The promise of marrying the most powerful man in Europe is a tantalizing one, right? Well, at the start of the prequel Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) isn’t quite so sure. And she’s willing to flirt with disaster before she finds out. Or at least that’s what the budding royal tells her brother, Adolphus (Tunji Kasim), in the enchanting first nine minutes of the Queen Charlotte series premiere, which Tudum is debuting above. 

Launching May 4, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story unveils the love story of its eponymous protagonist and her husband, King George, played by Corey Mylchreest as a young man and James Fleet in the Regency era. As we see in the sneak peek, Charlotte, a German princess from a small province, initially has a rather explosive reaction to her impending betrothal to the King of England. Later in the clip, Charlotte explains why: Her high-fashion corset could kill her at any moment, and her husband-to-be is a complete stranger.

Queen Charlotte has clearly never been one to mince words. Why, she asks, would the British Empire want her of all the eligible women on the continent for the king? 

While creator Shonda Rhimes can’t spoil that mystery just yet, she does have some exciting insights into the prequel, which will split its time between the early days of Queen Charlotte and King George’s marriage and the Regency era of Bridgerton. Familiar faces like Agatha Danbury (Adjoa Andoh and Arsema Thomas) and Violet Bridgerton née Ledger (Ruth Gemmell and Connie Jenkins-Greig) also appear in the series as the characters Bridgerton fans have come to love and as their younger selves. 

“I really loved the fact that we could expand the universe and show people how the Bridgerton world that they know came to be,” Rhimes told fans during a Queen Charlotte event this winter. “Plus, I’ve always been fascinated by the romance between Charlotte and King George and wondered how that began.” 

Amarteifio relished bringing Rhimes’ vision to life. “I know what Queen Charlotte is like in the [Regency era],” the actor said. “To be able to create the foundations for that [persona] was really exciting for me just to understand how she becomes so brazen and so strong and such a force.” 

Although Queen Charlotte is the title character, fans will also get to know the inner workings of King George’s mind. “He’s also about to be married off to a woman he doesn’t know. So we’re meeting them both at their young starting points where they’re very unsure,” said Rhimes. 

Despite the royals’ respective wariness, Queen Charlotte is still poised to serve the signature steaminess of the Bridgerton universe. After all, the flagship series has proven Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) and King George still burn for each other  decades into their royal relationship. 

“Fans can look forward to some really exciting moments, some really romantic moments and some very surprising moments,” Rhimes teased. “[They] build the world and fill it out in a way that [fans] have never seen before.” 

Board the ship that launched every Bridgerton ship you love on May 4.

A First Look At Queen Charlotte‘s King & QueenQueen Charlotte encounters a very tall wall.