The second series of Regency romance hit Bridgerton will welcome Simone Ashley, a British actor of South Asian descent, in a lead role – and and many have speculated that the storyline of her character, Kate Sharma, could draw on histories of people from Asian heritage in Regency England. Durba Ghosh, professor of history at Cornell University, introduces the real elites of Asian descent who socialised in the ballrooms of Georgian London…