‘I Get to Exist as a Black Person in the World’: Bridgerton as Speculative Romance and Alternate History on Screen

In 2020, a TV drama series adaptation was made of Julia Quinn’s historical romance series Bridgerton (2000–2012). Several choices in the adaptation were inspired by the recent hypothesis that Queen Charlotte was Black, and an unusual number of Black actors were cast in roles that both fictionally and historically have been predominantly reserved for white actors. This article explores the hypothesis’ impact on the adaptation in the intersection of romance, race and history. What notions (historical and contemporary) of romance, race and historical accuracy are challenged and endorsed in contemporary popular media like the Bridgerton series? What are the benefits and setbacks from a decolonial perspective when Black people are cast, and “familiar” history is told, in such “unfamiliar” ways?