(Spoilers for Bridgerton will be found below.)
Bridgerton has returned for a new courting season, and you’d better believe that Lady Whistledown is watching. As viewers now know (after Season 1), the anonymous gossip-page writer is really Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), but none of the characters on the show know this yet. This season, Penelope will keep maneuvering to maintain her secrecy if at all possible, and it must be noted that fans should be pleased with this season as a whole. There’s a Queen-declared Diamond and a new set of lead characters, and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) is a lot more, well, human.
What of Lady Whistledown’s inspiration, though? Author Julia Quinn hasn’t explicitly stated who she is based upon, but there are plenty of possibilities out there since society has always loved to gossip, and there were undoubtedly pages like these before, during, and after the Regency era, in which the show is based. However, Town and Country magazine recently spoke with historian Catherine Curzon (who authored The Daughters of George III: Sisters and Princesses), and she’s got one name in mind:
“She does call to mind ‘Mrs. Crackenthorpe,’ billed as ‘a Lady that knows everything,'” Curzon told Town and Country. She went on to explain that Crackenthorpe was the pseudonym for whomever wrote a popular satiric gossip page in 1709 called Female Tatler. The author gossiped aplenty even though the publication only lasted about a year, but she also produced “a gem of satire, remarkable for being intended for women, and with a primary aim to educate — often through sharp observation.”
Although the Regency Era rolled into view later than Crackenthrope, Curzon seems pretty convinced that she’s the author who most resembles Whistledown’s ways. The entire Town and Country piece dives into some of the most popular subjects of the time, who were very rarely called out by name, but plenty of hints were dropped. So, “it was simply a matter of decoding some fairly basic hints about the people involved.” As in, a prince’s actual title would be vaguely masked, or maybe an actress would be referred to by some of the characters that she played.
Actually, that doesn’t sound so anonymous! We’ll soon see if Penelope/Lady Whistledown can keep a lid on her own identity.
‘Bridgerton’ returns to Netflix on March 25.
(Via Town And Country)
