Stars of the popular Netflix period drama Bridgerton have been spotted at a 19th-century baronial mansion in Strathspey hamlet, Kinloch Laggan, which famously served as a backdrop for many major film and television productions.
Ardverikie House doubled as Balmoral Castle for hit Netflix Royal drama The Crown, served as the fictional Glenbogle Estate in the BBC television series and was used as a filming location for exterior landscape and estate scenes in Outlander.
The upcoming fifth series of Bridgerton - scheduled to be released in 2027 - will follow the same-sex relationship between Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza) - a first for the show.
By the end of last season, Francesca had been widowed following the sudden death of her husband Lord John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin. The story features a two-year time jump following the death of John Stirling, focusing on Francesca re-entering the marriage mart just as Michaela returns to London.
Sightings suggest a wedding is being filmed at the estate for the new series and Luke Thompson, whose plays Benedict Bridgerton, the principal character last season, has reportedly been seen filming on location in Scotland with crew spotted in the village shops.
A post on the Laggan Community Facebook page, said filming will be taking place in the area for “a couple of months” and that locals who may be affected should have received a notice about filming.
It reads: “With the main A86 Newtonmore to Fort William Road still being busy with holidaymakers and international tourists you may have noticed that the volume of traffic in and around Laggan has also increased slightly over the past week or so, that is because we have a film crew visiting for a couple of months.
“Some of you may have been informed by a letter regarding this… We’re really lucky and grateful to have our holidaymakers and also the added excitement of the film crew visiting, they bring a lot of money into the village and surrounding area… We are sure some of you are looking forward to seeing the outcome when the film crew are finished, maybe you are lucky enough to be involved in some way, but it is rather exciting have a buzz about our little village.”
Bridgerton is an American alternative history, Regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen. Based on the book series of the same name by Julia Quinn, it stars an ensemble cast let by Phoebe Dynevor, Rege-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley and Nicola Coughlan.
Narrated by Julie Andrews, it follows the close-knit siblings of the noble and influential Bridgerton family as they navigate the highly competitive social season, where young marriageable members of the ton, consisting of nobility and gentry, are introduced into society.
The series is set during the early 19th century, in an alternative London Regency era, in which George III established racial equality and granted aristocratic titles to people of colour due to Queen Charlotte’s fictionalised African heritage within the series.
Ardverikie House also featured prominently in Mrs Brown (1997) starring Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Billy Connolly as John Brown, was used as a Highland estate in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, appeared in James Bond thriller No Time to Die (2021) along with parts of the surrounding Cairngorms and featured in Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s The Grand Tour ‘Lochdown Special’.
Picture: Peter Jolly
