In Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury has an affair with Violet’s father Lord Ledger. Here’s how it gets resolved in Bridgerton season 3.
At the end of Bridgerton season 3, Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) and Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) have a heart-to-heart about their own personal love lives and Violet’s possible future relationship with Danbury’s brother Lord Anderson.
But if you haven’t watched Bridgerton spin-off series Queen Charlotte, you might not have a single clue as to what they’re referring to when Danbury asks Violet if she “knows” when she says she did not ask for Violet’s permission. Here’s your explainer…
In Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury’s past is explored as we see her stuck in her arranged marriage to the much older Lord Danbury. After his death, she befriends Violet’s father Lord Ledger and the two begin an affair.
While that storyline is left unresolved at the end of Queen Charlotte, Bridgerton season 3 gives Danbury and Violet the chance to have some closure over the situation.
What happened between Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton’s father, Lord Ledger?
Queen Charlotte is set in both the past and Bridgerton‘s “present” day. As well as exploring King George and Queen Charlotte’s early relationship, it also explores Lady Danbury’s past and explains why she has such a fondness for the Bridgerton family.
After the death of her husband Lord Danbury, Lady Danbury bumps into Lord Ledger while out on a walk. The two strike up a friendship and continue to go on walks together. Violet becomes aware of their friendship after joining Lord Ledger on one of his walks where they ‘bump into’ Lady Danbury.
After growing closer, the two begin an affair. However, they soon both agree to stop seeing each other and part ways.
In the present day, while talking about their ‘gardens in bloom’, Danbury explains to Violet that her garden did not bloom until after her husband died. While Violet does not know at this point who Danbury is referring to, she is in fact talking about Violet’s father.
Did Violet Bridgerton know about Lady Danbury’s affair with her father?
While she wasn’t fully aware of what went on between them, Violet did eventually figure it out.
In the final episode of Queen Charlotte, Violet prods Lady Danbury for an answer when she asks whether she was with anyone else after the death of her husband. When Lady Danbury does not give a straight answer (“I have loved and been loved. And that is all I shall say.”), Violet grows suspicious.
Eventually, she puts two and two together and things begin to click into place when she shows Lady Danbury her collection of birthday hats made by her father.
Neither Violet nor Lady Danbury acknowledge the elephant in the room, but it’s clear they both know that the other now knows they know.
So, what did Lady Danbury mean when she says she didn’t ask Violet for her permission?
At the end of Bridgerton season 3, the two women finally acknowledge the affair after Violet asks Danbury for her blessing to pursue her feelings for her brother, Lord Anderson.
In response, Lady Danbury says that it’s not her place, and that they’re both adults who are free to do whatever they want. “After all, it is not as though I asked your permission,” Lady Danbury then adds, before asking: “You know, yes?”
“I know my father was a good man,” Violet replied. “And that you have been a very good friend. And that is all I need to know.”
They end the conversation by strengthening and solidifying their decades-long friendship, vowing to let no man ever come in the way of their friendship.
