Bridgerton left fans heartbroken in season 4 with the death of a major character.
John Stirling, the husband of Bridgerton sister Francesca, died in the second half of the season.
“John doesn’t know he’s going to die. I do, but he doesn’t know,” actor Victor Alli told Cosmopolitan about his character’s death on screen. “Doing something different would make it seem like: ‘This is very strange. Why is he acting so different?’ So I tried to keep it as normal as possible and not try to overdo it.”
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After John’s death, Francesca (
Hannah Dodd) mourned the loss alongside both families.
Read on to learn more about the death of John Stirling:
Why does John Stirling die in the fourth season of ‘Bridgerton’?
John Stirling, who is the Earl of Kilmartin,
died in his sleep after suffering a series of “headaches” throughout ‘
Bridgerton’. His death is a central plot in Francesca’s book,
When He Was Wicked (
Julia Quinn wrote a Regency-set romantic series of eight books about a group of siblings and their search for love in 19th-century England).
Quinn confirmed in an author’s note at the end of ‘
When He Was Wicked’ that John died of a “ruptured cerebral aneurysm”.
“Brain aneurysms are congenital weak points in the walls of the blood vessels of the brain,” she wrote. “They can remain dormant for many years or they can grow rapidly and then rupture, leading to a brain hemorrhage, which can lead to loss of consciousness, coma, and death… Nothing could have been done to save John.”
Quinn also pointed out that, in the 19th century, it would be very unlikely that John would undergo an autopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
“John’s death would have remained a mystery to those who loved him,” the author assured. “All Francesca would know is that her husband had a headache, lay down, and died.”
What’s next for Francesca after John’s death?
While Francesca planned John’s funeral, the House of Lords tried to organize their affairs to determine who would inherit his title of Earl of Kilmartin. The title passed to his cousin Michael in Julia Quinn’s book, ‘
When He Was Wicked‘; however, the character has been modified to Michaela (
Masali Baduza) in the series.
In the 19th century, women were not part of the lines of succession, so it is not clear how the Netflix series plans to reassign John’s county. Even so, Quinn
promised Us Weekly in May 2025 that the season starring Francesca will be “heartbreaking”.
“I think it’s going to be great, and I think anything that allows more people to see themselves reflected in the story is positive,” Quinn told ‘
Us’ about the upcoming queer love story. “I don’t know exactly everything [about the script], but I have an idea of what’s going to happen. I think it will be an emotional and heartbreaking season, which is what ‘
When He Was Wicked’‘ was.”
She continued: “Of all the novels, that one really stands a bit apart and is quite different from the others. I think we are going to experience all those emotions with the season, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
‘When He Was Wicked’ and Eloise’s novel,
‘To Sir Philip, With Love’, are going to inspire seasons 5 and 6 of
‘Bridgerton’, in an order yet to be defined.
What has Victor Alli said about the death of his character and the impact on Francesca?
“Her relationship with John will lead her to be bolder,” Victor Alli told Cosmopolitan in February 2026. “Season 3 was a real journey for both of them, learning not only to declare our love, but to be brave in a society where everyone is so direct, with big personalities, doing things a certain way in terms of having passionate and intense sex. John and Fran were very different in their way of seeing love, their relationship and their marriage, and the gradual process is, in my opinion, more sustainable.”
Added: “Hopefully, in her future relationships, Francesca won’t have to rush or do things the way society does, but rather take her time and do it her way, because it’s not wrong; it’s just different, and that’s okay.”
There, she also highlighted that John was
one of the great loves of Francesca’s life.
“Well, he’s her first love. There was an immediate connection,” she told the media. “This is interesting because, with what will happen next season and in the following ones, if people have read the books… I remember reading a part of the book where it says that John is her true love. That’s what Julia Quinn said.”
The first four seasons of ‘
Bridgerton’ are now available on Netflix.
