , a male friend of her late husband John. The show has transformed this character into a woman, named Michaela, played by Masali Baduza. As a future season is set to put Francesca’s love life front and centre, this will mark the first time the show’s central romance has been between a same-sex couple . “I’m really, really excited to tell this story and also give it the platform it deserves, like a leading storyline, not additional characters,” Hannah Dodd told Refinery 29 Australia . Masali agreed: “I think everyone’s story deserves to be told, and in Bridgerton, a lot of the characters are growing into themselves and learning new things about themselves. “I think that the show accepts that, I think it’s important for everyone else to accept that too, and hopefully that can be reflected back into society.” Masali Baduza as Michaela and Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton as seen in the latest drop of Bridgerton episodes Following Michaela’s arrival in season three, Julia defended the changes, acknowledging that while some people would be “disappointed”, she had actually worked with the Bridgerton team to agree to the decision. “Anyone who has seen an interview with me from the past four years knows that I am deeply committed to the Bridgerton world becoming more diverse and inclusive as the stories move from book to screen,” Julia Quinn wrote in a statement . Bridgerton season four didn’t include a storyline about Francesca’s miscarriage Season four touches on a few storylines outlined in the book When He Was Wicked, in which Francesca Bridgerton is the main character. In both the book and the TV show, Francesca thinks she is pregnant after her husband John tragically dies. While in the TV show, this is later discovered to be a false alarm, in the books, Francesca actually miscarries after her sudden loss . Jess admitted in an interview from earlier this year that she felt incorporating the miscarriage plot felt too “morbid” for the TV series. “Ultimately, I think John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show,” she told Swooon . “I think episode seven has hints of lightness, but it is a much darker version of Bridgerton in a way that I think is really interesting, and especially in the way we get to watch the family come together.” Hannah Dodd's Francesca has a lot to deal with in the fourth season of Bridgerton Penelope Featherington’s sister Felicity is completely omitted from the Bridgerton TV series In the books, Penelope has a younger sister called Felicity, who has been totally excluded from the Bridgerton TV show. This decision was made from the very beginning of the show by Shonda Rhimes, who felt that four Featherington sisters would be too hard to characterise. Jess Brownell told TV Insider in 2024: “The main dramatic purpose of the Featherington sisters, they’ve obviously been comedic relief, but they’re there to play as a foil to Penelope.” She added that the writers decided to completely cut Felicity as a way to push Penelope’s character forward more, and remove an unnecessary obstacle in her romance with Colin. “I think dramatically it helped Pen [in the show] feel even more isolated and alone and underscored her plight to have her be in this viper’s nest with her sisters who are not very nice to her, and her mother who underestimates her,” she recalled. “So, we ended up really not needing that character.” Benedict Bridgerton is straight in the novels, unlike his pansexual on-screen counterpart Luke Thompson in character as Benedict Bridgerton In Julia Quinn’s book series, Benedict is explicitly straight, but on-screen, his sexuality is a little more complicated . Season one includes hints that the Bridgerton brother is queer , which is confirmed in season three, when he engages in a tryst with Lady Tilley Arnold and her lover, Paul Suarez. Talking to Glamour in 2024, Jess Brownell explained that she and the show’s other writers had planned Benedict’s sexuality reveal since season one in 2020. “We just had never found the exact right way to execute it. I felt like it was this dangling thread that I wanted to make sense of, because I do think it makes sense for Benedict’s character,” Jess explained. While the show has not put a label on his sexuality, Luke Thompson has said he believes Benedict is pansexual, because he’s “attracted to the way that someone thinks and feels, regardless of gender.” “That’s a word that could be used. But what’s refreshing about it, certainly in the way that it’s being discovered at the moment, is that there is a sense of label-lessness about it,” Luke told Bustle in 2024. Changing Benedict’s sexuality allowed the show to write a beautiful and important coming out scene between him and his wife-to-be Sophie in season four. Marina Thompson is a totally different character in the TV show Luke Newton and Ruby Barker on set in the early years of Bridgerton A supporting character in the first season of Bridgerton, Marina Thompson doesn’t get a mention in the book series until the fifth instalment, To Sir Phillip, With Love. In the source material, the character isn’t a Featherington cousin, either, and is actually a distant Bridgerton. She is written as the first wife of Eloise’s love interest, Phillip, who tries to take her own life by walking into a river, eventually contracting a lung infection and dying days after she is saved. Eloise bonds with Phillip when she sends a condolence letter to the widow, who never appears as a present character, as she died before the events of the novel. In the TV show, Marina’s character is much more fleshed, with some fans noting that she feels like a totally different character . As a result, the plot in which she falls pregnant out of wedlock, and tries to trick Colin into marriage was a brand-new one for TV viewers. “We’re really looking at the show as the evolution of a woman,” Chris Van Dusen told Oprah magazine about expanding Marina’s character. “Her story is a big part of that. “We get to explore mindsets [that] become so normalised over time. Like sexism and misogyny, and the ways women have been treated for centuries.” Cressida and Eloise’s friendship plays out very differently on-screen Eloise bonds with Cressida after falling out with Penelope in Bridgerton One development that didn’t occur in the books was the season three alliance between Eloise and Jess Madsen’s character, Cressida. This friendship forms as a result of the rift that grows in Eloise and Penelope’s friendship, which doesn’t happen in the novels. In the book Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Cressida is a one-dimensional, malicious bully, but her character is fleshed out in the Netflix series. Jess told Business Insider that Cressida’s friendship with Eloise opens her up and makes her less cruel. “She’s changing, and they hold a beautiful mirror up to each other,” she said. “They’re not defensive, and they do hold a mirror up being like, ‘What you did wasn’t cool’. “I love a mean-girl character, but even more, I love understanding why a mean girl is a mean girl. Because mean girls are not born, they’re made.” All four seasons of Bridgerton are now streaming on Netflix. MORE BRIDGERTON: Finished Bridgerton Already? Here's What We Know About Season 5 – And Beyond 11 Behind-The-Scenes Details You Never Knew About How Bridgerton Season 4 Was Made Everywhere You've Seen The Stars Of Bridgerton Since The Show Launched Them To Fame