Bridgerton: Is the Duke of Hastings a Real Title?

BRIDGERTON has become a global hit with audiences around the world fascinated by Shondaland’s reimagining of Regency England’s opulence and scandal. Some fans of the series are curious to know: Is the Duke of Hastings a real title?

Bridgerton is adapted from Julia Quinn’s series of novels that follow the titular family. Audiences around the world have fallen in love with the love story between Daphne Bridgerton (played by Daphne Dynevor) and Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). However, audiences want to know more about the dashing Duke and how he is based on reality.

Is the Duke of Hastings a Real Title?

Bridgerton is a fictional story, and Shondaland’s adaptation of the beloved series adds a contemporary layer to Netflix’s period drama.
Most of the characters in the show are fictional, including the family at the heart of the story.

However, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) was a real person in British history, with Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz believed to be of mixed blood.

She was married to King George III (James Fleet), who was known for his mental health issues.

The Duke’s father (Richard Pepple) was given a title by Queen Charlotte and he hoped to continue the line.

As the events of Bridgerton reveal, Simon swore to his father on his deathbed that he would never have children to continue the Hastings line.

Simon feared that he would become like his father, who mistreated and neglected him after he developed a stutter as a child.

However, his wife Daphne eventually convinced him that he did not have to follow the same path as his father and could forge his own path.

Daphne and Simon welcomed a child at the end of season one of Bridgerton after the Duke decided to start a family.

Although the king and queen are based on real historical figures, the Duke of Hastings appears to be a title created for the purposes of Bridgerton, with author Quinn taking creative license with the English Regency aristocracy.

The title does not exist in real life, as Hastings is actually part of the Cinque Ports of Kent, which also includes New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich.

The Cinque Ports do not have dukes, but instead barons who oversee Hastings and several other ports.

The Barony of Hastings was first established in 1290 and has since been re-established twice.

Currently, Delaval Thomas Harold Astley is the 23rd Baron Hastings, an actor and farmer as well as an aristocrat.

He assumed the title in 2007 following the death of his father, Lord Edward Delaval Henry Astley, 22nd Baron Hastings.

Baron Hastings currently lives in Letheringsett in Norfolk, and is a businessman and farmer.