From the very first season of Bridgerton, Lady Whistledown has held both viewers and the ton in constant suspense, partly because of her mysterious persona. And with the characters of Bridgerton now being fully caught up on the fact Penelope is the talented writer behind the gossip column, what does the future entail for Lady Whistledown?

With Penelope being a wife and mother now will she still have time to keep up  to date on all the society gossip?  Whilst showrunner  Jess Brownell has hinted towards the future of  Lady Whistledown in the series, how does that compare with her fate in the Bridgerton books?

Via Netflix

In the Bridgerton books, once Penelope has been revealed as the author the gossip columns are completely scrapped from the story. In fact Lady Whistledown isn’t mentioned at all in any of the following books aside from the epilogue, and Penelope decides to shut down production of the gossip column.

On Julia Quinn’s website she answers why Whistledown isn’t mentioned during Eloise’s book, explaining: ” Because Lady Whistledown had nothing to do with the plot for To Sir Phillip, With Love. The introduction of Lady Whistledown and ‘the big secret’ would have been irrelevant, not to mention confusing for readers who have not read the previous Bridgerton books.”

Via Netflix

Unlike the book where Penelope stops her column after she is revealed as Lady Whistledown, it seems the series will not be following the same route. Jess explained: “I think that there’s more to come with Lady Whistledown. Now Pen will have to navigate what it’s like to be a public gossip columnist, not only dealing with the people she writes about, but also taking steps to be more accountable in what she writes.

“I think accountability and authenticity are two things that she’s had to really face this season, and we’re gonna continue that thread going into season four.”