Just How Old Was Daphne When She Made Her Debut in ‘Bridgerton’?

The trailer for the much-anticipated third season of Bridgerton is finally out, giving us a first glimpse of all our favorite characters—main couple Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton (played by Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton respectively) first and foremost.

Still, there was one notable absence from the Bridgerton clan. We saw Claudia Jessie’s Eloise getting all friendly with Jessica Madsen’s Cressida Cowper, Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony being stupidly in love with his new wife Kate (played by Simone Ashley), Luke Thompson’s Benedict being the silliest goofiest goose of the ton once more and Ruth Gemmell’s Lady Violet busy with debuting yet another daughter onto the London social scene. This year’s debutante is the sixth born of the family, Francesca, played by Hannah Dodd.

But there was no Daphne, the sister who started it all. And that’s because after briefly appearing in the last one to guide Anthony through his relationship woes, actress Phoebe Dynevor will take a page out of her on-screen husband René Jean-Page’s book and sit this season out. Still, with another Bridgerton girl debuting, we can’t help but think back on the eldest daughter of the family, whom the Queen herself named the Diamond of her season.

How old is Daphne in Bridgerton?

While the timeline of the original Julia Quinn book The Duke & I doesn’t exactly match the one from the Netflix show, we can calculate that Daphne should be around twenty-one when she meets and eventually marries Duke Simon Bassett.

According to the official Bridgerton family tree—which you can find on Julia Quinn’s official website, even though it of course contains spoilers for the romances of each of the eight siblings—Daphne was born in 1792, one year after Colin and four before Eloise.

In the book, Daphne debuts at 20 during the 1812 social season but has had no success in securing a match. She’s on her second year on the marriage mart in 1813, which is when Lady Whistledown starts publishing her gossip column and the Duke of Hastings makes his return to London. 

In the show, however, she debuts in 1813 and is immediately the center of attention. Having the Queen praise you in front of the entire court will definitely have that effect, Still, that’s not enough to land her a match—what with her older brother meddling like his life depends on it and her growing attraction to the Duke. So off to the good old “fake courting” trope we go.

Daphne is therefore twenty-two when she appears in the second season of Bridgerton. Anthony and Kate do their whole charade of denying their feelings during the 1814 social season, which is the same year when Daphne’s son Augie—who in the books is actually a daughter named Amelia—is born. 

(featured image: Netflix)