Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix, Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Even thoughJacqueline Avantisn’t here to see the success ofQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story—the Netflix series she largely inspired — her daughter told PEOPLE the late philanthropist would be “over the moon” about the show’s success and the subsequent rise in interest surrounding the real-life British royal.
“I started laughing when I saw [your] magazine coverage and everybody covering the story of how my mom inspired [the show]. I thought, ‘Well somebody is dancing in heaven right now. She is thrilled,'" Nicole Avant said in an exclusive interview.
Nicole Avant (center) with her parents Jacqueline and Clarence, before the tragedy that took her mother’s life.Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Nicole, 55, distinctly recalls the day her mother approached her husband with the idea to hone in on theBridgertoncharacter and authentichistorical figure, Queen Charlotte.
“We were dropping off food during [the] COVID [pandemic]. I was in the other room with my father, and I heard my mother fussing around, [pulling] Ted to the other room. He just rolled his eyes. I thought, ‘Oh God, here we go. It’s going to be something’s wrong,'" Nicole said.
“She lovedBridgerton,“Nicole added, before noting that Avant told Sarandos that the show “didn’t do enough on Queen Charlotte.” According to Nicole, her mother said, “She is a real person. This is real history. Why didn’t you go deeper.”
Jacqueline Avant (center) with her family including husband Clarence, son Alexander, son-in-law Ted Sarandos, daughter Nicole, and friend Quincy Jones.Courtesy of Nicole Avant
“She showed Ted the book she had on Queen Charlotte, and then she showed him a letter that she bought at an auction that [the queen] had written, so he could tell her obsession. The interesting thing was when Ted got in the car, his eye roll turned into, ‘Oh, wait a minute, Mom might have something right here. Wait a minute, this might be something.’ And then I guess he talked to [showrunner]Shonda Rhimesabout it and then the rest is history.”
That’s whenQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,which isnominated for three Emmys— Outstanding Period Costumes, Outstanding Period Hairstyling and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance — was born.
Nicole, who spoke to PEOPLE as part of an interview about her upcoming book about grief, said that she now sees her mother in Queen Charlotte. “When I watched [the show], I said to Ted, ‘I know why my mom was obsessed with her — because that is her.'”
Jacqueline Avant at an event in happier times.Mark Davis/BET/Getty
She added, “That devotion, that is what she fell in love with about her. Not so much that she was mixed race like my mom, and a royal and all that, it wasn’t that. It was her devotion, and that’s what I got to take away from it. And it made me understand my mom a lot more, just knowing more and more about Queen Charlotte. Their personality is the same.”
Nicole recentlyrevealed the coverof her upcoming bookThink You’ll Be Happy: Moving through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude, which she describes as “part memoir” and “part guide.” As the title suggests, the book details her experience processing the tragic murder of her mother.
While discussing the book, which will be published in October, she said she believes her mother helped her to keep going, despiteher devastating loss.
“I felt that she was energetically pushing me to move on, to stand up. I actually became my mom,” Nicole said. “I decided when I answered the question of, ‘Who am I going to be?’ it was really, ‘What would Jacquie do right now?’”
source: people.com
