In the early episodes of Bridgerton Season 3, Penelope’s age quickly factors into the plot. Her mom already assumes she’ll never marry (“I take comfort in knowing that you will always be here to take care of me”) and Penelope herself is resigned to that fate, too (“I am nearly on the shelf and I have never been kissed, and I am not certain I ever will be”).
But how old is youngest Featherington? Or any of the Bridgerton characters, for that matter? It’s all pretty vague, which is made more confusing because their ages on the Netflix show are different than in Julia Quinn’s book series.
And those differences, as outlined below, can have surprising impacts on the love stories.
The Bridgerton Characters’ Ages
For the TV show, the most conclusive age breakdown comes from the pilot shooting script, which is available via Deadline. For the books, Quinn’s website has a handy family tree with birth years. (For the sake of comparison, let’s assume each character is the age they’ll be turning that year.)
At the start of the Netflix show, Anthony is 28 years old and Kate is 26. At the beginning of their book, The Viscount Who Loved Me, he’s 29 and she’s 20.
Benedict begins the TV show at 26, and the books at 27.
Colin and Penelope are 19 and 17 at the start of the Netflix show, but 22 and 17 at the start of the book series. Before their book begins, there’s a time jump, which places Penelope in her late 20s for their romance. But in the show, since the seasons are set roughly a year apart, she’s still a teenager! To quote several viewers on X (formerly Twitter), she should be at the club.
Daphne and Simon are 18 and 28 in Bridgerton Season 1, but 21 and 29 in The Duke and I.
As for the younger half of the Bridgerton brood, their ages are the same in the show and books. Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth begin both at 17, 16, 12, and 10, respectively.
How These Changes Impact The Show
When there are discrepancies, they tend to make sense for the story. Aging up Kate, for example, helped establish her and Anthony as equals, which was an important aspect of their courtship.
And while it’s hard to fathom Penelope feeling “on the shelf” at just 19 years old, a big time jump might have been jarring on screen. Plus, the fact that Penelope is going through a teenage identity crisis underscores the impact that her longing for Colin and her secret gig as Lady Whistledown have taken on her.
