Were there gossip sheets like Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers?

Lady Whistledown’s scandal sheet underpins almost all the action in Bridgerton.

A key difference is that in the real scandal sheets and magazines of the day, the subjects of gossip would not have been named. Their identities might have been very loosely disguised; someone might have just printed their initials, like the Duke of H instead of the Duke of Hastings. But it was so obvious who they were talking about. It was a way to get around libel laws. There would have been no point in having these columns if we didn’t know who they were talking about.