All the clues you missed about Lady Whistledown’s identity before she was revealed

*Contains spoilers*

One of the main differences between Bridgerton and other period dramas is the Gossip Girl like narration of Lady Whistledown.

However the Julie Andrews voiceover is not simply there for narration. Lady Whistledown’s mysterious identity is one of the major plot lines of the series. And Lady Whistledown is responsible for some of the dramatic bombshells in the show such as the announcement of Marina’s pregnancy.

But just who is responsible for the know it all newsletter that circulates the ton? And what clues did you completely miss out on during the eight episodes for her identity?

Who is Lady Whistledown?

Throughout the eight part series Eloise takes it upon herself to uncover the identity of Lady Whistledown. Near the end of the show she suspects it is Madame Delacroix.

In episode eight she discovers a plot by the Queen to uncover the identity of Lady Whistledown and expose her. She races to the printers to warn the writer and we are missed of the opportunity to get a true confirmation of Whistledown’s identity.

However at the end of the series Lady Whistledown is revealed to the audience as Penelope Featherington played by the incredible Nicola Coughlan.

She is seen in a carriage with a cloak over her head and the Julie Andrews voice over says: “Perhaps I will come forward one day. Though, you must know, dear reader, that decision shall be left entirely up to me. Yours truly, Lady Whistledown.”

And then Penelope gives off that great knowing sly smile.

Ok so what clues did I miss about Lady Whistledown’s identity during Bridgerton?

Aside from going back and rewatching the whole series, which isn’t a bad idea, there are a number of clues that suggested Penelope was Lady Whistledown long before the reveal.

Firstly the hint is her in name, Penelope’s nickname is literally Pen aka writing aka Lady Whistledown.

Another big clue is the reveal of Miss Thompson’s pregnancy and plot to marry Colin.

The reveal in Whistledown’s column ended the engagement of Colin and Marina, which in itself should be enough of a clue that it was Penelope writing the column.

Penelope is in love with Colin and tries her utmost hardest throughout the series to get Marina to change her mind about marrying Colin. The night before the announcement of Marina’s pregnancy we see Penelope in tears with Eloise and then boom the next day it’s all over the ton.

Other clues also include very basic facts such as Penelope being at social events covered in Lady Whistledown’s column and always trying to change the subject when Eloise brought up her quest to uncover her.

It turns out Nicola Coughlan had an input in dropping clues for Lady Whistledown’s identity. In an interview with Town & Country, Nicola said she would tell the director she couldn’t stand in certain positions because she needed to be visible to see certain events she wrote about in her column.

She said: “There’d be certain things where the director would say, ‘We want to stand you here and do this.’ And I’d think, ‘I can’t, because in my column, I write that they meet at this point.’

“So, if you went back, you’ll spot me in a couple of scenes like Where’s Waldo.”

One of these scenes included the first scene in which Daphne and Simon meet, and Penelope is seen in the corner of the scene watching on.

Now if you don’t mind me I’m off to rewatch Bridgerton to hunt for more clues.

Bridgerton is out now on Netflix. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Featured image credit: Netflix

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