Francesca Stirling (Netflix) (2024)

This page is about the Netflix character. For the book character, see Francesca Stirling

Francesca Stirling (née Bridgerton) is the sixth Bridgerton child and third daughter.

History[]

1813 Social Season[]

In 1813, on the day of Daphne's societal debut, Francesca accompanied the rest of her family so that Daphne could be presented to the queen.^[1]

Shortly after this debut, Francesca left London to practice pianoforte with their Aunt Winnie.^[2]

After being away for nearly the entire season, Francesca returned to London. She eagerly showed Daphne what she had learned, playing piano while Colin sang and the others danced.^[3]

1814 Social Season[]

At the start of the 1814 social season, Francesca waited, along with the rest of her siblings and mother, for Eloise to get ready for her presentation. When she finally emerged, she warned them all not to say anything. On their way for Eloise's presentation to the queen, Francesca fanned her to cool her off until Eloise took the fan and frantically fanned herself. After Eloise's debut, Francesca played the piano while Eloise practiced dancing with Gregory.^[4]

When Daphne returned to the family home for their annual pall-mall game, she brought Augie. Francesca, Violet, and Hyacinth fawned over him, and Francesca tried to get Eloise to join them, but Eloise wasn't interested.^[5]

Societal Debut[]

At the start of the 1815 season, Francesca prepared to make her debut. The morning of, she got up early, got ready, and then started playing piano while her family remained oblivious. Her family went to the queen's palace together, where Violet escorted her as she debuted. She told Violet that she was most excited about meeting someone and having her own house, so she could have some peace. Violet worried she'd find society too overwhelming, but she assured Violet she'd find her own way. Despite Daphne's previous favor with the queen, Francesca failed to impress in the same way.

At a social event, Francesca spoke to some other young ladies about what they wanted in husbands. Francesca could only decide that she wanted someone kind.

At Lady Danbury's Four Seasons ball, Francesca faltered under the attention of several gentlemen and ultimately excused herself, telling Anthony she needed a moment alone.

Francesca ended up near Penelope and Penelope encouraged her to go dance again, saying it was hard to come off the wall once you found yourself there. Francesca said she found the attention overwhelming, contrasting her siblings, whom Penelope said all seemed to live to attract attention. They bonded over being different from their siblings, though Francesca did say all her siblings were wonderful. When Lord Cho asked Francesca to dance, she accepted and echoed Penelope's advice about staying off the wall back to her.

After the ball, Violet asked Francesca how she found it. Francesca said it was satisfactory and admitted that while she found what Violet and Edmund had enviable, she wasn't sure she needed that to be happy. Violet asked her to be open to love if it came her way and she said she'd see what happened.^[6]

Lady Danbury came to Bridgerton house and she, Violet, and Francesca discussed potential suitors for Francesca. Lady Danbury also informed them that the queen wasn't done seeking her diamond, though she was calling it another name.

Violet took Francesca and Eloise to the modiste to get them new dresses, hoping to catch the queen's eye. There, they shared what they'd learned with some other young ladies, inspiring them to try to impress the queen as well.

At the next ball, Violet proposed greeting the queen, but Francesca was more interested in meeting the suitors they'd discussed. Violet introduced Francesca to Lord Petri, a cellist. They shared a love of music, but he was more interested in the story of the music, which put her off. When she left that conversation, Lady Danbury summoned her and they walked away together.

Francesca ended up playing pianoforte in a back room. Lady Danbury then led the queen there. The queen was delighted to see Francesca playing so well, not to impress her queen, but because she enjoyed it. She told Francesca that she sparkled.^[7]

Violet was delighted that Francesca earned the queen's favor and said it would give her her pick of suitors. Lady Danbury said the queen would introduce her to someone high-ranking when she felt Francesca was ready. Violet reminded her that she didn't have to marry whoever the queen picked, but Francesca said she trusted the queen.

At the hot air balloon debut, as promised, the queen introduced Francesca to Lord Samadani, whom she'd brought in from Vienna just to meet Francesca. They talked there and then at the Innovations Ball, where he told her he was happy the queen had introduced them, as they had so much in common. They each had seven siblings. Francesca said he must understand not getting a moment's peace. He said he did, but unlike Francesca, he welcomed it and hoped to have eight children of his own so his house would always be filled with chatter. At that, Francesca excused herself and left the conversation.

While outside getting a breath of fresh air, Francesca was started when a man came to stand next to her. She said she was just in need of some quiet. He said he'd been seeking the same all night and asked if they could enjoy the silence together. They stood together in silence for a few moments, then looked at each other. After a few moments, Francesca excused herself and went back inside.^[8]

Francesca and her family waited for callers to arrive. They were expecting Lord Samadani to come, so when a caller was announced, they were surprised to see it was John Stirling. Francesca was pleased to see him and they sat in silence together while her family watched. When Lord Samadani finally arrived, John left, saying he didn't want to interfere.

Francesca then went to the opening of Lord Fuller's collection with her family.

While out walking with Violet, they ran into John and Francesca approached him and he told her he didn't attend the opening because he attends as few society events as possible. They heard a violin playing nearby and John asked if she enjoyed it. She admitted that she didn't and suggested how the piece could be improved. John excused himself and quickly walked away, so Francesca went back to Violet and told her she wasn't interested in John.

At the ball, Francesca danced with Lord Samadani, but after the dance, John approached her. She tried to brush him off, hurt by him leaving so quickly, but he said he wasn't a man of many words, but he did believe in the power of a gesture. He handed Francesca a roll of paper. When she saw what it was, she declined Lord Samadani's offer of lemonade and asked Violet if they could leave immediately.

Once at home, she pulled out the music and played it. John had had the music they heard rearranged just as she had suggested.^[9]

Francesca was pleased when Colin announced that he and Penelope were engaged. Francesca spent time with John at their betrothal party and encouraged him to tell a story he'd told her to her family. However, he stumbled over his words and was unable to tell it with an audience. Later, he returned to them and was finally able to tell the story.^[10]

When Francesca and John got engaged, she encouraged him to tell her family, but he worried about not being heard. To demonstrate this, he announced that he had the plague and they were all doomed, which went unnoticed by the family. Realizing he was right, Francesca called their attention to herself and announced the engagement, which the family celebrated.

Violet wanted to start planning immediately, but Francesca reminded her they hadn't even announced their betrothal yet. Because John wasn't the queen's first choice for Francesca, they asked Violet to talk to her, to support the match.

After watching the difference between how Violet interacted with Colin and Penelope versus John and herself, Francesca went to Violet and asked her to talk to the queen that night. When Violet tried to put it off, Francesca confronted her about her not supporting the match. Francesca defended her choice, saying it was easy and she loved him, even if it wasn't what Violet wanted for her.^[11]

Francesca attended Colin and Penelope's wedding with John and her family. At the wedding breakfast, Francesca was surprised when John asked her to dance with him. He said that while he wasn't much of a dancer, he felt they both needed to be bolder in declaring themselves. As the dance ended, the queen entered and dismissed everyone except the Bridgertons. She knew one of them had a secret and demanded they step forward and reveal themselves. Francesca stepped forward, believing the queen was talking about her secret engagement to John. The queen said she didn't care about that and their growing attraction was obvious. She meant that one of the was Lady Whistledown and she wanted to know which of them it was. When Anthony insisted that he would know and would stop it if something like that were happening in his house, the queen backed off, but said she'd find out the truth soon.^[12]

Francesca surprised her mother by telling her they were applying for a special license to have a small wedding at Bridgerton House. Additionally, they were moving to Scotland after the wedding, to John's family's home. Francesca defended the decision by saying she looked forward to the quiet, as she could barely hear her own voice at her family's home and wanted to learn who she was so they could get to know her better. Violet told Francesca she'd miss her, but knew Francesca would do well in Scotland.

Soon after, Francesca and John were married. John toasted to his wife and then she played a duet with her mother, as the ceremony had moved Violet to tears and the last time that had happened was when Francesca first started playing.

At the Dankworth-Finch Ball, Eloise asked Francesca if she could go to Scotland with them. Francesca said it was okay and John agreed that it would be wonderful. Then he introduced them to his cousin, Michaela, who told Francesca that all the stories John told about her weren't true and that the truth was much worse. Francesca stumbled over her words as she attempted to introduce herself.

The newlyweds then set off for Scotland with Eloise and Michaela.^[13]

Personality[]

More reserved and mysterious than the rest of the Bridgerton siblings, Francesca is careful with her words and has a sly, subversive sense of humor.

Relationships[]

Romantic[]

John Stirling[]

She is married to John Stirling.^[11]

Lord Samadani[]

After gaining the queen's favor, Francesca was introduced to Lord Samadani, a Marquess, by Her Majesty, who hoped to match the two of them.^[8]

Familial[]

Violet Bridgerton[]

Notes and Trivia[]

• She plays the pianoforte. She began playing at the age of five.^[10]
• Francesca had the least amount of appearances of any Bridgerton in the show as she was only seen in two episodes of season one and only seen in the first three episodes of season two. The reason we don't see her character as much is because her actor, Ruby Stokes, had scheduling conflicts.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

References