Young Victoria Timewatch


Young Victoria

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Victoria.

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Her empire ruled a quarter of the world's population.

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But she was once a passionate, excitable young girl -

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a girl who had to battle to become Queen.

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While researching my book on Victoria,

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a forgotten story emerged of her epic struggle to come to the throne.

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It's a story of greed and power

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played out in royal palaces and some of Britain's greatest buildings.

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It's also a story of a bankrupt monarchy redeemed.

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This is a film about the torturous early life

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of the most powerful little girl in the world.

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King George III was a popular monarch who came to the throne in 1760.

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Farmer George fathered 15 children - nine sons and six daughters.

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His court was famously bourgeois, family-centred and dull.

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But by 1817, the King was insane and locked away at Windsor.

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The future of the Crown was in doubt.

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His sons had grown into selfish playboys who drank too much,

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had scores of illegitimate children

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and were running up enormous debts.

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The King's eldest son, George, was appointed Prince Regent,

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ruling over the country while his father was incapable.

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Prinny was also the only son who had managed to father

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a legitimate heir to the throne -

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his daughter, Princess Charlotte.

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Unlike her father, she was much loved by the people -

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the great hope for the future of the monarchy.

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She set up a happy home at Claremont House in Surrey, but here

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events took a disastrous turn.

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Aged just 21, Princess Charlotte died tragically in childbirth.

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The death of Charlotte brought the country close to revolution.

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But out of the tragedy of Charlotte's death

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comes this incredible story of struggle and success,

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of a young Princess who was passionate, vibrant

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and determined to fight for the throne.

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With the young heiress Charlotte dead,

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George's brothers took centre stage.

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Those next in line to the throne were the Duke of York...

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the Duke of Clarence...

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the Duke of Kent...

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-and the Duke of Cumberland.

-When Charlotte dies,

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this is the starting pistol for the baby race,

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because all the other brothers now have to make legitimate marriages.

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So there was an absolute panic for everybody to acquire

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a legitimate wife and acquire a legitimate child

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who could be heir to the throne of England.

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And people were joking about it even at the time.

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There's one poem I really like. It's by Peter Pindar.

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Do you know this one? It goes, "Hot and hard each royal pair

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"Are at it hunting for the heir."

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The fourth son of the King was Edward, the Duke of Kent.

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Of all the dukes,

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he was considered by many to be the best of a bad bunch,

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although he, too, had a long-term mistress.

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But now he set his sights on a young widow,

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Princess Victoire, from the tiny German principality of Saxe-Coburg.

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They were married in the summer of 1818.

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He was 50. She was just 32.

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Well, she was born a Coburg,

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a very powerful family ruling an incredibly tiny principality.

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Then she gets this flattering offer

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from the Duke of Kent which brings her into the English Royal Family,

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which is obviously a step up, but it's a risk,

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because she's got independence,

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she's got her life sorted out, really, and she takes the risk.

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I feel kind of sorry for her,

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because, although she's entering the English Royal Family,

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they don't want her - she's German.

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Barely two months after their wedding,

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the Duke and Duchess of Kent left London to live in Germany.

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The Duke was in severe financial difficulties,

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and the move was a desperate attempt to save money.

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They arrived here in the palace of Amorbach in central Germany,

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then a cold, unmodernised ruin miles from civilisation.

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The Duchess was happier in her beloved Germany,

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and the Duke relished the chance to renovate a new property,

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consequently getting himself deeper and deeper in debt.

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The pair settled into a happy life here in the palace

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and soon had one piece of excellent news -

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the Duchess was pregnant.

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To prove that the child really was legitimate,

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it was imperative that the birth was witnessed

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by key members of the British Establishment.

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So with the Duchess eight months pregnant,

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she and the Duke had to collect their belongings

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and race back to London.

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The Duke of Kent applied to his brother,

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the Prince of Wales. He wanted money to come to England.

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The Prince of Wales refused, so they set off in this sort of procession,

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a rather scuzzy parade

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of, you know, phaetons and landaus and in fact,

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the Duke of Kent himself drove,

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just to save money, 470 miles, something like that,

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across potholed roads, with an inexperienced coachman

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and a seven-month pregnant Duchess. It was a pretty nasty thing.

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The party arrived in Calais on 18th April

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and then drummed their heels waiting for the weather to improve.

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The Duchess breathed deeply and held on.

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Finally, six days later,

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they embarked on the royal yacht for England.

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After three hours of rough seas,

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they arrived here in Dover and then set off for Kensington Palace.

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On 24th May 1819, the Duchess of Kent gave birth

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to a baby girl here in Kensington Palace.

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The new baby was described as being "a pretty little princess,

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"as plump as a partridge".

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But when the Regent heard that his brother had now produced an heir

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to the throne, he was furious.

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He turned the christening into a farce,

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vetoing all the family's regal-sounding chosen names.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury stood with the child by the font,

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waiting to be told what to call her.

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The Regent was determined that the Kents' baby would never be queen,

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so he refused to give her a royal name.

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Finally, he declared, "Give her the mother's name,"

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and so the little girl became

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the first person in England ever to be called Victoria.

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The royal world that Victoria was born into

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was a rapidly changing one.

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Under her grandfather,

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King George III, the monarchy had enjoyed widespread popularity.

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But under the despised Prince Regent with his profligate brothers,

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the once popular royal family seemed a thing of the past.

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People were very worried about the future of the monarchy,

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the political future, there were growing claims for political reform,

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the French Revolution was still in people's minds,

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so all of these things were playing out

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very much in a kind of public sphere of newspapers,

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caricaturists were pillorying the elite, so it was anxious times

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for Britain in those years.

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A lot of the royal dukes -

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what Victoria came to call later her disreputable or disgraceful uncles -

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they were all in debt.

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They gambled, borrowed money from their friends,

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they took out loans, they were profligate,

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and yet they were of the royal blood,

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so they had expectations of how they should live,

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so they got deeply in debt.

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The Duke of Kent was massively in debt, just like his brothers.

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In a bid to save money, he moved his new family to this house,

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then a damp, cold cottage by the sea.

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They arrived here on Christmas Day

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with Princess Victoria just six months old.

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The Duchess spent her time walking on the seafront

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and practising her English.

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But the Duke was less content. The debts were mounting and he decided

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that come springtime, they should all move back to Germany.

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But before the Duke could put his plan into action,

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events in Sidmouth sent little Victoria's life

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in an entirely different direction.

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The Duke of Kent took long walks on the beach in the pouring rain,

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often returning to the cottage soaked to the bone.

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He soon caught a cold and did not recover.

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By 12th January, Victoria's father was seriously ill.

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Delirious, vomiting, and suffering from chest pains,

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he had to be propped up even to breathe.

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After the Duke of Kent took to his bed,

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the local doctor was called in and recommended cupping,

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which involved taking a heated cup, making a cut in the skin

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and placing the heated cup over it.

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As the cup cooled, it would create a vacuum that would draw increasing amounts of blood.

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This was repeated time and time again,

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taking out litres of blood over several days.

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The Duke had a strong constitution,

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but the cupping and the constant bleeding must have taken so much

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blood out of his system

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that ultimately it must have hastened his end.

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The dying Duke summoned the strength to ask for his will to be drawn up.

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In it, he appointed the Duchess sole guardian of Victoria.

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On being told that his signature was legible,

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he fell back against the pillows.

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Next morning, the Duke died, holding his Duchess's hand.

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Princess Victoria was now fourth in line to the throne.

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She and her mother were brought back from Sidmouth

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and into the royal fold in London.

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Within days,

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the infant Victoria would move even closer to the throne.

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Her grandfather, King George III,

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who'd been ill for so long, finally passed away.

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At the death of George III, the entire nation went into mourning.

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Thousands of people attended his funeral here in St George's Chapel.

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He had lost America and sired a clutch of useless children,

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but his plain speaking had charmed his people,

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and his struggle with illness had won their sympathies.

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They grieved for him and they dreaded the Regent becoming King.

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Victoria was now third in line to the throne.

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King George IV wanted the Duchess of Kent and her baby out of the way.

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Deep in debt and frightened of the new King, the Duchess began to rely

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on a handsome and persuasive young Irishman called John Conroy,

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previously the Duke of Kent's equerry.

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With the Duchess all alone, he seized his opportunity to influence

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her and her daughter, Victoria.

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Conroy, I think, wasn't good news.

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Conroy was an unscrupulous Irish person that got into the household

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and was on the make, wasn't he?

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He seized his opportunity.

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In 1820, the Duke of Kent died, the Princess's father,

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and he kind of moved in on the Duchess of Kent, you know,

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who wasn't exactly Einstein, for a start.

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And he obviously saw a way to controlling the way things could go.

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He was supposed to be a charming man.

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He was quite a persuasive man - he was quite a talker.

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He was actually quite a crude man, and he was very ambitious

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and he turned out to be very manipulative.

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He felt that he could... really end up

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as the kind of Svengali figure behind the future Queen.

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For the Duchess of Kent and John Conroy,

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Victoria's succession was vital.

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They knew the little princess

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was now their ticket to unlimited riches and power.

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Victoria herself was a real little terror,

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wasn't she? I can see...

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she must have been a real handful, because she had such a strong

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and determined character.

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But she had this really weird upbringing,

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because she was so heavily controlled, looked after,

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she was the focus of attention and her mother's meal ticket.

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She spent most of her time with adults,

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the only girls that she was allowed to play with were the daughters

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of the evil Sir John Conroy,

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so she was living in a sort of curious prison.

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Victoria's earliest memory was of crawling on the yellow carpet

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here in Kensington Palace. She was told that if she cried,

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her Uncle Sussex, who lived next door, would come and punish her.

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Typically, defiant little Victoria

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responded by screaming loudly every time she saw him.

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As the Duchess of Kent said, "The little mouse has a will of her own."

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This single-mindedness was a vital part of Victoria's character.

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She would come to rely on it in the years ahead in her battles

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with her mother and John Conroy.

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I think Victoria's childhood,

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what she called her "melancholy childhood",

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had several effects on her.

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I think it forged her as a character of steel.

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I think the iron entered her soul during her childhood

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and I think it showed her as the resolute monarch she was going to be

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throughout her very long reign.

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The Duchess and Conroy were determined to control Victoria,

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so they created a regime

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for her that became known as the Kensington System.

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At the heart of the system

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was 24-hour surveillance on the little girl.

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At the same time, she was forced to sleep in her mother's bedroom

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and she was never allowed to be alone.

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The Duchess appointed a governess for the young Victoria -

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Baroness Lehzen. The Baroness became Victoria's closest ally.

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The two were inseparable and Lehzen guarded the young girl obsessively.

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Even so, there were still fears for the safety of young Victoria.

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The Duke of Cumberland posed a particular threat,

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for following the death of the Duke of York, he was now third in the line of succession.

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The only person locking his route to the throne

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was little Princess Victoria.

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I think the Duke of Cumberland was seen as the vilest,

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in the eyes of the public, really.

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There were all sorts of terrible rumours about what he got up to,

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and what his reputation was like.

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He was supposed to have murdered his valet

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and have been involved in an incestuous relationship

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with one of his sisters, and it's reported

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that the Times noted when he died

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that they could find nothing good to say about him,

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he was so disliked by the British nation.

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The Duchess and Conroy were convinced

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that the Duke of Cumberland wished to kidnap

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and kill the young Victoria.

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As a consequence, she was watched at all times,

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her food was tasted before every meal,

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and she was forbidden to walk downstairs

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without someone else holding her hand.

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But the royal family was becoming increasingly concerned

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about Conroy's influence and greed for power.

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Various members of the family

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tried to warn the Duchess of Kent about him, but to no avail.

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The warnings given to the Duchess of Kent,

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particularly by Princess Adelaide,

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the wife of the Duke of Clarence,

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really reinforced her feeling that she must keep close to Conroy

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and that Conroy must continue to be her adviser.

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So this was evidence, she thought,

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that all of those relations were out to get her

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and trying to part her from her only source of support.

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In June 1830, King George IV died

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and the childless Duke of Clarence became King William IV.

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Victoria was now heir to the throne. Just 11 years old,

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the unlikely princess now seemed certain to be the next queen.

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It was at this point

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that Conroy and the Duchess of Kent made their bid for power.

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Almost the day after George IV died and his brother,

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the Duke of Clarence, ascended the throne as William IV,

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the Duchess wrote to the Duke of Wellington,

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who was the Tory Prime Minister,

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immediately laying out her claim,

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asking for...wanting to become the dowager Princess of Wales,

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asking for an increased allowance -

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basically positioning herself as the mother of William IV's heir.

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She says, "I'd like to have my debts paid, please,

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"and I'd like to be the official Regent to my daughter."

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So she's saying at that point,

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"I see Victoria as the heir to the throne.

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"I don't think William IV is going to have any children."

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She's really staking her claim.

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But this was the moment

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that they really saw the prize within their grasp

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and their actions from then on were absolutely to position themselves

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for her to be Regent and for Victoria to ascend the throne.

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The Duchess was obsessed with becoming Regent

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and getting her hands on the money that would come with the position.

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She embarked on an ambitious project to increase her own popularity

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by taking the young Victoria on a series of journeys

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all over the country.

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After months of planning and poring over maps,

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Victoria's first grand tour set out from Kensington Palace.

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The carriages rumbled off for the Midlands and the towns of Stratford,

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Warwick and Birmingham. The tour was a great success.

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There were brass bands and cheering crowds all the way.

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But Victoria was miserable.

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She missed her beloved pets, she was surrounded by Conroy and his family,

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and the Duchess kept pushing her aside to grasp the attention.

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And it wasn't just Victoria who resented the Duchess

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stealing the limelight.

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And if the Duchess of Kent

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and her daughter are staying in some of the great family houses

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of these elite families with their own political influence,

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if she's visiting some of the great mercantile cities

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and getting loyal addresses

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and entertainment and receptions and so on,

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it all detracts from the central role of the actual monarch.

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It does mean that William becomes quite a stickler

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for insisting that the Duchess of Kent should stay

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within the boundaries that have been provided.

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The conflict between King William and the Duchess was growing.

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In September 1831, William IV was crowned King at Westminster Abbey.

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He called it "a useless and ill-timed expense".

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But he imposed one very strict condition,

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and this made the Duchess of Kent so angry

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that she took drastic action,

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boycotting the ceremony and fleeing London.

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The King commanded that Princess Victoria must follow

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behind his brothers as he walked up the aisle.

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Furious at what she saw as an attack on her daughter's position

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as heir to the throne, the Duchess declared

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that she and the Princess would not attend the coronation.

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Instead, she whisked the young Victoria here,

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to Norris Castle on the Isle of Wight.

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London reeled at the shocking news

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that the Duchess had snatched the young Victoria away,

0:21:310:21:34

snubbing the coronation.

0:21:340:21:36

The Times reported that the Duchess had refused to attend

0:21:360:21:39

and made it clear who should be blamed.

0:21:390:21:42

"We should be glad to know who are the advisers

0:21:420:21:46

"of this misguided lady."

0:21:460:21:48

Victoria was angry and frustrated at missing her uncle's coronation,

0:21:520:21:57

but even as a lonely and isolated child, she found solace

0:21:570:22:01

in the beautiful surroundings. Victoria loved Norris Castle.

0:22:010:22:05

Really, the Duchess was bribing her for not attending the coronation.

0:22:050:22:09

The Princess adored the freedom of being away from Kensington,

0:22:090:22:14

able to see the sea. As she wrote later,

0:22:140:22:17

"Kensington looks so gloomy and the trees are quite bare.

0:22:170:22:21

"What a sad, sad change from dear Norris."

0:22:210:22:25

Now that Victoria was in her teens and showing signs of rebellion,

0:22:370:22:41

the Duchess was growing ever more intent on absolute power,

0:22:410:22:46

and to this end she introduced a new daily task.

0:22:460:22:51

Eager to control her daughter, the Duchess bought her a diary,

0:22:510:22:55

and told her to write in it every day.

0:22:550:22:59

She wanted to read Victoria's innermost thoughts.

0:22:590:23:02

But although she resented the invasion of privacy,

0:23:020:23:05

Victoria embraced the diary, writing pages and pages every night.

0:23:050:23:09

It now forms a unique insight into the mind of the teenage Princess.

0:23:090:23:14

Victoria began her diary with a description of her first grand tour.

0:23:150:23:19

It's clear that, at the tender age of 13,

0:23:190:23:22

she was shocked by what she saw.

0:23:220:23:24

"The men, women, children, country and houses are all black.

0:23:240:23:30

"The country is very desolate -

0:23:300:23:31

"engines flaming, everywhere smoking and burning coal heaps,

0:23:310:23:35

"intermingled with wretched huts and little ragged children."

0:23:350:23:39

The grand tour exposed Victoria to the general public

0:23:390:23:43

and it began to open her eyes to the country she would one day rule.

0:23:430:23:47

But it also infuriated the King.

0:23:470:23:49

What I think in general affronts William

0:23:510:23:53

is their presumption and their grandeur in acting so independently.

0:23:530:23:58

This is not a tour which has court approval.

0:23:580:24:01

We have to remember that under the Regency Act,

0:24:010:24:04

the Duchess has been appointed Regent in the event of William not surviving

0:24:040:24:08

until Victoria's 18th birthday in 1837.

0:24:080:24:12

So a royal progress modelled very explicitly

0:24:120:24:17

on those of the lioness herself, Elizabeth I,

0:24:170:24:21

introducing Victoria as the heir to the throne,

0:24:210:24:24

really does create an impression

0:24:240:24:27

of vultures circling above William.

0:24:270:24:29

So at a time when he's struggling to improve the popular image

0:24:290:24:34

of the House of Hanover,

0:24:340:24:36

it would have been deeply grating to receive reports

0:24:360:24:39

of the loyal addresses, the cheering crowds,

0:24:390:24:42

on occasion even the regal salutes, which greet her.

0:24:420:24:46

As Victoria grew older,

0:24:460:24:47

her relationship with the King grew stronger.

0:24:470:24:50

He became even more opposed to the influence

0:24:500:24:53

of her mother and John Conroy.

0:24:530:24:55

They now hatched a plan to totally discredit the young princess.

0:24:550:24:59

Victoria was almost 15

0:24:590:25:01

and King William IV was gloating in his good health,

0:25:010:25:04

determined to eke out his life

0:25:040:25:07

until his young successor turned 18.

0:25:070:25:09

The Duchess and Conroy saw power slipping away from them.

0:25:090:25:13

So they decided to present Victoria

0:25:130:25:15

as too childish to govern herself, let alone the country,

0:25:150:25:18

and so she would need the Duchess to be her regent

0:25:180:25:21

past the age of 18, perhaps up until 21.

0:25:210:25:24

In July 1835, at Victoria's confirmation ceremony, the King

0:25:240:25:29

publicly humiliated John Conroy, expelling him from the service.

0:25:290:25:33

The incident brought mother and daughter

0:25:330:25:36

into direct conflict yet again.

0:25:360:25:38

Just an hour after the ceremony, the Duchess wrote to Victoria,

0:25:380:25:42

telling her of all her great sacrifices for her.

0:25:420:25:46

She commanded her to dismiss Baroness Lehzen,

0:25:460:25:49

but Victoria refused.

0:25:490:25:51

She knew she had great struggles ahead,

0:25:510:25:53

and Lehzen would be her only support.

0:25:530:25:56

"I felt that my confirmation was one of the most solemn

0:25:560:26:00

"and important events in my life.

0:26:000:26:02

"I went with the firm determination to become a true Christian,

0:26:020:26:06

"to try and comfort my dear mama in all her griefs, trials and anxieties,

0:26:060:26:11

"also to be obedient to dear Lehzen, who has done so much for me."

0:26:110:26:17

It's interesting that when Victoria writes "dear Lehzen",

0:26:190:26:22

the word "dear" is italicised - she's emphasising her affection.

0:26:220:26:27

But when she writes "dear" referring to her mother,

0:26:270:26:29

she doesn't bother to italicise it.

0:26:290:26:31

This may seem like a minor detail,

0:26:310:26:35

but it's a clear sign of what was developing into a struggle

0:26:350:26:38

for the throne itself.

0:26:380:26:39

In the autumn of 1835, Victoria, the Duchess and the Conroys

0:27:060:27:09

took one of their customary holidays to Ramsgate

0:27:090:27:13

and stayed here in Albion House.

0:27:130:27:15

Soon after their arrival, Victoria fell seriously ill.

0:27:150:27:18

Initially, the Duchess told her she was malingering, but then,

0:27:180:27:22

when Victoria became delirious and seemed close to death,

0:27:220:27:25

her mother desperately called for the doctors from London.

0:27:250:27:28

Victoria was heir to the throne.

0:27:310:27:33

But if she were to die now,

0:27:330:27:35

the Duchess and Conroy would lose everything.

0:27:350:27:38

The Duke of Cumberland would inherit.

0:27:380:27:41

Victoria's illness in Ramsgate would be her greatest crisis so far.

0:27:410:27:45

The Princess was still desperately ill

0:27:450:27:48

when her mother paid a visit and commanded her to sign a paper

0:27:480:27:51

appointing John Conroy as her private secretary

0:27:510:27:54

in charge of her household.

0:27:540:27:56

Victoria refused, but the Duchess loomed over her,

0:27:560:27:59

demanding that she obey.

0:27:590:28:01

Then she sent in Conroy to threaten.

0:28:010:28:03

Over and over, as Victoria wept with fever,

0:28:030:28:06

he thrust the paper under her nose and commanded her to sign.

0:28:060:28:09

But Victoria still refused.

0:28:130:28:15

She emerged from her ordeal determined to rely on herself.

0:28:150:28:19

When Conroy and her mother told her

0:28:190:28:22

that they were only trying to help her, she knew that they were lying.

0:28:220:28:26

It was at Ramsgate that the battle lines were really drawn.

0:28:260:28:29

We don't know why Princess Victoria hated Conroy so much.

0:28:290:28:33

There's been a lot of speculation.

0:28:330:28:35

In the wilder shores of speculation, it was that he made advances to her.

0:28:350:28:40

I think that's very unlikely.

0:28:400:28:42

It is possible he had a relationship

0:28:420:28:43

with her mother that she judged to be inappropriate -

0:28:430:28:46

that she was supposed to have found her mother in his arms

0:28:460:28:49

at one time. We'll never know that. As for my part, I think that

0:28:490:28:53

actually his behaviour to her, a young girl in her formative years,

0:28:530:28:57

was sufficient to explain her dislike of him

0:28:570:29:00

without us needing to look for other reasons.

0:29:000:29:03

Seemingly destined to become queen,

0:29:060:29:08

Victoria was still a pawn in the marriage market.

0:29:080:29:12

But an unlikely suitor now appeared on the scene,

0:29:120:29:15

a man who would play a major part in her battle with her mother.

0:29:150:29:19

Prince Albert first arrived here in Kensington Palace in May 1836.

0:29:290:29:35

Victoria waved at the top of the stone steps

0:29:350:29:38

and watched Albert and his brother Ernest being shown in.

0:29:380:29:42

She was not immediately impressed

0:29:420:29:44

by Albert, rather preferring his brother Ernest,

0:29:440:29:47

although she did admit to her diary that Albert had

0:29:470:29:50

"a most honest, good-natured and intelligent countenance".

0:29:500:29:53

She's very attracted to him,

0:29:580:30:00

but this is partly because she leads this isolated life,

0:30:000:30:05

and she doesn't get out very much

0:30:050:30:07

and she's very glad to see another young person.

0:30:070:30:10

She's not instantly in love and wanting to marry,

0:30:100:30:13

but it's a significant moment. How could it not be?

0:30:130:30:16

It's the start of her life, in many ways.

0:30:160:30:18

In 1836, the King's health began to fail.

0:30:180:30:21

If he died now, before Victoria reached 18,

0:30:210:30:25

then the Duchess and Conroy would finally get their hands

0:30:250:30:28

on the money and power they so craved.

0:30:280:30:31

He was desperate to make sure that he stayed alive for long enough

0:30:310:30:35

for Victoria to ascend the throne as queen in her own right,

0:30:350:30:39

not with her mother

0:30:390:30:41

and particularly her mother's, consort, co-conspirator,

0:30:410:30:45

John Conroy, as a sort of co-regent.

0:30:450:30:49

The lines were now firmly drawn and the battle between the King

0:30:520:30:56

and the Duchess was about to come to a head.

0:30:560:31:00

On a trip to Parliament,

0:31:000:31:01

the King took a detour past Kensington Palace.

0:31:010:31:04

He was horrified to find that the Duchess had occupied

0:31:040:31:07

and re-modelled the entire upper floor.

0:31:070:31:10

Without his permission, she had taken over 17 rooms

0:31:100:31:14

and transformed his state bedchamber into her new boudoir.

0:31:140:31:19

This, for the King, was the final straw.

0:31:190:31:22

The furious King waited his chance to confront the Duchess.

0:31:220:31:26

It came on the occasion of his birthday in August 1836.

0:31:260:31:31

The situation really came to boiling point at the King's birthday.

0:31:310:31:35

A couple of days before,

0:31:350:31:36

he'd been to Kensington Palace on an unexpected visit

0:31:360:31:40

and he'd found that the Duchess had appropriated several suites of rooms

0:31:400:31:43

which he had refused permission for her to do.

0:31:430:31:47

So he upbraided her for that.

0:31:470:31:49

And then on his birthday, in view of 100 guests, an important,

0:31:490:31:53

a public occasion, he berated her.

0:31:530:31:56

The King's angry speech

0:31:560:31:58

was noted verbatim by diarist Charles Greville.

0:31:580:32:01

"I trust in God that my life may be spared for nine months longer,

0:32:010:32:05

"after which period, in the event of my death,

0:32:050:32:09

"no regency would take place.

0:32:090:32:11

"I should then have the satisfaction

0:32:110:32:13

"of leaving the royal authority

0:32:130:32:15

"to the personal exercise of that young lady,

0:32:150:32:17

"the heiress presumptive of the Crown,

0:32:170:32:19

"and not in the hands of a person now near me,

0:32:190:32:23

"who is surrounded by evil advisers."

0:32:230:32:26

Victoria burst into tears

0:32:260:32:28

before the furious King could finish his speech.

0:32:280:32:31

The other guests reeled in shock,

0:32:310:32:33

leaving the fine wines and food untouched.

0:32:330:32:35

The Duchess sat stony faced, and when the ladies left the table,

0:32:350:32:39

she declared that she and Victoria would walk out immediately,

0:32:390:32:43

and she had to be begged not to do so for fear of newspaper headlines.

0:32:430:32:47

It seemed as if matters between the King and the Duchess

0:32:470:32:50

could not get any worse.

0:32:500:32:52

It was an amazing thing to do.

0:32:530:32:56

It embarrassed the Duchess terribly. She couldn't look him in the face.

0:32:560:32:59

Victoria burst into tears.

0:32:590:33:01

They were guests in his house. He must have felt extremely strongly

0:33:010:33:06

to have done such a thing,

0:33:060:33:07

which was completely against protocol and against courtesy.

0:33:070:33:10

But the King went even further.

0:33:120:33:14

Just a few days before Victoria's 18th birthday,

0:33:140:33:17

the King made her an incredible offer - £10,000 a year

0:33:170:33:21

and permission to appoint her own attendants.

0:33:210:33:24

He wanted her well away from Mama. But the Duchess was furious.

0:33:240:33:28

She and Conroy forced Victoria to copy out a letter which read,

0:33:280:33:32

"I wish to remain as I am now, in the care of my dear mother."

0:33:320:33:36

On 24th May 1837, Princess Victoria turned 18.

0:33:360:33:42

'There can have been few mothers throughout history

0:33:420:33:45

'for whom their daughter's 18th birthday was such a disaster.'

0:33:450:33:49

"I will strive every day to become less trifling and more fit for what,

0:33:490:33:54

"if Heaven wills it, I'm someday to be!"

0:33:540:33:58

Victoria could now inherit the throne.

0:33:580:34:00

But she was still under Conroy's control, forced to obey her mother

0:34:000:34:04

and subjected to the Kensington System.

0:34:040:34:08

The Kensington System, although it was horrible,

0:34:080:34:12

was kind of the fiery furnace

0:34:120:34:14

in which the steel in Victoria's soul was forged.

0:34:140:34:18

And she, she does comes through it.

0:34:180:34:20

It must have been "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

0:34:200:34:24

And she learnt a lot of important lessons there about being nice to

0:34:240:34:28

people that you don't like, being patient,

0:34:280:34:32

um...playing a waiting game and just staying true to herself.

0:34:320:34:38

She has a very disciplined mind, she has a propensity for hard work

0:34:380:34:42

and a quick intelligence, and she is strikingly sure

0:34:420:34:46

of her own fitness to rule.

0:34:460:34:49

In the summer of 1837, the waiting game was nearly over.

0:34:500:34:53

The King was very ill.

0:34:530:34:56

The Duchess resorted to emotional blackmail.

0:34:560:34:59

She wrote to her daughter

0:34:590:35:00

begging her to appoint Conroy as her private secretary.

0:35:000:35:03

"That person, I must repeat to you again, your father considered

0:35:030:35:07

"to be Sir John Conroy.

0:35:070:35:10

"This advice I give you only for your own security."

0:35:100:35:14

In the years and months before the death of William IV,

0:35:140:35:18

the Duchess of Kent, instead of boosting her daughter for the role

0:35:180:35:21

that it was becoming pretty obvious that she was going to have to take,

0:35:210:35:25

actually sought in a sense to undermine her.

0:35:250:35:27

She told her all the time that she was young, she needed advice,

0:35:270:35:31

she was far too young a girl to take on the role of state

0:35:310:35:34

that was going to be hers. And she did more than that.

0:35:340:35:37

She wrote to people saying that Princess Victoria

0:35:370:35:40

needed the guidance of a mother, and, more than that,

0:35:400:35:43

she needed the guidance of a man.

0:35:430:35:45

And that man, of course, was John Conroy.

0:35:450:35:47

She tried to blackmail her,

0:35:470:35:49

saying, "This is what your father would have wished."

0:35:490:35:51

Just four weeks after Victoria reached her 18th birthday,

0:36:010:36:05

King William IV finally died.

0:36:050:36:08

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain

0:36:130:36:16

hurried to Kensington Palace, arriving at five in the morning,

0:36:160:36:19

but the Duchess refused to let them in.

0:36:190:36:22

Finally, at six, she woke Victoria

0:36:220:36:24

to tell her she had important visitors.

0:36:240:36:27

The Duchess tried to enter the room with her, but Victoria refused.

0:36:300:36:34

Instead, she walked in alone, in her nightwear, and saw

0:36:460:36:50

the great men kneel to her and tell her she was Queen of England.

0:36:500:36:54

Outside the door, the Duchess plotted.

0:36:540:36:58

She was sure that the Kensington System had worked,

0:36:580:37:01

that Victoria was under her control,

0:37:010:37:03

and that great power and riches were still within her grasp.

0:37:030:37:07

Victoria's first act as queen was simple and telling.

0:37:070:37:11

She requested that her bed

0:37:110:37:13

be moved from her mother's room and made up in her own chamber.

0:37:130:37:17

Her bid for freedom had begun and her closest ally from now on

0:37:170:37:21

would be the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.

0:37:210:37:24

She immediately formed a bond with Melbourne, and I think,

0:37:240:37:27

from her perspective, the attraction is obvious.

0:37:270:37:30

This is a dutiful and necessary relationship

0:37:300:37:33

with the incumbent Prime Minister and it represents

0:37:330:37:37

an immediate escape from her mother's domination.

0:37:370:37:40

So from the off, the relationship is supercharged,

0:37:400:37:43

and I think his influence is enhanced

0:37:430:37:46

by the very novelty of her acting independently -

0:37:460:37:50

by her emancipation from the Kensington System.

0:37:500:37:54

She tells Melbourne that she plans to retain his administration

0:37:540:37:59

and his ministers.

0:37:590:38:00

Melbourne bows to kiss her hand in thanks.

0:38:000:38:04

She then underlines that she wishes to make one change

0:38:040:38:08

in the royal household,

0:38:080:38:10

and that, of course, is the dismissal of Sir John Conroy.

0:38:100:38:13

And Conroy realised the game was lost, so he threw in the towel.

0:38:200:38:24

But he also made excessive demands.

0:38:240:38:26

He demanded a peerage and he demanded a pension of £3,000.

0:38:260:38:31

But Victoria was so desperate to get rid of him that she agreed,

0:38:310:38:36

on condition that he was never to attend court.

0:38:360:38:40

She sticks to that one, despite her mother begging her

0:38:400:38:42

to have him and his children at court.

0:38:420:38:44

She won't do it. He's completely cut out of the picture.

0:38:440:38:48

Victoria's first duty as queen was to host a Privy Council

0:38:480:38:52

and introduce herself to 220 of the most important men in the land.

0:38:520:38:57

The Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne,

0:38:570:38:59

asked if she wished to be accompanied,

0:38:590:39:02

but even though she was young,

0:39:020:39:04

inexperienced and utterly sheltered from men, Victoria refused.

0:39:040:39:08

The doors opened and the new queen entered

0:39:080:39:12

in her plain black mourning gown.

0:39:120:39:14

The room fell silent.

0:39:140:39:17

"I will place my firm reliance upon the wisdom of Parliament

0:39:170:39:21

"and upon the loyalty and affection of my people

0:39:210:39:24

"and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and welfare

0:39:240:39:28

"of all classes of my subjects."

0:39:280:39:30

As soon as Victoria came to the throne,

0:39:300:39:33

her mother made repeated attempts to see her.

0:39:330:39:35

The new queen refused her permission.

0:39:350:39:38

"I had to remind her who I was," she told Lord Melbourne.

0:39:380:39:42

"Quite right," he replied, "disagreeable but necessary."

0:39:420:39:45

The new queen's first day was consumed with giving audiences

0:39:450:39:48

to various dignitaries, all the while ignoring her mother.

0:39:480:39:53

She dined on her own in the evening

0:39:530:39:56

and talked with Lord Melbourne just before she retired.

0:39:560:39:59

That night, she slept alone for the first time

0:39:590:40:03

in her entire life.

0:40:030:40:04

The next step towards freedom lay in one of the many letters

0:40:060:40:09

of congratulation.

0:40:090:40:11

It was from her cousin Albert, and to this one she replied in person.

0:40:110:40:15

"I cannot tell you how happy you have made me by your kind, dear letter.

0:40:150:40:20

"My new situation is not an easy one,

0:40:200:40:22

"but I trust, with goodwill, honesty and courage, I shall not fail.

0:40:220:40:27

"I delight in the business which I have to do,

0:40:270:40:30

"and which is not trifling either in matter or quantity."

0:40:300:40:34

Just a few weeks later,

0:40:360:40:38

Queen Victoria turned her back on Kensington Palace.

0:40:380:40:41

Her life under the Kensington System was finally over.

0:40:410:40:46

"I have gone through painful and disagreeable scenes here,"

0:40:460:40:49

she wrote, "but still I am fond of the poor old palace."

0:40:490:40:53

Despite her words, she didn't return to Kensington for many years.

0:40:530:40:57

Her new home would be the building

0:41:040:41:06

we now most closely associate with the Royal Family -

0:41:060:41:09

Buckingham Palace.

0:41:090:41:11

Victoria's first six months as queen

0:41:170:41:20

was complete when Parliament voted her an annual income

0:41:200:41:24

of almost £400,000. At just 18,

0:41:240:41:26

she was not only the most powerful woman in the world,

0:41:260:41:30

but also the richest. And she was about to be celebrated

0:41:300:41:34

in one of the most flamboyant coronations in history.

0:41:340:41:38

Diarist Charles Greville described the preparations for the big day.

0:41:390:41:45

"Not a mob here or there, but the town all mob,

0:41:450:41:48

thronging, bustling, gaping,

0:41:480:41:50

"and gazing at everything,

0:41:500:41:52

"the Park one vast encampment,

0:41:520:41:54

"with banners floating on the tops of the tents,

0:41:540:41:57

"and still the roads are covered,

0:41:570:41:59

"the railroads loaded with arriving multitudes."

0:41:590:42:03

On 28th June 1838, Queen Victoria was woken at four in the morning

0:42:080:42:13

by the sound of cannon fire.

0:42:130:42:15

By seven o'clock, the streets were teeming.

0:42:150:42:18

Victoria entered her gilded state coach and set off

0:42:180:42:21

on the slow journey to Westminster Abbey.

0:42:210:42:24

The Abbey was decorated in crimson,

0:42:360:42:38

and gold tapestries hung on the wall,

0:42:380:42:41

while oriental carpets covered the floor.

0:42:410:42:44

At the altar shining with gold plate, the Archbishop of Canterbury

0:42:440:42:48

received Victoria and pronounced her "the undoubted queen of this realm".

0:42:480:42:54

The congregation responded to a man, "God save Queen Victoria!"

0:42:540:42:59

"The Archbishop came in and ought to have delivered the orb to me,

0:42:590:43:03

"but I had already got it.

0:43:030:43:04

"I replaced my crown, which I had taken off for a few minutes.

0:43:040:43:08

"The Archbishop had put the ring on the wrong finger,

0:43:080:43:10

"and the consequence was

0:43:100:43:12

"that I had the greatest difficulty to take it off again."

0:43:120:43:15

It's like Bo Peep in the middle of a Hammer film sequence.

0:43:150:43:18

She doesn't know what's going to happen next, or what it's about,

0:43:180:43:22

but she has to go through this whole thing.

0:43:220:43:24

She was this kind of frail vision. And things went wrong.

0:43:240:43:29

Somebody turned over two pages, so a great chunk was missing,

0:43:290:43:33

and she went through to St Edward's Chapel, and she got through there,

0:43:330:43:36

then they realised they'd missed two pages so they got her back again.

0:43:360:43:40

The Archbishop rammed the coronation ring on her finger.

0:43:400:43:43

She couldn't get the darn thing off

0:43:430:43:45

and had to soak her finger in cold water to get it off.

0:43:450:43:49

So it was a kind of enormous muddle.

0:43:490:43:52

Victoria was now Queen of England

0:44:020:44:04

and out from under her mother's direct gaze.

0:44:040:44:07

But she complained to Lord Melbourne

0:44:070:44:09

that the Duchess was still living with her.

0:44:090:44:11

It was clear that the only way Victoria could escape her mother

0:44:110:44:15

completely would be if she married.

0:44:150:44:17

In October 1839, Ernest and Albert arrived back in London.

0:44:170:44:22

As soon as Victoria saw them, she was delighted.

0:44:220:44:26

Her cousins had grown into handsome men.

0:44:260:44:28

"It was with some emotion that I beheld Albert, who is beautiful,

0:44:280:44:32

"and so excessively handsome.

0:44:320:44:35

"Such beautiful blue eyes, an exquisite nose

0:44:350:44:39

"and such a pretty mouth."

0:44:390:44:41

Well, he comes back into her life. He's improved.

0:44:410:44:44

He's travelled in Italy.

0:44:440:44:46

He's got more self-confidence, although he'll never be a charmer.

0:44:460:44:50

He's not a ladies' man, Albert, and he's obviously...

0:44:500:44:53

She obviously fancies him -

0:44:530:44:55

there's quite a strong sexual attraction between them.

0:44:550:44:58

It's a very isolated position, being the Queen of England.

0:44:580:45:01

There was nobody who was her equal - who could approach her.

0:45:010:45:04

And I think she had begun to find that she wanted companionship -

0:45:040:45:07

she wanted a relationship.

0:45:070:45:09

And so I think when she met Albert again two years later,

0:45:090:45:12

she had a predilection -

0:45:120:45:13

she had a predisposition to fall in love, which she did - heavily.

0:45:130:45:17

A mere five days into his visit, she sent for Albert to see her alone.

0:45:170:45:23

"'It would make me too happy

0:45:230:45:25

"'if you would consent to what I wished - namely, to marry me.'

0:45:250:45:29

"We embraced each other over and over again,

0:45:290:45:33

"and he was so kind, so affectionate.

0:45:330:45:35

"Albert was too great a delight to describe!"

0:45:350:45:38

The Queen of England was now engaged.

0:45:380:45:41

But she took a whole month to tell her mother. And when she did,

0:45:410:45:45

she told her that she would have to leave the household.

0:45:450:45:48

When she becomes queen, she suddenly realises

0:45:480:45:51

that what she demands can happen,

0:45:510:45:53

and there is this marvellous moment when she thinks,

0:45:530:45:56

"I can actually have a dinner without mother there."

0:45:560:45:59

And that's a moment of revelation, when...

0:45:590:46:02

And one warms to her,

0:46:020:46:04

because her entire life was so circumscribed.

0:46:040:46:08

There was nothing beyond it and

0:46:080:46:10

nothing beyond these people who controlled and manipulated her.

0:46:100:46:14

Victoria's escape was complete.

0:46:140:46:17

The focus of her life from now on would be her beloved Albert.

0:46:170:46:20

After a very brief engagement,

0:46:200:46:23

they were married on February 10th 1840.

0:46:230:46:27

Tens of thousands gathered early to see the royal wedding.

0:46:270:46:30

It was a measure

0:46:300:46:31

of just how popular the new monarch was in the eyes of her subjects.

0:46:310:46:36

At 12.30, Victoria left the Palace

0:46:360:46:38

and drove through the rain and cheering crowds

0:46:380:46:41

to meet her bridegroom. At the Chapel Royal, 12 bridesmaids

0:46:410:46:45

carried her six-foot train, and she was resplendent in white and roses.

0:46:450:46:49

It was Victoria's wedding day,

0:46:490:46:51

but she still could not forgive her mother.

0:46:510:46:54

As she left the Chapel, she stooped to kiss Queen Adelaide,

0:46:540:46:57

but merely shook hands with the Duchess.

0:46:570:47:00

Marrying meant that she was able to remove her mother from the household.

0:47:110:47:15

It was perfectly proper for her to live with her husband

0:47:150:47:17

and not have her mother there.

0:47:170:47:19

So in a sense it was the final act of separation from her mother.

0:47:190:47:22

It sounds odd to be the queen and need to separate from your mother,

0:47:220:47:26

but I think that was the case, and after that, of course,

0:47:260:47:29

the Duchess did not live with her and really had absolutely no role at all.

0:47:290:47:33

This incredible story,

0:47:460:47:48

the bitter struggle between the most powerful little girl in the world

0:47:480:47:51

and the woman who wanted that power, ushered in the modern era.

0:47:510:47:55

Victoria left behind the debauched, self-indulgent, corrupt monarchs

0:47:550:47:59

of the Regency period and became the first people's Queen.

0:47:590:48:03

The country would never be the same again.

0:48:030:48:05

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