What is the Queen Sniffing on ‘Bridgerton’?

Look, sometimes we all need a pick me up, and fictional versions of Queen Charlotte of England are no different. Ever since we first met the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) in Bridgerton Season 1, we’ve known that her Majesty enjoys scandalous gossip, enormous wigs, and snorting a mysterious colored powder. The Queen’s “snuff” seems to be Charlotte’s biggest vice, as she routinely blows off conversations and orders her manservant around to fetch more. But what exactly is the Queen snorting in Bridgerton? What is the history behind snuff and what is Golda Rosheuvel, the actress who plays Queen Charlotte, sniffing on the Bridgerton set?

Netflix’s steamy hit Bridgerton takes place in a fantasy version of Regency era England where lords and ladies dance to string versions of Madonna’s “Material Girl” and true love conquers all. The show’s unique approach to race relations was inspired by the very real historical theory that Queen Charlotte was mixed race. This means that England could have been ruled over by a Black woman centuries before Prince Harry fell hard for the biracial Meghan Markle. Bridgerton takes this idea and asks what if King George IV and Queen Charlotte’s marriage had actually ushered in a post-racial society in the Regency era? It’s a fantasy, to be sure, but a sweet one.

But let’s circle back to the question at hand…

What is the Queen Sniffing on Bridgerton?

If you’re worried that Bridgerton‘s Queen Charlotte has a serious drug addiction, calm down. What she’s snorting is snuff. Snuff is a form of pulverized or finely chopped tobacco that you ingest by breathing through the nose. It gives users a concentrated hit of nicotine. Snuff was also often “flavored” to add an extra burst of scent, taste, or fragrance. So basically it’s tobacco you snort. It was kind of like vaping before, er, vaping. Except you blow it up your nose.

Actor Golda Rosheuvel is not sniffing real snuff on set, though. Rosheuvel told Decider in a recent interview that the powder she sniffs for the show is actually a form of sugar.

“I think it’s like glucose stuff. At the end of the day I’m like, yeah, wild sugar rush,” Rosheuvel said. “It’s harmless, it’s fine. Absolutely harmless.”

So there you have it. No heavy drugs were sniffed in the making of Bridgerton. Just sugar powder standing in for historic tobacco.

Watch Bridgerton on Netflix