How did we all miss this crucial link between Princess Diana and Bridgerton?

What?!

Ah, Bridgerton. 

The show that inspired a spike in regency-era baby names, countless memes, and some of the *wildest* dating rumours in TV history is essentially what got us all through a Christmas in lockdown – and for that, we'll always be eternally grateful to Lady Whistledown.

Yep, from Bridgerton dresses to costume conspiracy theories, regency London was all any of us could think about earlier this year, so it's unsurprising that the Shonda Rhimes-produced drama quickly became the most-watched Netflix original of all time; having garnered 82 million views during its first 28 days on the platform.

Unsurprising again is the fact that the show was renewed for another three seasons, with Netflix releasing a Bridgerton season two sneak-peak earlier this week. (ICYMI it, it centres on eldest Bridgerton sibling Anthony's quest for love – and judging by the first-look clip, it's going to be every bit as spectacular as season one.)

Though the show's second season hasn't yet been given an air date, the pandemic-induced delay in production may mean we have to wait a little longer than Christmas for the next instalment, giving us plenty of time to re-watch the first eight episodes. Again.

However, while we thought that our knowledge of the programme was pretty solid at this point (Mastermind-level, at least), it turns out that there's actually one glaring link between Bridgerton and the Royal Family that we completely missed.

According to the programme's creator and showrunner Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton House, the home of our favourite regency siblings, was actually inspired by Princess Diana's childhood home, Althorp House. Yes, really.

The ancestral family home of the Spencer family was visited by Van Dusen while the costume drama was in development – and it turns out, it was actually pretty influential on the final cut we saw onscreen.

"The interior of Bridgerton House was inspired by my visit to Althorp when I was developing the show. Elegance. Opulence. And that #staircase," Van Dusen tweeted last year.

We weren't the only ones to completely miss the reference, though – as Charles Spencer, Diana's brother and the current Althorp resident, just recently saw Van Dusen's tweet, responding, "Just seen this, below – such a compliment to those of my family who went before me, making @AlthorpHouse what it still is today."

How cool is that?