During the Valentine's Day event more stills were released by Bridgerton, and among them was one of Eloise (and some of her family) arriving at a ball.
Image Credit: LIAM DANIEL/Netflix
Setting:
There is nothing in the still that definitively tells us the location, however, there are a few clues that can lead to an educated guess.
First, we know it is at a ball based on the way everyone is dressed, and that it looks like it is evening. We also know that this is in the second episode, which rules out it being Lady Danbury's ball.
Second, we note that Eloise appears to be higher than her mother, brothers and sister, indicating they are climbing stairs to enter the ball.
Third we note that the Bridgerton carriage is in the background, and the horses for a second
carriage can be seen behind the carriage (I will get to the carriage a little later in the post).
In July 2022 filming leaks and paparazzi pictures showed that the production were filming at the estate Osterley Park, which I have concluded to be the setting for a ball in episode 2 based on an image of Penelope and Colin released, which I wrote about here.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
Osterley House has steps that lead up into an outdoor courtyard which appears, from both paparazzi pictures and the Penelope and Colin still, to be where the ball most likely is taking place.
The significance (or not) of the carriages:
As I said above we see a Bridgerton carriage in the shot behind the family, and we see the horses for what is, most likely, a second carriage behind this. In one of the paparazzi pictures from this shoot in 2022 the two Bridgerton carriages were seen, one of which is the carriage seen behind Eloise and her family. It is a reasonable deduction that the horses noted in the official still beyond the carriage, could be for the other Bridgerton carriage, which indicates that two carriages were needed to convey the Bridgertons to the ball.
Image Credit: Splashnews.com via Daily Mail Online
We don't know definitively which is the main Bridgerton carriage (ie: the carriage most likely to be used by the Viscount and Viscountess), but it is likely that the light blue carriage will be the one that they will use, as it is bigger, appears more luxurious and is in the Bridgerton colours. In past seasons we have seen that carriage used mainly for Violet and the girls, but we have also seen Anthony use it when his mother and sisters have not needed to use it. It is a reasonable conclusion that now Anthony is married he, and Kate, will be the ones to use this carriage as theirs, being the Viscount and Viscountess.
We have seen two other Bridgeton carriages being used, one is a Black carriage that was used by Benedict in season 1, and we saw in season 2 taking Anthony, Benedict and Gregory to Eloise's presentation. We have also seen a dark blue carriage that we saw Colin use in season 2 when he went to visit Marina.
I deduce that the light blue carriage is the main family carriage used by the Viscount and Viscountess, and before he married Anthony was happy for his mother to use this one predominantly, however, I can see it now being used mainly by Kate and Anthony. The black carriage appears to be mainly for Benedict's use, as we have seen him using it without Anthony being present, which indicates it is not primarily Anthony's carriage (though technically all of the carriages are Anthony's).
So what is the possible significance of the carriages? Well, that there are two carriages present, and not just the one larger light blue carriage, suggests that there are more than Violet, Francesca, Eloise, Benedict and Colin present from the Bridgerton family, and that Kate and Anthony are likely to also be present at the ball, otherwise I think they would have all been able to fit into the larger light blue carriage (we saw all four girls and Violet fit into that carriage in season 2).
Scene:
As discussed above, this scene looks to be the arrival at a ball, and is most likely the ball filmed at Osterley Park in 2022.
Looking at the family, Eloise is looking straight ahead, though it is hard to know if she is the one leading the family in, or if perhaps Kate and Anthony are in front of her and the still is just taken from in front of Eloise.
Eloise is looking determined, but not happy or excited, indicating that whilst she has made the decision to embrace the season she is not necessarily going to enjoy it. We see violet and Benedict both looking at Eloise, though with them being out of focus it is hard to get a definitive reading on their facial expressions, but Violet looks a little worried, and Benedict is also looking concerned, possibly both are feeling some concern for Eloise.
One of the reasons I think that someone (possibly Kate and Anthony) is in front of Eloise is that Colin appears to be looking past Eloise and towards someone in front of her, again as he is not fully in focus it is hard to get a reading on the facial expression, but it is not one of interest or excitement, almost as if this is something he feels obligated to do, but maybe doesn't necessarily want to do.
Francesca is the only one not looking forward, but is rather looking out to the side, which leads to the speculation of who (or what) she is looking at. Francesca appears to be half looking sideways, as opposed to being fully turned towards the subject of her interest, so could she be looking at John?
Look:
We don't have a really good look at what Benedict and Colin are wearing so I am going to focus on the women in the still.
Francesca:
Francesca appears to be wearing a lilac and white gown, which is a colour that Bridgerton has often used to signal a female character falling in love - or about to fall in love. This could indicate that Francesca is falling in love with John, or is about to meet him for the first time. It is a departure from previous seasons where Eloise and Daphne often wore Bridgerton blue to balls.
Violet:
Speaking of Bridgerton Blue, Violet's gown looks to be predominantly blue, though there is an appearance of lilac within the blue on her gown, which is an interesting choice for Violet, could she be going to fall in love this season? One thing I note with violet's gown is the "cold shoulder" sleeves which gives it a modern sort of feel, whilst it does not have the same anachronism as we have seen for some of the styling choices, it definitely has a hint of it, which on its own wouldn't be too bad, but from what we have seen in images so far a lot of the styling has these choices which, I think, tips it from 'Regency fantasy' to just ridiculous. It is interesting to note that Violet does not appear to be wearing any jewellery or hair adornments, with the exception of her dress her overall look is very plain.
Eloise:
Eloise is in light green, which is a colour we have seen her in before, and is a colour that symbolises the connection between Bridgerton blue and Featherington yellow, could this be a colour to indicate a significant moment or scene with Eloise and Penelope? Eloise's dress is detailed with a floral pattern, which seems to be a theme for this season but also could hint at her future love story. Whilst I like Eloise's dress I think the style invokes the idea of a 1950s sheath dress style as opposed to the Empire waistlines of the Regency period, and combined with an almost art deco style necklace, it is not making me automatically think Regency period. Eloise's hair is up and appears to have hair adornments that match the colour of her dress.
