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00:00Victoria, the royal who invented the modern monarchy, queen who made Britain an empire.
00:14Victoria's Britain is ruling the waves, ruling the world.
00:18But who was the real woman beneath the crown?
00:22In this program, we discover the young Queen Victoria as we've never seen her before,
00:27a vulnerable princess. What they're doing is making sure she will be their puppet,
00:34a sensuous young woman.
00:36He clasped me in his arms and we kissed each other again and again.
00:42It's not Victoria the Virgin, it's Victoria the hot mama.
00:48And once she breaks free from her controlling mother, the youngest ruler of England for nearly three centuries.
00:54We see Victoria standing alone and expected to rule alone.
00:58And for a teenager, that's quite daunting.
01:02Using remarkable archive treasures and through her own words in journals and diaries,
01:09we tell the story of a complex, very human queen.
01:13This is really exciting, new evidence about Victoria.
01:18We think we know everything, but we don't.
01:22This is the private life of Queen Victoria.
01:26In May 1819, the Duke of Kent and his heavily pregnant wife raced across Europe from their home in Germany.
01:47They were desperate to reach Kensington Palace in London so their baby could be born on British soil.
01:53They arrived just in the nick of time and on the 24th of May, in one of the palace's bedchambers, Queen Victoria was born.
02:05The reason why the Duke was so insistent on the baby being born in Kensington Palace
02:16was because this established her as being a potential heir to the throne.
02:23The child was given a name fit for a future queen.
02:28She was Princess Alexandrina Victoria.
02:33Big mouthful.
02:34Alexandrina because her godfather was the Tsar of Russia, Alexander I.
02:38And Victoria because, well, Victoire was her mother's name, although she's always known as Victoria.
02:46The new family set up home in Kensington Palace, but just eight months later, Victoria's father died.
02:54Her German mother, the Duchess of Kent, suddenly found herself in a foreign country with a new baby and few friends.
03:06For a while, the future looked bleak for the Duchess and her daughter.
03:10But her husband's former assistant, a handsome officer called John Conroy, came to their rescue, making sure they had a stable home.
03:24From childhood, Victoria kept diaries, and in them she talked about her earliest memories growing up at the palace.
03:33My oldest recollections are connected with Kensington Palace, where I can remember crawling on a yellow carpet.
03:45I used to ride a donkey given me by my uncle, the Duke of York, who was very kind to me.
03:53Up to my fifth year, I had pretty much been indulged by everyone.
03:57But if John Conroy had rescued Victoria and her mother, it soon became clear there was a price to pay.
04:08Sir John Conroy, he goes by this very strange title of controller, which is actually much more apt than you might think.
04:16The way that he spoke to both Victoria and her mother was very surprising.
04:20He was very informal with them, very blunt, and often quite rude, particularly to Victoria.
04:25He's booming, he's loud, and he's very domineering.
04:32He is a man who likes to be the centre of everything.
04:37And Conroy had a plan.
04:40He hoped that one day the young Victoria might become queen, and if she did, he wanted to be there to share her power.
04:47As she grew up, one by one, the royals ahead of her in line to the throne started dying off.
04:54And with every passing year, she got closer and closer.
04:59When Princess Victoria is born in 1819, she's so obscure that really the national newspapers don't really bother to take much notice.
05:07And so what happens as everybody gets older and babies either appear stillborn or they live a few months,
05:15is that Victoria gets nearer and nearer to the throne.
05:18The Duchess of Kent and Conroy look more and more chirpy.
05:22They know now that they have the future Queen of England in their care, and it's an immensely kind of exciting moment.
05:30Then, at just 11, Victoria became heir to the throne, and suddenly there were big changes at home.
05:38Conroy and her mother began to view all those around her with suspicion, even the rest of the royal family.
05:49The minute it was clear that she's going to be Queen, there was this ring of protection around her.
05:55Paranoia breaks out in Kensington Palace.
06:05There's a worry that a particularly wicked uncle called the Duke of Cumberland is actually plotting to murder Princess Victoria.
06:14As a result of fears for Victoria's safety, a number of measures were taken.
06:22They decided that she should always be carefully observed.
06:25From now on, it was decided that Victoria could never be left alone.
06:30She lived under 24 hours' scrutiny.
06:33Never had a room to myself till I was nearly grown up.
06:37Always slept in my mother's room till I came to the throne.
06:40She wasn't even allowed to walk down the stairs without holding hands with a servant,
06:46just to make sure that no accident happened and that she was safe.
06:50Victoria's mother and Conroy forced her to abide by strict rules.
06:54This set of rules is so codified that it actually has a name.
06:58It's called the Kensington System.
07:00The Kensington System was a kind of routine devised to manage young Victoria's behaviour,
07:12to reshape her in many ways, to give her a kind of discipline
07:16and to protect her from the dangers of the outside world.
07:21Every part of Victoria's young life was carefully controlled.
07:27What she studied, what she did in her spare time, even what she was allowed to eat.
07:33Eating my bread and milk out of a small silver basin.
07:38Victoria does seem to have been kept on what we would call nursery food
07:41for longer than many children of her class.
07:44She was kept away from strong meat or red wine or things that might excite her appetites.
07:52Took my luncheon, which consisted of potato soup.
07:57There's a belief that if you eat a plain diet, you will become far more moral,
08:04you will become far more sober, far more kind.
08:07And so if you're someone who wants to control how someone is,
08:12restricting their diet and giving them plain food
08:16will make them supposedly more docile.
08:19By their early teens, other girls of Victoria's class
08:23were moving on to more adult meals,
08:25with complex sauces and soups and a glass of wine.
08:30They would also have started to join their parents at table for dinner.
08:33But though she was paraded through the dining room,
08:38most of Victoria's meals were taken in her room.
08:45But if Victoria's life was regimented,
08:48she was allowed to follow some of the fashions of the day.
08:53This image here is lovely because it shows Victoria's hair as a young girl.
08:58We've got ringlets at the side and then it's been plaited and coiled round
09:02so it's almost sort of like a little crown on top of her head.
09:05Her elaborate hairstyles took lots of work.
09:08Having your hair done was something that many young women of the time enjoyed.
09:12It was a chance to chat and catch up.
09:16For a girl like Victoria, in the morning and in the evening,
09:19she'd have to have her hair done and undone
09:22and that was a long process.
09:25It was often a time for women to kind of relax
09:28but often they'd gossip.
09:31For Victoria, that was not an option.
09:35Her mother would prevent her from gossiping in case she said anything.
09:40Under the Kensington system,
09:43Victoria's access to other children was strictly limited.
09:47Victoria always recalled her childhood as lonely and quite sad
09:51and to some extent it was.
09:54She didn't have that many friends her own age.
09:57But if Victoria didn't have friends, she was allowed to have pets.
10:01Pets were really popular, particularly among the aristocracy.
10:05Victoria went beyond many people.
10:08Her pets were very much people as far as she was concerned.
10:11Victoria loved animals and had a series of pets.
10:23In her early years, by far her favourite was her King Charles Spaniel, Dash.
10:28He was an immediate hit in the household.
10:30Victoria adored him.
10:31Little Dash is perfection.
10:37He is already much attached to Mama
10:39and lies always at her feet.
10:47Despite her great affection for pets like Dash,
10:51Victoria's childhood under the control of John Conroy and her mother
10:54was strict and unforgiving.
10:56There was actually a darker side to it
11:01and that was to raise a queen who was dependent and childlike
11:07to keep Victoria in a state of innocence and neediness
11:10so that when she came to the throne,
11:13she wouldn't be capable of ruling alone.
11:16But as Conroy and the Duchess were soon to discover,
11:19keeping such a tight rein on Victoria would backfire.
11:26In 1832, Princess Victoria turned 13,
11:32but her mother and John Conroy still maintained their iron grip
11:36on all aspects of her life.
11:39What they're doing is making sure that this little girl
11:42is so dependent on them that she will be their puppet.
11:47We have a word for that now.
11:49We call it coercive control.
11:52Around this time, Victoria began keeping a journal.
11:56The journal had been given to her by her mother
12:00and it was part of her education that she wrote in the journal
12:03and it was expected that these would be read.
12:06So she had to be quite careful what she actually put in the journal.
12:09She would spend about half an hour writing her diary,
12:12which hence we've got such great records of her
12:14and what she was thinking, what she was doing.
12:16Victoria wrote in her journal almost every day until her death, aged 81.
12:29But as the sovereign-to-be,
12:31she quickly discovered she didn't have much privacy.
12:35You have to remember that there's somebody reading over her shoulder.
12:39These documents are very slippery.
12:42They're very compromised.
12:44As she grew older, she started to use them
12:47as a form of passive-aggressive communication.
12:50So some of the entries very much read as a coded message to her mother.
12:55Although Victoria had a difficult relationship with her mother,
12:59there was one person at the palace she became close to,
13:03Louise Leyssen.
13:04Louise Leyssen was Victoria's governess
13:07and cared for her for her entire childhood
13:10and well into her adulthood.
13:12She wasn't her mother, but she was a sort of mother-like figure.
13:19Leyssen was strict.
13:21She was very hard on Victoria in a certain way,
13:24but it did come from a place of genuine love and concern and care.
13:29And Victoria did understand that,
13:31which is why she felt so differently to Leyssen
13:33than she did about her mother or Conroy.
13:37Though she was most kind,
13:39she was very firm,
13:40and I had a proper respect for her.
13:47Leyssen brought Victoria up to be a good girl,
13:51and there was a particularly unusual way
13:53of monitoring the young princess's behaviour.
13:55Here we have the infamous behaviour book.
14:02It's a sort of hour-by-hour account
14:04of whether Victoria has managed to be a good girl
14:07or a not-good girl.
14:09It's all to do with constant monitoring.
14:13Nothing is too small for it not to be noticed.
14:18Each column here is a day,
14:21and there's about seven or eight,
14:22sometimes nine entries for each day.
14:24So Victoria's being asked to give a sort of
14:27absolute constant account of how she's behaving.
14:30Now, most of the time, it's quite good,
14:33and we know this because good, good, good,
14:36Victoria has written of herself.
14:38Sometimes, clearly, something goes very, very wrong
14:41because here we've got on Tuesday
14:43very naughty, double underline.
14:47It shows that Victoria is brought up,
14:50in a sense, to constantly scrutinise herself.
14:53Leyssen was very, very keen
14:54that if she could contain her emotions,
14:57give nothing away, as it were,
14:58that would make her very, very powerful.
15:00I felt deeply repentant
15:05for all I had done which was wrong
15:07and trusted in God Almighty
15:10to strengthen my heart and mind.
15:13Her diaries, her teenage diaries especially,
15:16are full of this kind of angst and pain
15:19and self-flagellation
15:21because she is being made to record
15:24anything she does wrong every day
15:26and think about it.
15:28And that's incredibly damaging.
15:32She does start to fight back.
15:34She does start, as a teenager,
15:37to become willful,
15:38to become self-determined
15:40and to really, I think, in her own mind,
15:43form a plan of escape.
15:45As Victoria turned 16,
15:50she finally began to imagine a life
15:52beyond the confining walls of Kensington Palace.
15:56I feel that the two years to come
15:58till I attain my 18th
16:00are the most important of any.
16:03We're in countdown now.
16:06This is going to be crunch time.
16:08Conroy and the Duchess are starting to press on her.
16:10They are starting to make her give them promises
16:13and assurances.
16:16Conroy and her mother were reluctant
16:18to relax their iron grip.
16:21And part of their grand plan
16:22was to get the princess into the public eye.
16:27Part of the Kensington system
16:29was to ensure that Victoria would be a popular monarch.
16:32And a way of doing that
16:33was to show herself to the population,
16:36to take her around the country
16:37so that she wasn't in an unknown quantity.
16:40These grand tours
16:41were called Victoria's Progresses.
16:46A major purpose of Victoria's Progresses
16:48was so that her future subjects
16:50could see her
16:52and know her before she became queen.
16:54It was a way of cementing her position
16:56as heir to the throne.
16:58And we have this great image.
17:00This girl at the front with the hat
17:01is Victoria.
17:02Victoria, she is surrounded by
17:04a crowd of people staring at her.
17:08We know from her journal
17:09she was often quite alarmed
17:10by the crowds that came out to see her.
17:13The crowd was dreadful.
17:15The people crowded around the carriage in numbers.
17:18They have to sell her to the country.
17:20She will do all the things
17:22that a royal princess should do.
17:24She goes and talks to factory girls.
17:27She goes and peers down slate mines.
17:29She goes and talks to manufacturers.
17:32She's going to be somebody
17:32who understands the new Britain.
17:35She's going to understand
17:36that there's a world beyond
17:37the great houses,
17:39the great mansions of Britain.
17:42To recover from her tours,
17:45Victoria visited Ramsgate in Kent,
17:48ready to enjoy
17:49an increasingly popular indulgence
17:51for the middle and upper classes,
17:53the seaside holiday.
17:54Piers, promenades
17:58and newfangled bathing machines
18:00to protect the modesty of swimmers
18:03were springing up
18:04in elegant coastal towns
18:06like Ramsgate.
18:08Getting a royal visitor
18:10was a massive boost.
18:12So the town put on a display
18:14fit for a princess.
18:17A hundred of the finest citizens
18:19of the town arrived.
18:20They were carrying white wands
18:21in their hands
18:22and wearing rosettes.
18:23And they then led
18:24Victoria's carriage
18:25into the town.
18:27There were banners
18:27with PV for Princess Victoria
18:30and DK for the Duchess of Kent
18:31just to really show
18:33what an important visitor
18:34Victoria was.
18:38In Ramsgate,
18:39Victoria was joined
18:40by her beloved uncle,
18:42Leopold,
18:42King of the Belgians.
18:45Victoria sees Leopold
18:47as her potential saviour.
18:48she desperately hopes
18:50that he will be able
18:51to rescue her
18:52from the sort of bullying
18:53and control imposed upon her
18:56by her mother
18:57and Sir John Conroy.
18:59Victoria wrote about
19:01their meetings in her journal.
19:03We talked over many important
19:05and serious matters.
19:07I look up to him as a father
19:09with complete confidence,
19:12love and affection.
19:14He is the best
19:14and kindest advisor I have.
19:18Three days later,
19:19Leopold returned to Belgium.
19:22Missing her uncle
19:23and exhausted from her tours,
19:25Victoria became ill.
19:30Sat up.
19:32Felt wretched
19:33and cried bitterly.
19:36I felt so ill and wretched
19:39that I did not leave my room
19:41for the rest of the evening.
19:43Went to bed early.
19:48Victoria becomes very ill
19:50with typhoid.
19:52She's ill for weeks.
19:54She is struggling to walk
19:56more than a few steps
19:57at points.
19:58She's literally bedridden
19:59and she starts losing
20:01all her hair.
20:02Her hair is falling out
20:04in chunks.
20:05She's losing weight
20:06and struggling to eat.
20:08I am still very weak
20:11and I'm grown very thin.
20:20While Victoria was ill
20:22and vulnerable,
20:24her mother and Conroy
20:26visited her with papers
20:28they wanted her to sign.
20:33They invade her bedroom
20:35when she's at her least
20:36strong and powerful
20:37and wave papers
20:39in front of her face
20:40and say,
20:40sign these to say that
20:42when you come to the throne
20:43we will have
20:45the executive powers
20:46that we want.
20:49Victoria knew
20:50that if she did sign
20:51her power as queen
20:53would be weakened.
20:57So she stood her ground.
20:59It's absolutely extraordinary.
21:08She manages to hold them
21:10at bay.
21:12This is the turning point.
21:15It's at this point
21:16that iron enters her soul.
21:18It's game over really
21:19as far as Conroy
21:20and the Duchess
21:20are concerned.
21:21This is their last
21:22big push
21:23and they failed.
21:24They know it.
21:25She knows it.
21:26seven months later
21:36Victoria celebrated
21:38her 17th birthday.
21:40The young princess
21:41was now more confident
21:43and assured
21:43and was looking forward
21:45to her adult life.
21:48I awoke at seven.
21:50Today I complete
21:51my 17th year.
21:52a very old person
21:54I am indeed.
21:5717 was very grown up
21:59in the period.
21:59I mean other girls
22:00of her class
22:01were married by that age
22:02so she was very close
22:04to being a grown up.
22:10The very week
22:11Victoria turned 17
22:13some relatives arrived.
22:16At a quarter to two
22:17we went down
22:18into the hall
22:19to receive my uncle
22:20Ernest
22:21Duke of Sapskoburg-Gotha
22:23and my cousins
22:25Ernest and Albert
22:26his sons.
22:38We're standing
22:39at the foot
22:40of the staircase
22:41where Victoria
22:42first set eyes
22:44on Albert.
22:45Absolutely momentous occasion.
22:47She did a quick inventory.
22:49Albert was here
22:50with his elder brother Ernest.
22:53Ernest has dark hair
22:55and fine dark eyes
22:57and eyebrows
22:58but the nose
22:59and mouth
23:00are not good.
23:03Albert
23:04who is just as tall
23:06as Ernest
23:06but stouter
23:07is extremely handsome.
23:10His hair
23:11is about the same
23:11colour as mine.
23:13His eyes are large
23:14and blue
23:15and he has
23:15a beautiful nose
23:17and a very sweet mouth
23:19with fine teeth.
23:21Victoria's description
23:22of Albert
23:23and also his brother Ernest
23:24is very physical.
23:25She was clearly
23:26eyeing them up
23:27and the fact
23:27that she felt it important
23:28to record it in her diary
23:29it's very teenage girl
23:31it's very modern.
23:34Behind the scenes
23:35Victoria's uncle
23:37Leopold
23:37was trying to set her up.
23:39From pretty much his birth
23:43Leopold
23:43had marked Albert out
23:45as Victoria's future husband
23:46and he certainly
23:47informed Albert of this
23:48Albert knew
23:49that his destiny
23:50lay in marrying Victoria.
23:53After meeting Albert
23:55Victoria wrote
23:56to her uncle
23:57My cousins
24:00are most delightful
24:01young people
24:02they are both
24:03very amiable
24:04very kind and good
24:06and extremely merry.
24:14Later that evening
24:15Victoria travelled
24:16to St James's Palace
24:18for a ball
24:18being held
24:19in her honour.
24:21It was a chance
24:22to be seen
24:22and to size up
24:24eligible young men
24:25before she became queen.
24:28A bit like a teen prom
24:30for the young aristocracy
24:31these events
24:32were full of do's
24:34and don'ts.
24:36There's a lot of etiquette
24:38surrounding balls
24:39because they were this
24:40place where actually
24:42the opposite sexes
24:43could mingle.
24:45There was a lot
24:46of caution employed.
24:48Everyone would wear
24:49white gloves
24:49so they weren't actually
24:51touching when they danced
24:52and that was very
24:53very important.
24:55The role of a woman
24:57was quite passive
24:58at a ball
24:59so it was never
25:00the done thing
25:00for the girl
25:01to ask a man
25:02to dance with them
25:03they would wait
25:03until they were asked
25:04and it was terribly
25:05impolite to say no.
25:10Following the dancing
25:11something else
25:12Victoria loved
25:13the eating.
25:16At this party
25:17the buffet
25:18was truly extravagant.
25:20A ball supper
25:22would be served
25:23probably around midnight.
25:25This was enormous.
25:28Huge feast
25:29for all the senses.
25:31If you can dream of it
25:33it would be on that table.
25:35Lots and lots
25:36of roast meats.
25:38Lots and lots
25:39of very beautiful
25:40sweet things
25:41often that wobble
25:42or glisten in the light.
25:44Victoria tended
25:47to stand up
25:48for them
25:48which scandalised
25:49certain older
25:50members of society
25:51but I think
25:52in her view
25:52it meant she could
25:53get in
25:53scoff as much food
25:55as possible
25:55and then get back
25:56out to the dancing
25:57which was really
25:58where it was at.
26:05Victoria's dance card
26:06as the heir to the throne
26:08was understandably
26:08quite full.
26:09She loved dancing
26:12she loved music
26:13she was absolutely
26:15at her best
26:16when being whirled
26:17around the dance floor
26:18by a handsome
26:19princeling.
26:22Victoria danced
26:24with different partners
26:25but there was one name
26:27missing from her dance list.
26:29It's actually very surprising
26:31that Albert's not there
26:31but unfortunately
26:32according to Victoria's journal
26:34he only managed
26:35to stay for two dances.
26:37Poor dearest Albert
26:39who was very unwell
26:41when he went
26:42having only danced twice
26:44turned as pale as ashes
26:46and we all feared
26:47he might faint
26:48he therefore went home.
26:52Albert was a bit of a wuss
26:54to be honest
26:54at that point
26:55suffered quite a lot
26:56from stomach upsets
26:58prone to fainting fits
26:59not I would say
27:02the best specimen
27:04of a prince.
27:07Victoria didn't actually
27:08seem very bothered
27:09about Albert leaving
27:11I think she was getting
27:12a bit fed up
27:13with his constant illnesses
27:14which is probably
27:15rather disappointing
27:16for him.
27:18But by the end
27:20of the trip
27:20the quiet
27:21thoughtful Albert
27:22had begun
27:23to win Victoria over
27:25and she confessed
27:26her growing feelings
27:28for him
27:28in a letter.
27:31Allow me then
27:32my dearest uncle
27:33to tell you
27:34how delighted
27:35I am with him
27:36he is so sensible
27:38so kind
27:39and so good.
27:42But it would be
27:42three years
27:43before Victoria
27:44saw Albert again
27:45and in that time
27:47she would become
27:48one of the most
27:49powerful women
27:50in the world.
27:51inside Windsor Castle
28:00the king
28:03William IV
28:04is dying.
28:06The poor king
28:07they say
28:08can live
28:10but a few hours
28:11more.
28:14And heir
28:15to the throne
28:16is the 18 year old
28:17Princess Victoria.
28:19when the sun
28:26rose over
28:27Kensington Palace
28:28Victoria was
28:29woken by her
28:30mother
28:31and taken
28:32to meet
28:32the Lord Chamberlain
28:34and the Archbishop
28:35of Canterbury.
28:37I got out of bed
28:39and went into
28:40my sitting room
28:41alone.
28:44Victoria
28:45makes a big thing
28:46saying she went
28:47out alone
28:47and that's such
28:48an important word
28:49because she'd
28:50hardly ever been
28:51alone for her
28:52entire life.
28:54And I'm sure
28:54her mother would
28:54have liked to
28:55have come with her
28:55and was probably
28:56sort of craning
28:57her neck
28:57and trying to
28:58listen at the
28:58door.
29:00The Lord Chamberlain
29:01then acquainted
29:02me that my
29:02poor uncle
29:03the king
29:04was no more
29:05and consequently
29:06that I
29:07am queen.
29:08much of Victoria's
29:16young life
29:17had been leading
29:17to this moment.
29:20She was the first
29:21unmarried English woman
29:22to become queen
29:23for nearly three
29:25centuries.
29:28Victoria was now
29:29in charge.
29:31Her first acts
29:32as queen
29:33were to settle
29:33some scores.
29:36Within hours
29:37she cut the ties
29:38of her troubled
29:39childhood
29:39moving out
29:41of her mother's
29:41bedroom to
29:42finally sleep
29:43alone
29:44and dismissing
29:46the domineering
29:47John Conroy
29:48from her royal
29:49household.
29:50The fact that
29:51Victoria was
29:52asserting herself
29:53showed that
29:54Conroy and her
29:55mother had
29:55really failed
29:56in their attempts
29:57to create a
29:58compliant queen
29:59because actually
30:00it was very
30:01very clear that
30:02Victoria intended
30:02to rule
30:03alone.
30:06The young
30:06queen left
30:07Kensington Palace
30:08with all its
30:09bad memories.
30:12I have gone
30:12through painful
30:13and disagreeable
30:14scenes here.
30:16Tis true.
30:17But I am still
30:18fond of the
30:19poor old palace.
30:22She moved
30:23a short ride
30:24away to
30:24Buckingham Palace
30:26making it her
30:27official London
30:28residence.
30:28As sovereign
30:35Victoria was
30:36expected to
30:37feed her
30:38many guests
30:38and visitors
30:39and menus
30:40from the
30:41Royal Archive
30:42showed just
30:42how lavishly.
30:45This is the
30:46first record
30:47that we've got
30:48of what
30:49Victoria ate
30:49as queen.
30:50That's all
30:51of this page
30:52here.
30:53She starts
30:53off with soup
30:54chicken and
30:55rice and
30:55soup
30:56pantaniere
30:56which is
30:57a spring
30:58vegetable soup.
30:59Then you go
30:59on to your
31:00other dishes.
31:01So those
31:01dishes that
31:01are on the
31:02table at
31:02the same
31:03time as
31:03the soup.
31:04In this
31:04case you've
31:05got a large
31:06piece of
31:06beef, you've
31:07got some
31:08roast lamb,
31:09you've got
31:09lamb cutlets,
31:10there's some
31:11fish fillets.
31:12All of that's
31:13her first
31:13course.
31:14And then her
31:14second course
31:15you've got
31:15roasts.
31:16In this case
31:16you've got
31:16quail and
31:17also capon.
31:18Then you've
31:19got a
31:20soufflé
31:20omelette and
31:22then you've
31:22got your
31:22sweet dishes.
31:23There's also
31:24a buffet.
31:25So in
31:25addition to
31:26all of this
31:26food on the
31:27table, there
31:28would have
31:28been a side
31:28table and
31:29that was
31:29just in
31:30case you
31:30got hungry
31:30after all
31:31of that
31:32food.
31:32So this
31:33is a
31:33queen who
31:34is dining
31:34regularly,
31:35as in
31:36every day,
31:37with 20
31:37or 30
31:38different
31:38people.
31:42June the
31:4328th,
31:441838.
31:47Coronation
31:48Day.
31:50Victoria is
31:51about to
31:51be crowned
31:52queen.
31:53thousands
31:57came to
31:57London to
31:58celebrate.
32:06Millions of
32:07my loyal
32:08subjects who
32:09were assembled
32:09in every
32:10spot to
32:11witness the
32:11procession.
32:13Their good
32:13humour and
32:14excessive
32:14loyalty was
32:16beyond
32:16everything.
32:18People just
32:19felt very
32:20positive towards
32:21Victoria.
32:21She was such
32:22a blank slate,
32:23she was such
32:24a perfect
32:24metaphor for
32:26how the
32:26Victorians saw
32:27themselves,
32:27this kind of
32:28young and
32:29fresh and
32:31exciting ball
32:33of potential,
32:34with no
32:34mistakes to
32:35her name.
32:35This was to
32:43be the launch
32:43of a new
32:44national icon.
32:48Today was
32:49all about
32:50making Victoria
32:50the people's
32:52queen.
32:53A modest
32:54young girl
32:55in a pure
32:55white dress,
32:57she looked
32:57like a
32:58hopeful bride.
33:00And she's
33:01finally ready
33:01to marry
33:02the crown.
33:05We have
33:16a great
33:17image here
33:17of the
33:18coronation.
33:19You can
33:19see how
33:20packed the
33:21abbey is.
33:22This was the
33:22hottest ticket
33:23in town.
33:24Everybody
33:24wanted to
33:25come and
33:26watch the
33:26coronation.
33:30During the
33:31ceremony,
33:31an accident
33:32showed the
33:33kind of
33:33girl Victoria
33:34really was.
33:36While she
33:37was taking
33:38homage from
33:38her lord,
33:39Lord Roll
33:40fell down
33:41the steps.
33:43Instead of
33:44just remaining
33:44sitting,
33:45she got out
33:46of her chair
33:47and went
33:47down the
33:48steps to
33:49give him
33:50her hand
33:50to kiss
33:50and to
33:51ask if
33:51he was
33:51unhurt.
33:52And it
33:53showed her
33:53humanity.
33:54It showed
33:55her kindness
33:55towards this
33:56elderly member
33:56of her court
33:57and it just
33:57summed up
33:58the popularity
33:59of the day
33:59with crowds
34:00cheering both
34:01inside and
34:02outside the
34:02abbey.
34:03Unfortunately
34:04for Victoria,
34:06Lord Roll's
34:07roll wasn't
34:08the only
34:09trip up
34:09that day.
34:12It's always
34:13said these
34:13days that
34:14we are
34:14absolutely
34:15brilliant at
34:16pageantry
34:16and we are
34:17pretty good
34:17at it.
34:18But the
34:19coronation
34:20of Queen
34:21Victoria was
34:21pretty much
34:22a shambles.
34:24The
34:24archbishop
34:25came in
34:26and ought
34:27to have
34:27delivered
34:27the orb
34:28to me.
34:29But I
34:29had already
34:30got it.
34:31And he,
34:32as usual,
34:34was so
34:34confused and
34:35puzzled.
34:37Victoria felt
34:38the archbishop
34:39himself wasn't
34:40really up to
34:41the job.
34:42The archbishop
34:43had,
34:43most awkwardly,
34:45put the ring
34:46on the wrong
34:47finger.
34:48And the
34:49consequence was
34:50that I had
34:51the greatest
34:51difficulty to
34:52take it off
34:52again.
34:53But the
34:55gaffes of
34:55the old
34:56men around
34:56her didn't
34:57spoil
34:57Victoria's
34:58big day.
35:03Victoria's
35:04coronation
35:04was a
35:05moment of
35:05national
35:06celebration.
35:09But,
35:10as a
35:10young and
35:10female
35:11ruler,
35:12she now
35:12had to
35:13prove
35:13herself.
35:15We see
35:15Victoria
35:16standing alone
35:17and expected
35:18to rule
35:18alone.
35:19And for
35:19a teenager,
35:20that's quite
35:21daunting.
35:23Leaning
35:23heavily on
35:24her beloved
35:25Prime Minister
35:26Lord Melbourne
35:26for advice,
35:28Victoria improved
35:29her grasp of
35:30politics.
35:32It is to
35:33me the
35:34greatest
35:34pleasure to
35:35do my
35:35duty for
35:36my country
35:37and my
35:38people.
35:39The
35:40dutiful new
35:40queen knuckled
35:41down to
35:42learn on
35:42the job,
35:43but she
35:44was still
35:44a young
35:45woman and
35:46loved her
35:46friends and
35:47a good
35:48gossip too.
35:50She makes
35:50remarks in
35:51her journal
35:51about who's
35:52pretty,
35:53who's got
35:53a great
35:54sense of
35:54dress,
35:55who's a
35:55bit
35:55overweight.
35:57Lady
35:58Ashley was
35:59looking very
35:59pretty,
36:01though a
36:01little tired
36:02and not
36:02quite strong.
36:04Lady
36:04Mary,
36:05though on
36:06too large
36:07a scale,
36:08was looking
36:08handsome.
36:11These
36:11early years
36:12of the
36:12rain show,
36:13Victoria is
36:14very inexperienced
36:15and very
36:17easily influenced
36:18and too
36:19much affected
36:20by intrigue
36:21and gossip.
36:23Less than
36:24a year into
36:24her reign,
36:26a particularly
36:26juicy rumour
36:27surfaced,
36:29and Queen
36:30Victoria was
36:31soon at the
36:31centre of a
36:32scandal that
36:33threatened to
36:34ruin the
36:34young woman
36:35involved,
36:36Lady Flora
36:36Hastings.
36:39Flora served
36:40as a lady
36:41in waiting to
36:42Victoria's mother,
36:42the Duchess of
36:43Kent.
36:44As a result of
36:45this, Victoria
36:46knew her well.
36:47She looks
36:49very demure,
36:50she looks
36:50virginal,
36:52she looks
36:53upstanding.
36:55But Flora
36:56was part of
36:57the enemy
36:58camp.
37:00She was
37:00part of
37:01the hated
37:02Kensington
37:02system that
37:03Victoria railed
37:04against.
37:04So when
37:05Victoria became
37:06Queen, Flora
37:07was banished
37:08to a distant
37:08part of
37:08Buckingham
37:09Palace along
37:09with the
37:10Duchess of
37:10Kent.
37:11Victoria
37:12disliked
37:13Lady Flora.
37:15She was
37:15willing to
37:16think the
37:16worst of
37:16her.
37:18Changes
37:19to Lady
37:19Flora's
37:20waistline
37:21had caught
37:22the attention
37:22of the
37:23ladies of
37:23the palace,
37:24especially
37:25Victoria.
37:27She started
37:27having a
37:28noticeable
37:28growth to
37:29her lower
37:30stomach and
37:31she was
37:32seen
37:33experiencing
37:34nausea and
37:34sickness and
37:35fatigue.
37:37The teenage
37:38Queen jumped
37:39at the chance
37:39to suggest
37:40something
37:40scandalous
37:41had happened.
37:42I
37:43discovered
37:44how
37:44exceedingly
37:45suspicious
37:45her
37:46figure
37:46looked.
37:47More
37:47have
37:47observed
37:48this
37:48and
37:49we
37:49have
37:49no
37:49doubt
37:50that
37:50she
37:50is
37:51to
37:51use
37:52plain
37:52words
37:53with
37:53child.
37:54it.
37:55Being
37:56pregnant
37:57would make
37:57Flora a
37:58fallen woman,
38:00the ultimate
38:01disgrace at
38:02the time.
38:03Victorian
38:03morality could
38:04be unforgiving.
38:06In the
38:07mid-nineteenth
38:07century, it
38:08was important
38:09that unmarried
38:10women were
38:10seen to be
38:11pure.
38:13Many
38:13desperate
38:14unmarried
38:14pregnant women
38:15had to give
38:16up their
38:17babies to
38:17foundling
38:18hospitals.
38:19Working-class
38:20women became
38:21destitute.
38:23More
38:23well-to-do
38:24women like
38:24Flora could
38:25claw their
38:26way back to
38:27respectable
38:27lives as
38:28governesses or
38:29servants.
38:31If Flora was
38:32pregnant, she
38:33was ruined.
38:36So it looks as
38:37though she may
38:38be pregnant
38:39out of wedlock.
38:40Well, that in
38:40itself is
38:41exciting.
38:42But what
38:42Victoria become
38:44convinced of is
38:45that the father
38:46of this phantom
38:47child is none
38:48other than Sir
38:49John Conroy.
38:50Victoria still
38:53hated Conroy
38:54and described
38:58him as
38:59the monster
39:00and demon
39:01incarnate.
39:03She saw
39:04this as the
39:04perfect piece
39:06of scandal
39:07to destroy
39:08this man who
39:09had controlled
39:10her for her
39:10teenage years
39:11who she hated.
39:14While rumours
39:15swirled about
39:16the father,
39:17there was no
39:18place in society
39:19for the unmarried
39:20mother, and
39:21certainly not at
39:23Buckingham Palace.
39:26Flora was given
39:27an intrusive
39:28medical examination.
39:32But the doctor
39:33discovered that
39:34she wasn't
39:35pregnant.
39:38Victoria is
39:39pretty furious.
39:40it's absolutely
39:43mortifying to find
39:45out that there's
39:46nothing the matter
39:47with Lady Flora.
39:48Word got out
39:50that the young
39:50queen was at the
39:51heart of the
39:52scandal and that
39:53she'd made a
39:54terrible mistake.
39:56She's proved what
39:57everybody worried
39:58about, which is
39:59that a woman and
40:01a young woman at
40:01that is really
40:03completely unsuitable
40:04to a queen.
40:04I mean, she has
40:05basically turned the
40:06whole thing into a
40:07schoolgirl scandal.
40:09Many of Victoria's
40:11subjects were
40:11outraged and
40:13turned against
40:14her.
40:14It is as if the
40:15whole world is
40:17jabbering at
40:18Victoria.
40:18Every newspaper,
40:19wherever she looks,
40:20there's a kind of
40:21fiesta of pointing
40:23fingers and retrying
40:26the whole case.
40:27It is actually really,
40:29really terrible for her.
40:30Victoria knew she
40:33needed to find a way
40:34to repair the damage
40:35urgently.
40:37This could actually
40:38bring Victoria down.
40:40We could be talking
40:41abdication.
40:48Only a year after she
40:50was crowned queen,
40:52Victoria's reputation
40:53was at rock bottom
40:54and she seemed out
40:57of her depth.
40:58People are furious,
41:02understandably.
41:03You know, they see
41:04Victoria as this sort
41:04of petulant,
41:05gossiping child.
41:08The target of her
41:09gossip, Lady Flora
41:10Hastings, was now
41:12seriously ill.
41:15And a humble Victoria
41:16visited her to try
41:18and make peace.
41:20I found poor Lady
41:22Flora stretched on a
41:23couch, looking as
41:25thin as anybody can be
41:26who is still alive.
41:28Literally a skeleton,
41:30but the body very much
41:32swollen like a person
41:33who is with child.
41:35She grasped my hand
41:37as if to say,
41:39I shall not see you
41:40again.
41:43A week later,
41:45Lady Flora died.
41:49An autopsy revealed
41:51her swollen stomach
41:52was the result of a
41:53tumour on her liver.
41:54Victoria had been
41:58desperate to use the
41:59scandal to punish her
42:00enemy, Sir John
42:01Conroy, the man she
42:03blamed for her
42:04miserable childhood.
42:06She thought she'd got
42:07the golden ticket to
42:08kick him out.
42:09That she misjudged it
42:10and then it backfired on
42:11her must have been a
42:12bitter pill to swallow,
42:13I would have thought.
42:14If Victoria's reign was to
42:17be a success, she had
42:19to grow up.
42:20And by the end of the
42:22year, she'd made a
42:23decision that showed
42:24her public she had.
42:26That autumn, a familiar
42:32face arrived at Windsor
42:33Castle, and this time
42:36Victoria became
42:37completely lovestruck.
42:39The last time Victoria
42:40had seen Albert had been
42:41for her 17th birthday, and
42:43then he'd been a shy,
42:46slightly awkward teenager.
42:48This all changed when
42:49Albert returned to England
42:52after Victoria became
42:53queen.
42:54The portrait suggests
42:55that Albert had
42:56transformed.
42:57He'd grown out of the
42:58sort of gawkiness of
43:00youth, and he'd become
43:01a young man.
43:03This is the Albert that
43:05Victoria met and
43:07immediately fell in love
43:08with.
43:09She refers to him as
43:10beautiful.
43:12Such beautiful blue
43:14eyes, an exquisite nose,
43:17and such a pretty mouth.
43:19A beautiful figure, broad
43:20in the shoulders, and a
43:22fine waist.
43:22My heart is quite going.
43:27Within four days, Victoria's
43:30mind was made up.
43:34She knew what she wanted.
43:36She made her own choices,
43:38and right up to choosing her
43:40own husband.
43:41Nobody chose Albert for her.
43:43He may have been suggested,
43:44but she had the final
43:45decision.
43:46But when you're the queen,
43:48getting engaged is a tricky
43:49business.
43:51Her position was a very
43:52awkward one, because
43:53traditionally, of course, the
43:54male made the proposition.
43:57But in her case, it couldn't be
43:58like that.
43:59Her station and her rank were
44:02much higher than his.
44:04Five days after Albert's arrival,
44:10Victoria followed royal protocol
44:12and popped the question.
44:15She summons him for a private chat
44:17in her salon, and they sort of make
44:21some awkward small talk.
44:22And then eventually, she kind of
44:25got to it.
44:26I thought, he must be aware
44:28why I wished him to come here,
44:30and that it would make me too happy
44:32if he would consent to what I wished
44:34to marry me.
44:36We embraced each other over and
44:39over again.
44:40When Victoria writes, we embraced
44:43multiple times, of course,
44:44this means they kissed.
44:45So this is Victoria writing
44:46about her first kiss.
44:48This will have been, we suspect,
44:52the first time a man's body
44:53has been against hers.
44:55The first time she would have felt
44:57the arms of someone who's going
44:59to be her lover around her.
45:00So for Victoria, this is everything
45:05she's ever dreamed of.
45:07He is perfection, perfection
45:11in every way, in beauty, in everything.
45:16I told him I was quite unworthy
45:18of him and kissed his dear hand.
45:21She's so in love with him
45:22at that moment.
45:26Victoria's first two years
45:28on the throne had been
45:28a huge challenge.
45:31She'd done it alone, and now
45:33she needed someone to support her.
45:35She's made a hash of being Queen.
45:39She needs to draft in extra resources,
45:41extra help, and she is clever enough
45:44or lucky enough to choose Albert.
45:50When you look at Queen Victoria
45:51at that point, you just are filled
45:54with love for her.
45:55Yes, she's flawed.
45:55Of course she's flawed.
45:57She's deeply innocent.
45:58She knows nothing of the world.
45:59She makes huge mistakes.
46:00She thinks she knows her own mind,
46:02but it's easily swayed.
46:04There are loads of things
46:05where it's not great,
46:06but everybody's human,
46:08and she's in some ways
46:09so painfully human
46:10that you just want to give her
46:12a really big hug
46:13and then get down to the pub with her.
46:14When a boy goes missing
46:21on a sailing trip,
46:23two families are thrown into crisis.
46:25As the mystery deepens,
46:27dark secrets are exposed.
46:30Beneath the Surface,
46:31now streaming on SBS On Demand.
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