Ah, true love… Such a rare and beautiful thing. And yet, for the Bridgertons, it seems to come as easily as learning how to walk. Sure, the siblings at the center of Netflix’s aptly titled Bridgerton have their fair share of troubles when it comes to finally getting their happily ever after, but they always manage to find that special someone that many of us spend the majority of our lives looking for without success. So far, we have witnessed only two of these siblings’ shots at romance: Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) in Season 1, and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) in Season 2. However, Season 3 is about to drop with a whole new love story starring young Colin (Luke Newton), and if creator Chris Van Dusen has it his way, all eight Bridgerton kids will have their own romance.
With such luck, it is no wonder that people are dying to know more about the Bridgertons. Who are these people for whom love is almost a given? Well, the questions are many and require multiple pieces to answer. Here, we will take a look at who the Bridgertons are and how they are connected to each other. Hey, it’s a fine way of starting your quest for answers!
Edmund Bridgerton
Played by Rupert Evans in a partial flashback episode in Season 2, the deceased Lord Bridgerton is not really a character in the Netflix series. However, his impact can still be felt everywhere, particularly when it comes to his eldest son, Anthony. Killed by a bee sting at a time in which allergies were much more life-threatening than they are now, he is still dearly missed by his wife and children as a whole. But Anthony is the one most affected by his father’s death: in Season 2, he reveals that he doesn’t want to marry out of love because he never wants to suffer like his mother did when the late Lord Bridgerton passed.
Violet Bridgerton
Born Violet Ledger (Connie Jenkins-Greig in spin-off Queen Charlotte), Lady Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is the daughter of Lord Ledger (Keir Charles) and his wife, Vivan (Katie Brayben). The current dowager viscountess always has her children’s best interests at heart, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t attuned to notions of propriety. For instance, in Season 2, while she insists that Anthony must leave room in his heart for love, she also pressures Eloise (Claudia Jessie) into abandoning her more rebellious ways and is utterly destroyed upon learning that her daughter might be hanging around with political activists. Back when her husband was alive, Violet had a close-knit partnership with him, and she suffered greatly after his death. As a widow, she has a deep friendship with Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh). Alas, the two women may be on the brink of falling out, as Queen Charlotte has revealed that Lady Danbury and Lord Ledger had an affair in the past.
Anthony Bridgerton
The current viscount and the eldest of all Bridgerton children, Anthony is the protagonist of the series’ second season. In it, he is shown to be a solemn, proud, and practical man who doesn’t really care for love, at least not in a romantic way. As a matter of fact, he has a pretty low opinion of all the ladies that surround him looking for a shot at marriage, and it isn’t until he runs into the Sharmas that his mindset begins to shift. Sure, he immediately becomes an admirer of young Edwina (Charithra Chandran), believing her to possess all the qualities that he looks for in a wife. However, it is actually Edwina’s half-sister Kate (Simone Ashley) that steals his heart. And after we learn that his disdain for love actually stems from having witnessed his mother suffering after his father’s death, well, it’s kind of hard not to feel for the man.
Benedict Bridgerton
Benedict (Luke Thompson) is the typical second son of an aristocratic family. With no pre-established roles for him to fulfill, Benedict is on a journey of self-discovery that has so far involved threesomes with the local modiste and 19th century acid trips. Much more romantic than his older brother, Benedict is also the artsy type, with painting being his chosen form of expression. In Season 2 of Bridgerton, he is accepted into the Royal Academy but later finds out that he was let in because of Anthony’s influence (and, well, money). This leads him to promise to make a name for himself, and Season 3 might have him in the background looking for a chance to shine on his own.
Colin Bridgerton
The third-born Bridgerton child has an easier time dealing with the fact that he is not as important as Anthony than Benedict. Played by Luke Newton, Colin enjoys his relative irrelevancy by backpacking across Europe and unmasking grifters such as Jack Featherington (Rupert Young). In Season 1, he has a romance with Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) that ends abruptly when he finds out that she is pregnant with another man’s child and is rushing into a marriage to avoid her child being born out of wedlock. Now, in the upcoming third season of Bridgerton, Colin will be once again at the center of a romance, as he will little by little learn that he’s actually in love with his longtime friend and neighbor, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).
Daphne Bridgerton
Singled out by Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) herself as the diamond of her season, Daphne is the fourth child and first daughter of Lord Edmund and Lady Violet Bridgerton. The protagonist of Bridgerton Season 1, poor Daphne has a hard time finding a husband due to Anthony’s insistence on vetting out possible suitors. In order to get other men interested, Daphne strikes up a deal with Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page), who, in turn, wants to keep every maiden and her mother as far away from him as possible. Eventually, what starts as a fake relationship turns into real love, and the two end up getting married. Though their relationship begins somewhat strenuous, with the Duke lying to Daphne about not being able to have children, they eventually put their differences behind them. Season 1 ends with Daphne giving birth to little Augie Basset, and Season 2 sees her as a fully-fledged duchess, organizing social events at her mother’s side.
Eloise Bridgerton
Daphne’s younger sister is a rebellious spirit who is tired of seeing women being valued only for their looks and homemaking skills. Forced to debut in the marriage mart by her mother, in Season 2, Eloise does everything in her power to keep all potential suitors at bay. She’s more concerned with finding out the identity of Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews), the secret gossip columnist with whom she has a love-and-hate relationship. By the end of Season 2, much to her chagrin, she learns that Whistledown is none other than her best friend Penelope, which ultimately brings her a lot of pain. You see, it’s not so much the fact that Penelope lied to her, but that she wrote a whole pamphlet about Eloise going to feminist meetings. At least she didn’t bring up the fact that little El was also falling in love with a printer’s apprentice…
Francesca Bridgerton
The sixth child of Lord Edmund and Lady Violet, Francesca (Ruby Stokes) spent most of Season 1 away practicing the piano with her aunt. By Season 2, she is already back at home with her family, but isn’t actually around for many episodes. She’s mostly in the background as her mother and siblings are doing something else, such as planning parties or being brought before the queen. Her recast for Season 3, in which she will be played by Hannah Dodd, might indicate that she is about to have a bigger role.
Gregory Bridgerton
Hyacinth Bridgerton
Most of what goes for Gregory also goes for young Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), the youngest of the Bridgerton siblings. However, Season 2, at least, has already given us a glimpse of her romantic personality, as she is obviously more than a little excited about one day joining her sisters at the marriage mart.
Simon Basset
Kate Sharma
Penelope Featherington
Penelope is not yet a Bridgerton, but who are we kidding? We all know for certain that she and Colin will be walking down that aisle by the end of Season 3. After all, the youngest of the Featherington girls has been in love with her neighbor and friend for years, and it is just a pity that he can’t see that his chance at happiness and true love has been sitting just across the road from him. The woman behind Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers, Penelope keeps her identity under wraps and uses her reputation as a wallflower to gather information about London’s high society. She’s also Eloise’s best friend for the entirety of Season 1 and most of Season 2. Sadly, though, Bridgerton‘s previous run ended with the two girls falling out after Eloise uncovers Penelope’s secret. Now, the real question is how will they get along as sisters-in-law with such a gossipy elephant in the room.
