Bridgerton: Lady Danbury's 10 Most Cutting Quotes | ScreenRant
Prowling like a lioness around the dance floor of any ball, or striding through the vestibules of any opera house, the dowager Lady Danbury commands respect from the tip of her ominously thumping cane to the top of her piled coiffure. Capable of dispensing both sharp judgments and sage advice, she is as formidable a presence at court with the Queen -whom she counts as a personal friend- as she is in Lady Bridgerton's drawing room.
As viewers watched Lady Danbury try to prevent the Duke of Hastings from living the same cold life his father did, actor Adjoa Andoh stole many scenes in Bridgerton thanks to her powerful delivery. Her barbs will live on in infamy just like another witty dowager in Downton Abbey.
10 "So, you are not dead after all."
Lady Danbury is surprised to find that the son of her oldest friend is alive and well, though one suspects she's had a hand in making sure he didn't get sent to one of London's overcrowded orphanages. Her first remark upon seeing the boy at his writing desk is, "So, you are not dead after all".
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It might seem cold and unfeeling, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Sarcasm and barbarous jests are strategies that Lady Danbury may employ to keep others at a distance, but it doesn't mean her venomous words don't often come from a place of true affection.
9 "He requires whatever reserves of fatherly nature reside in that frigid heart of yours."
Lady Danbury may live in a man's world like the rest of her peers in the Regency era, but she doesn't let this dissuade her from using her voice. When she challenges Hastings to stop referring to his son as an idiot, and the arrogant duke attempts to belittle her with sexist castigation, she doesn't flinch at his barrage of contempt.
An eyebrow may be raised, but she never raises her voice, instead channeling all of her vitriol into a well-aimed flurry of common sense and realism towards the bitter man. One can practically hear Lady Danbury's fury in Simon's words when he makes his vengeful vow upon his father's deathbed.
8 "But I suppose the duke can survive such scrutiny, since he is, after all, a man."
While it might seem as though Lady Danbury is beyond reproach, the infamous Lady Whistledown does not pass over a chance for juicy gossip even if it does concern the imperious dowager's family. When she writes about the Duke of Hastings, Lady Danbury cannot help but get sucked into Whistledown's rumor mill.
She acknowledges that because Simon is a man, he will not be as greatly affected by scandal as Daphne Bridgerton but would all the same prefer his good name remain unsullied. She will do whatever it takes to silence Whistledown's wagging tongue, including colluding with Lady Bridgerton.
7 "With these knees? Yes, Your Majesty."
Lady Danbury engages in a great deal of spirited mischief over the series, specifically surrounding young Daphne and erstwhile Simon. Eventually, even the Queen herself gets involved with their matchmaking, and it's Lady Danbury who takes the couple to plead their case in court. When asked by the Queen if she is bowing as "low" as possible, the dowager simply takes the withering comment in stride, responding to Her Highness that she can't expect anything less with her bad knees.
Lady Danbury knows that where the ton is concerned, it doesn't matter what things are but what they appear to be. Armed with the knowledge that perception is reality in high society, she schemes to push Daphne and Simon together, even if it means passing over the queen's nephew.
6 "Then you are just being cruel, and we both know I taught you better than that."
Once the Prince of Prussia makes an appearance in episode 3, Lady Danbury realizes that Daphne Bridgerton may slip out of Simon's grasp for good unless he makes his move. Lady Danbury chastises him for having a lugubrious pace when it comes to announcing his intentions, which if carried on much longer, will simply be seen as indecent.
Rather than deny Daphne a greater prospect, Simon must let her go if he truly cares about her feelings. If he is not simply being selfish and wants her for himself, he must not toy with her emotions, because as Lady Danbury reminds him during a tense carriage ride, she taught him better.
5 "I knew I would have to step into the light someday and I could not very well be frightened. So, instead, I made myself frightening."
In an effort to impart some wisdom and courage into her young ward, Lady Danbury takes Simon Basset aside in the second episode and explains to him that though she may appear brave and proud, she was not always the vision of self-assurance he has come to know.
When she was a young girl she was quite shy, and attempted to go unnoticed at gatherings. Soon however she realized she would need to be recognized for her own merit if she was to make her way in the world, so she sharpened her wit, her wardrobe, and her eye, and made herself "the most terrifying creature in any room" she entered.
4 “You must promise me that when you step into the light, you will be worthy of the attention you command.”
Lady Danbury rescues a young Simon from a life of neglect and shame at the hands of his father. Though he is far from perfect in the eyes of the senior Hastings, he is a malleable pupil to Lady Danbury, and she becomes his mentor in the ways of polite society.
She has but one commandment; he must make himself into such a paragon of men that he will be worthy of all the attention he will one day doubtless receive. Adult Simon Basset becomes everything a young Duke should be: well-groomed, well-read, and well-mannered.
3 "I would tell you it's been lovely spending all this time with you, Your Grace, but I tend to leave such sycophantic behavior for the rest of the ton."
Once Simon has made up his mind to quit England altogether, he begins making arrangements to leave from London before the end of the season, and before his feelings for Daphne can become any more cemented. Lady Danbury does nothing to conceal her displeasure with his actions, which she views as selfish and cowardly.
Lady Danbury has always made her opinion known within high society even when its parameters exclude such candor, and she makes no exception with Simon, whom she views as a son and for whom she only wants the best. She will always shoot straight with him in an effort to help him grow beyond the emotional truncation of his father.
2 "I'm sure you will abscond to some remote corner of the world and continue to do what you have always done; take everything you have for granted."
More than anyone, Lady Danbury knows that when Simon decides to quit England, he's running from problems that will always be present unless he confronts them. She fervently wishes he would acknowledge his legacy and take his place in society so that he might be a force for goodness and change.
She reminds him that others are not afforded the same luxury that he is — the ability to whisk off to wherever their heart would like. Least of all women, who must remain and do the onerous work of maintaining stability.
1 "We were two separate societies, divided by color until a king fell in love with one of us. Love, your Grace, conquers all."
Bridgerton tackles issues of racial identity in an artistic but candid way, but it isn't color-blind, as evidenced by the conversation Lady Danbury has with Simon about love. "I understand that you believe such subjects of love and devotion, affection and attachment, [to be] all trite and ridiculous," she tells him, "But have you any idea those very things are precisely what have allowed a new day to begin to dawn in this society?".
She points to Queen Charlotte and King George as the most prodigious example of unity in society for people of color, but Simon, unfortunately, doesn't want to hear it, citing the royal marriage as capricious and unstable. It will take him time to come around to Lady Danbury's point of view, but it is as always, correct.