Who is Jacqueline Avant and why is Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story dedicated to her?

The new Bridgerton spin-off has just been released and fans are loving, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, but there is one mystery that is confusing fans, who is Jacqueline Avant?

Fans of Bridgerton were delighted to see that Netflix released a brand new spin-off of the beloved series on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is already receiving rave reviews, but some have been left a little confused after finishing the first episode of the season. At the end of the first episode, a title card read; 'In Memory of Jacqueline Avant.' Now some are wondering who exactly this person was, and how she was related to this new series. So, who is Jacqueline Avant?

Jacqueline Avant was the wife of Clarence Avant, an American music and film producer who was given the nickname, 'The Black Godfather' and changed the industry for Black artists. 

Jacqueline was a philanthropist and married Clarence in 1967. The couple was married for 54 years before Jacqueline's untimely death in 2021 at the age of 81. Jacqueline was shot and killed during a home invasion, she was transported to a local hospital but sadly did not survive. The man who killed her was on parole and attempting to burgle the house, he was sentenced to 190 years in a California prison.

Jacqueline and Clarence had two children together, a daughter named Nicole and a son named Alexander Du Bois. Nicole was a former US ambassador to the Bahamas and is married to Netflix executive Ted Sarandos.

Shonda Rhimes, the creator and producer of Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story revealed that it was Ted who told her about his mother-in-law's love of the real Queen Charlotte, and encouraged her to write a series about this historical figure.

"I've always been obsessed with Queen Charlotte," Shonda Rhimes revealed in a press release. "She's a fascinating character and I've always been obsessed with Lady Danbury, and Violet, and those people don't always get to get their stories told to the fullest."

"But what really pushed it was Ted Sarandos, who called me up and said: 'My mother-in-law is obsessed with Queen Charlotte. Do you want to do a Queen Charlotte story?' And I immediately said yes. Not just because it was Ted, but because I loved the idea," she said.

Ted was of course referring to his mother-in-law, Jacqueline Avant, who sadly passed long before Shonda's series about Queen Charlotte was released.

Speaking at the premiere of Queen Charlotte, Shonda said, per The Hollywood Reporter, "Ted called me and my brain started humming, and the show was born. So this is a show about Queen Charlotte, but it all started because of another great queen, Jacqueline Avant." Thus the tribute in the first episode is dedicated from one Queen to another!

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is streaming on Netflix now.