At the Bridgerton online fan event on Valentine's Day it was announced that Will Mondrich, played by Martins Imhangbe, will be inheriting a title and entering society within the ton. Martins Imhangbe posted the picture of Will, Alice and their children to his Instagram, with a caption that hinted at a clue to the title in his name, so let's look at that as it creates for a fascinating theory.
Image Credit: Martins Imhangbe Instagram
The character of Will was loosely based on real life regency boxer Bill Richmond, so much so that his surname is the two syllables of Richmond's name inverted, thus is it possible that Will's title will be the name reverted? The caption from Martins' Instagram post suggests that could be a possibility with him inverting Coming Soon to be Soon Come. If these clues are leading us to this conclusion, it means we will see Will and his family take the title Richmond, a title that has a fascinating real life history which could lead to an interesting storyline if this history is utilised in Bridgerton.
Richmond was originally a medieval title granted at first by William the Conqueror, styled as Earl of Richmond. This title merged with the crown in the early Tudor period as the last Earl of Richmond ascended the throne as King Henry VII, it is now considered extinct as an earldom, however, it has been replaced by the Duke of Richmond title, which remains in use today.
The first Duke of Richmond was Henry Fitzroy, who was granted the title in 1525. Henry Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII to Elizabeth Blount. This creation of the title did not last long, reverting to the crown upon the death of Henry Fitzroy, however, there were several further creations of the title with the most recent creation (the fourth) of the title, being in 1675 for the illegitimate son of King Charles II, and it is this creation that the current Duke of Richmond is descended from.
The Richmond title has always been associated with Royalty, either directly or loosely through the subsidiary titles as well as the main title. The main subsidiary title for the Duke of Richmond is that of Earl of March, this is a title that has previously been held by two Kings (Edward IV and Edward V), and like the Dukedom holds an important place in the Royal History of the United Kingdom. It is also interesting to note that the current Duke of Richmond holds three Dukedoms (Duke of Richmond, Duke of Lennox, and Duke of Gordon), this is equal to HRH The Prince of Wales who is the only other person in the United Kingdom to hold three Dukedoms (Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, and Duke of Cambridge).
Image Credit: Netflix
So have Bridgerton leaned into this history, in more ways than one, and made Will's new title the Duke of Richmond? If so, have they also taken inspiration from the Royal Connections of the title and applied them to Will Mondrich? The other possibilities is that the show will go further back in history, making Will the Earl of Richmond, or ignoring the real life history around the title and make him a Baron or Viscount, and the cryptic post from Martins is just a red herring.
Will Mondrich, as a character, was created based on a real life individual so it is not a big jump of logic to consider that in making him titled the show also uses a real life title for him.
Using the idea that the show does use the real life history of the Duke of Richmond title as a basis for this storyline, will they lean into the full history of it being used as a title for the illegitimate son of a member of the Royal Family? Could Will have Royal connections, thus giving a possible storyline in future seasons for Queen Charlotte if Lady Whistledown is revealed fully in season 3?
What do you think?
Do you believe that Will's title could be the Richmond title? Do you think that the show could use the real life title of Duke of Richmond and it's Royal History to set up a storyline for Will for future seasons?
