Gentle Reader: The Story Behind the Photo: I Was Presented to the Queen
Updated: 5 days ago
Calling All Bridgerton Fans!
Welcome, Gentle Reader
The Queen's Ball: An Immersive Bridgerton Experience
New York
Imagine that you're Daphne, Eloise, or even Penelope. Or maybe you fancy yourself as Lady Danbury or Violet. You can't be Queen Charlotte, though. That's because she is the one that you will see. So practice your curtsy and get ready to be presented to the Queen at the Bridgerton Immersive Experience.
What does this have to do with our travel journal? Plenty. The Bridgerton Experience was on a tour through the United States and it did not stop in every major city. So people had to travel to either the nearest place or to perhaps a city that they wanted to see. And New York was one of them. This meant that not only did we become part of the aristocracy for one evening, we made new friends.
Everyone there was probably a fan of the television series. As we chatted with other attendees, we were able to figure out who was also a fan of the book series, leading to great discussions about the changes in the plot as the book was made into the television adaptation. No one there was very judgmental about the changes because it was the on air series that got us to the ball in the first place.
Like all of these new friends, I’m also a fan of other Regency period literature and films, such as those by Jane Austen, who actually lived in that time as opposed to the modern authors who are writing about that era using historical research to make their novels be as authentic as possible.
There can be a sort of fascination with royalty, nobility, aristocracy and the landed gentry classes, particularly here in the United States where we allegedly fought against this when the USA declared its independence from England (where many of these stories take place). Most of us would have probably have been the servants who were below stairs or the working class that provided the goods and services that the upper class needed. Of course there are many societal and historical reasons why the majority of us would not even “qualify” but we’re not here to discuss history. The object of immersive experiences is fantasy: what if? And the object was to have fun. It’s a chance to live the life for a short while, learn a little something and to connect the tv series.
I was part of the Queen's Court at The Bridgerton Experience in New York City. And yes, it was fun and I did learn something that I didn’t catch while watching Bridgerton.
Part of the fun of being at an immersive experience is to dress the part. And that meant me searching online for something suitable to wear. Now, I wasn't sure if what I found would be 100% authentic, but I wanted my costume to be representative of the show, if not the era. But getting dressed up like that period was not required, it's just for fun. Some people came dressed in period costume, some came like me, dressed in clothing that was representative of the era and others arrived just simply dressed up, all shiny and glittery.
After the costume, being part of the aristocracy came with another price, in this case, the price of a ticket. There were different packages. I had an outfit and a ticket and now it was time to get to the ball.
So what was a Bridgerton immersive experience, especially in New York? If you arrived early, you might have had to queue up outside. There was more than one session; we chose the early session. Security checked our bags and then the staff scanned our tickets (a little modern technology, we had them on our phones instead of the traditional 19th century engraved invitations).
The staff played their parts well, trying to speak in English accents, greeting us in the vocabulary of the day. The palace staff's job was to take care of you and to help you participate. If you did not have time to learn the latest regency-era dance, you were invited to learn one there. The music was similar to the score you would hear on the show: typical classical as well as classical style covers of today's pop music.
The ball would only last a couple of hours, so a full dinner was not served. Instead, you could partake of refreshments to tide you over until you got home (either prepaid or extra, depending on which ticket package you purchased). And there were libations (both with and without alcohol).
Whether you were dancing or not, you could always do what ball goers did: watch a romance unfold on the ballroom dance floor. The actors who danced the story: complete with the drama of meeting each other for the first time, falling in love, having a conflict and reconciling. The dancers did not resemble any of the characters, so the drama could have been anyone in the era in the Bridgerton universe.
The ballet was just one of the highlights of the evening, besides learning how to dance as a Regency era aristocrat. The main highlight was being presented to the Queen herself. At one point, before the staged dance, Queen Charlotte made her entrance, complete with announcement.
After those who were presented made their formal curtseys, the music shifted and then it was time to party until the end of the session. You're a participant, not just an observer, hence the immersive experience.
Since the theme is from the Bridgerton novels and television series, knowing about the topic helps, but it's not required to have fun!
The Bridgerton immersive experience sessions in New York were about 2 hours long, purchased by reserving your time and date and type of ticket. You could have pre-purchased your drink, souvenirs, and/or snack box or you could have bought those items once you arrived along with other Bridgerton inspired souvenirs when you get there. I got carried away buying tea because the cast of Bridgerton was on the tea canisters.
You had to have been age 16 to attend (with an adult), 18+ to attend without an accompanying adult and, of course, 21 and over to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.
The costumes are not mandatory but they did help create the ambience and added to the fun. After all, we were part of the cast of the Bridgerton Experience that day and dressing the part helped. As one participant said, "it's like a costume prom for adults." But, you certainly won't be turned away if you don't have a Regency era-like outfit.
Want to see me at the Ball?
There are several selfie stations for us to document our own Immersive Experience, but tripods, selfie sticks (and probably gimbals) and professional cameras were not allowed. I brought just my phone, it more than did the job. However, flash wasn't allowed either, so the lighting at the ball caused the photos and videos to have an eerie color filter-like appearance until you correct it in your photo editor. No matter, it makes for an interesting video.
You could have had your portrait taken professionally in the form of a digital painting (remember, photography was really invented by then, but pop up photo stations wouldn't make appearances at parties for almost a century). After your photo was taken by the house photographer, you were guided to the computer, pulled up your photo and saw it painted before your eyes. You signed your masterpiece and scanned the QR code to download it to your phone. I was unable to see if prints could be purchased for some reason.
At the party, you could still interact with actors (staff), who were a lot of fun and of course, stayed in character, even to the person escorting us out at the end. You'll find yourself in character until they tell you the session is over.
So, gentle reader (and YouTube viewers), feel free to see how our immersive Bridgerton Experience was and feel free to comment on the video with how your experience was.
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