0:00:02 > 0:00:06Just what do you have to do when a queen decides she's going to pop in to see you?
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Not just any old queen, Victoria.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Like a pair of obsessed Victoria groupies,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17we're pursuing her around the country to the posh pads she visited.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23We'll be delving into her personal diaries to reveal what happened behind closed doors.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Today, the former home of Elizabeth I, Hatfield House,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31where our odyssey in the footsteps of Victoria brings us
0:00:31 > 0:00:32to the very outskirts
0:00:32 > 0:00:35of Greater London.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39And as someone who's spent a lifetime getting excited by antiques, I'll be looking for things
0:00:39 > 0:00:44that would have impressed Her Majesty on her visit here.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49And here it would have sat, groaning with food for Victoria's luncheon.
0:00:49 > 0:00:56And, as a chef who loves food, I'll be getting a flavour of work below stairs and creating
0:00:56 > 0:00:59a super 19th century recipe that was served to Victoria.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04I'm so excited about this pie.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10- And tantalising Tim's taste buds with this magnificent Victorian treat. - Oh, my lord.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19In 1846, Victoria and Albert came to Hatfield House.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25Victoria was 27 years old and had been on the throne for nine years.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Renowned as a great political and social centre,
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Hatfield also had a very special connection to royalty.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39You know, when it comes to Hatfield, Queen Victoria isn't the first queen that springs to mind
0:01:39 > 0:01:44because nearly 300 years earlier, this was the home
0:01:44 > 0:01:48to another celebrated queen, Elizabeth I.
0:01:48 > 0:01:55She spent chunks of her childhood here, but, at the end of Elizabeth I's reign, it became home
0:01:55 > 0:01:57to the earls and marquesses of Salisbury
0:01:57 > 0:01:59and it's still their family home.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04And it was the second marquess who was in residence when Queen Victoria and Albert came to stay.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08But, by jingo, he did not have the easiest of times
0:02:08 > 0:02:11getting ready for their visit, oh, no.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17Victoria's advisers told the marquess two years before that she planned to come
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and stay for two nights, but nothing was formally agreed
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and in the end, confirmation of her visit only reached the marquess
0:02:24 > 0:02:27just ten days before she actually arrived.
0:02:27 > 0:02:35After all that waiting, the sudden panic. I can just imagine, which is my cue to find out
0:02:35 > 0:02:38how those hasty preparations went on as I head downstairs.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And that's my cue to stay upstairs
0:02:42 > 0:02:47and make sure that the arrangements for Victoria's arrival were set fair.
0:02:50 > 0:02:57As Victoria and Albert travelled to Hatfield, they were greeted by well-wishers.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02The Illustrated London News reports the scene as "truly exhilarating.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07"Bands played and the streets were filled with groups of delighted and loyal people."
0:03:10 > 0:03:13But not everything went according to plan.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16As the royal carriage thundered towards the entrance, it was found
0:03:16 > 0:03:21that the gates were locked and no-one could find the keys.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26The Times newspaper reported that a last-minute panic ensued and just before
0:03:26 > 0:03:30they rounded the corner, the gates had to be taken off their hinges. Oh, dear.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Now, as Victoria entered through this door,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39all was calm and serene and regal.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42The Royal Standard was flapping on the roof.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48And the Queen was greeted here in what is called the armoury.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51She was met by her host's two daughters,
0:03:51 > 0:03:59Lady Mildred Hope, the eldest, and Lady Blanche Balfour, who, by all accounts, was a bit of a stunner.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04Even Victoria said, "She was so pretty."
0:04:04 > 0:04:09So far, so good, but the last-minute hullabaloo to get things ready
0:04:09 > 0:04:13had prompted the marquess to write to the Queen in advance to ask
0:04:13 > 0:04:15"that she and the prince will have the goodness
0:04:15 > 0:04:18"to excuse any imperfections they may find in their reception."
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Little wonder.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26In the ten days that the house had to prepare before Queen Victoria
0:04:26 > 0:04:31actually got to stand here, it was absolute chaos.
0:04:31 > 0:04:39Iron gates had to be welded, gate piers repaired, furniture ordered, so much so that the marquess himself
0:04:39 > 0:04:47took direct control, urging everything on, on, and he says, "with the greatest of vigour."
0:04:49 > 0:04:56We know this detail, thanks to the Rev Arthur Starkey, the tutor to the Salisbury children.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02The marquess himself asked the good reverend to record Victoria's visit and in his journal, he tells us,
0:05:02 > 0:05:09"The time was so short, it was almost thought incredible that everything should be ready.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12"All, however completed in time.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16"Though with so little to spare, that the coverlet for the royal bed
0:05:16 > 0:05:21"was only put in place as the royal carriages drove into the park."
0:05:21 > 0:05:29And the family motto, sero sed serio, late, but earnest, must have felt rather appropriate.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35No doubt, the Queen was blissfully unaware of the chaos as she moved through the house with her host.
0:05:36 > 0:05:42Not only do we have Rev Starkey's journal of what was going on upstairs during the visit,
0:05:42 > 0:05:49we also have the impressive accounts book that tells us what was going on downstairs, and boy, what a book!
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Vicky Perry, the archivist, is going to tell me more.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56This is the biggest account book I have ever seen.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01Well, this is the account book dating from 1846, which shows
0:06:01 > 0:06:05the household expenses, and we've got it open on the week of the royal visit.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08So you can see along here are all the provisions
0:06:08 > 0:06:13that were purchased and details of game that were caught that week as well.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Oh, fantastic, so let's look at some of this up here.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22They had a ball and dinner on the Friday night, the 23rd of October,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25and you can see that they fed 550 guests.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- That was a lot of people.- It was. - Take us through what they were having.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33These show the provisions that were purchased for the visit,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37so there were 709 bottles of wine that week.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38They did enjoy their drink.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41- It is more than one each. - That's more than one each!
0:06:41 > 0:06:46And this shows the ox that they purchased and they roasted it outside for all the estate workers.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52Amazing, they roasted a 96-stone ox in the grounds for the estate workers.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54That's quite a barbecue.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58But what was on the menu for the royal guests upstairs?
0:06:58 > 0:07:00No menus have survived so we don't know exactly
0:07:00 > 0:07:04what they ate during the royal visit, but we do have a few clues.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- Right.- Over the page...here,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12the week before the visit, they spent £13 on turtle,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16which would almost certainly have been made into turtle soup.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18That was very popular, wasn't it?
0:07:18 > 0:07:23It was very popular and it was a bit of a status symbol, too, turtle soup, because it was so expensive.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Expensive, and of course, nowadays, illegal.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32I love this, the turtles came to £13/five/eight.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37That would be an incredible £800 today.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Well, they certainly pulled all the stops out for Queen Victoria's visit.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46They did, they spent over £1,200 during the week on food.
0:07:46 > 0:07:54That's some food bill. In fact in today's money, that is over £70,000.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Ivan Day, our food historian, is in the kitchen
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and has more clues about just what the royals would have eaten.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And it's not just the accounts book that reveals
0:08:05 > 0:08:07what was on the royal table.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10We have an amazing watercolour
0:08:10 > 0:08:13of the dinner served on the second night of the visit,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16which shows a very special game pie.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19If you look at it very carefully, you will see
0:08:19 > 0:08:23that it's actually emblazoned with the initials "V" and "A",
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Victoria and Albert, and it was made certainly especially for the occasion.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31And that's the dish we're going to make today.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Ivan's brought some amazing Victorian pie moulds to do the job.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Originally they used cardboard to do this
0:08:38 > 0:08:43and the fashion was to have a pie that looked a bit like a corset.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47- You see, it's waisted just like a Victorian corset.- Yes.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52And amazingly, originally this cardboard corset you made to put round your pie
0:08:52 > 0:08:56even had laces on the back to pull tight, so you got that shape.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58But by the 1820s, they were making these things.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02- They're beautiful, aren't they? - Yes, some of them are extraordinary.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08'We get started using a special pastry which contains egg yolk to make it firm.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10'Our game pie is known as a raised pie
0:09:10 > 0:09:15'because the pastry holds it together rather than a pie dish.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21'To start the lining, Ivan's cutting the pastry.'
0:09:21 > 0:09:24OK, and we open it up like that
0:09:24 > 0:09:29and what I'm going to do is I'm going to put some flour inside that
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and then I'm going to put it down on here.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40With the rolling pin, I'm going to knock it out and roll it
0:09:40 > 0:09:43so that I can make a pocket.
0:09:43 > 0:09:50By doing this, we can make kind of a wallet-shaped structure which we can then...
0:09:50 > 0:09:57You see, it's got a nice hollow. We just put that inside to drop in.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02then it's a case of drawing up the pastry.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05'I think it's time for me to have a go.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I'm just going to get another little tool that we need.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16- Now, this is really being used just to flatten the base.- OK.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20'As we toil away downstairs,
0:10:20 > 0:10:27'Tim is still on the trail of Her Majesty as she was shown around the house.'
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Upstairs, Victoria's tour continued.
0:10:31 > 0:10:38She records in her journal that, having been in the armoury, she actually walked up this staircase.
0:10:39 > 0:10:47And it's this staircase which so amply illustrates what a wonderful early Jacobean house Hatfield is.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53This staircase was put in some 250 years before Victoria's visit.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00But this rib-vaulted ceiling above me is much more modern.
0:11:00 > 0:11:08And this was created in 1846 specifically for Victoria's visit by the second marquess
0:11:08 > 0:11:13who wanted a decorative scheme that looked like the early Jacobean.
0:11:15 > 0:11:21The marquess was keen to restore the Jacobean style throughout the house and had refurbished the east wing
0:11:21 > 0:11:24to the tune of £1 million,
0:11:24 > 0:11:29spurred on to complete it just before Victoria's visit in 1846.
0:11:29 > 0:11:35The west wing had already been refurbished in the 1830s after a huge fire.
0:11:35 > 0:11:42The story goes that the marquess's eccentric 80-year-old mother, known as Dowager Sal,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47caused the blaze when her hair caught fire while writing by candlelight.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Needless to say, like the west wing, she didn't survive.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Back downstairs, in the kitchen, our pie is really coming together.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01What we've got in here is a mixture of veal...
0:12:01 > 0:12:07It's rose veal so it's not that veal that's been locked away in cages, it's perfectly humane.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10A little bit of suet, some herbs.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Which gives it the moisture.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Got to have fat in there, fat is flavour, isn't it?
0:12:15 > 0:12:20And what we're going to do with that is we're going to put about half an inch of it
0:12:20 > 0:12:22in the base of the pie.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26'This is going to be a game pie with many layers.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32'I'll be brushing each layer with an egg yolk, and seasoning with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.'
0:12:32 > 0:12:35This egg yolk will stick everything together.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40- Right.- So the next thing is to put in a couple of these chicken breasts.
0:12:40 > 0:12:46'This is followed by another layer of the strongly-seasoned ground veal or forcemeat.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:51The next layer is the venison.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56'We know from the huge accounts book that haunches of venison were indeed
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'purchased for the visit and were likely used in the pie.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04'It's not just meat that goes into the pie,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08'cooked egg yolks are brushed with raw egg, rolled in parsley,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11'and buried in the middle of the many layers.'
0:13:13 > 0:13:16- It's beautiful.- They remind me of little furry critters.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18They do, they're lovely.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Green aliens.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26These sort of pies, you know, everyone thinks they were sliced down the middle, but they weren't.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30They used to take the lids off them and then cut the meat up.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35'I think I'll stick to slicing, it seems a shame not to try the pastry too.'
0:13:36 > 0:13:42We top this with a layer of pigeon breast and another layer of veal.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47- To cook this, you'd have to cook it on quite a low heat to keep it nice and moist.- Yes, that's right.
0:13:47 > 0:13:54It would have been put in when the oven was quite low, in modern terms you're probably talking about 150.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00We are finishing our pie with a layer of pheasant breast brushed with egg and seasoned.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03They did love their meat, those Victorians.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05There we go, OK, perfect.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The last thing
0:14:08 > 0:14:14is to just get this little thin layer of forcemeat on top,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and then we're ready to put the lid on.
0:14:20 > 0:14:26Back upstairs, the efforts of the marquess to impress his royal guests were clear.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Lord Salisbury definitely wanted this place to look at its best
0:14:29 > 0:14:32for Victoria's visit though,
0:14:32 > 0:14:39and shortly before she came here, he went out and he acquired a magnificent series
0:14:39 > 0:14:41of four tapestries,
0:14:41 > 0:14:48which were woven by Ralph Sheldon in the Sheldon tapestry works around 1611,
0:14:48 > 0:14:54more or less exactly the right period for the building of this house.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59Imagine trying to find something THIS special at such short notice.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04But one piece that wasn't bought in is this magnificent table.
0:15:04 > 0:15:11It is the origin of the sideboard, literally one enormous board of oak
0:15:11 > 0:15:18laid on some trestle-type bases and made around about the time of the house, about 1600.
0:15:18 > 0:15:24And here it would have sat, groaning with food for Victoria's luncheon.
0:15:24 > 0:15:31And when it came to dining, the marquess had a trick or two up his sleeve for impressing the Queen
0:15:31 > 0:15:35because Victoria in her journal notes, "Lady Mildred brought in
0:15:35 > 0:15:40"the coffee after dinner and Lord Salisbury did the same for Albert."
0:15:40 > 0:15:46So no servants served the coffee, the marquess did it himself.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48I bet he didn't brew it though.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Meanwhile, back downstairs, it's time to put the lid on our pie.
0:15:54 > 0:16:00'At the time of the visit, the man responsible for making this pie would've been a French chef,
0:16:00 > 0:16:07'Casimir Tessier, who began working for the second Marquess of Salisbury a couple of years earlier.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12'He was paid almost £40,000 a year in today's money and would have been expected
0:16:12 > 0:16:17'to produce interesting delicacies with many seasonings and flavours.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20'Cooking for Victoria was the highlight of his career.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Now, this is the dodgiest bit of all
0:16:23 > 0:16:26because we have got to get those two sheets
0:16:26 > 0:16:29to join together perfectly,
0:16:29 > 0:16:36- and in order to do that, we use one of these things.- Which is called?
0:16:36 > 0:16:39- A pastry jagger.- Oh, jagger, OK.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And these little marks we make are known as crinklecranks
0:16:43 > 0:16:47actually, they were called crinklecranks so there's a word for you.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49So we crinklecrank
0:16:49 > 0:16:55around the pie to really seal the pastry. It's important that our filling doesn't leak.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58If we don't get this right, the pie will be ruined.
0:16:58 > 0:17:05And a vent hole allows the steam to escape, we don't want our pie to explode.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11- What do we do now? - Well, we're going to ornament it, which is very important.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15What I've got here is what is called a pie board.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17- Now, you won't have seen one of these before.- I haven't.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21They're amazingly rare. So I'm going to show you
0:17:21 > 0:17:26how to make the leaves. I'm going to cut out two leaf shapes,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29if you'd like to take that one.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33'This time-consuming Victorian ornamentation
0:17:33 > 0:17:38'could only be achieved because of the huge numbers of staff in the kitchen.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Now, the thing is, in order to ornament this very large pie,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- we're going to need about 60 of those.- Right.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46'Fortunately, Ivan's already been busy.'
0:17:46 > 0:17:48What we've got to do is to wet
0:17:48 > 0:17:52the whole pie lid.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57'A pie like this would have been a real collaborative effort on the part of the servants.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01'The gamekeeper would have caught the game, the housemaids would have plucked it, the housekeeper
0:18:01 > 0:18:07'would have been in charge of the pastry, and the chef would have been responsible for the filling.'
0:18:07 > 0:18:13Now, Ivan, I'm so excited about this pie, I cannot tell you.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15This is incredible.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24After lunch on the second day of the visit,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Albert couldn't wait to get out onto the estate to do some shooting.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Victoria herself paid little attention to this event,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34she simply says in her diary, "Albert went out shooting."
0:18:34 > 0:18:39But you wait till you hear what our Rev Starkey has to say about it.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Well, for a kick-off there's the party itself.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45We've got the prince, we've got the Marquess of Salisbury,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49we've got the Marquess of Exeter, we've got the Duke of Wellington -
0:18:49 > 0:18:51he of Waterloo fame -
0:18:51 > 0:18:53we've got Earl Spencer.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57So it's a pretty top-notch party and it would appear
0:18:57 > 0:19:00that they were pretty serious about their business too.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Rev Starkey states that "Albert had four guns,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09"more guns on this occasion than he had ever had before."
0:19:09 > 0:19:11DOG BARKS
0:19:11 > 0:19:12Quite barking.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20The whole head of game killed was as follows,
0:19:20 > 0:19:25the Rev continues, "Lord Spencer - 80; Lord Exeter - 50;
0:19:25 > 0:19:29"Lord John Russell - 30; the Duke of Wellington - 16;
0:19:29 > 0:19:36"Prince Albert, 150 head, being at a rate of a head of game per minute
0:19:36 > 0:19:39"for the whole time he was out."
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Hah, double the bag of anybody else. He was machine-gunning them down.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51While the privileges of the royals and their pals were unending,
0:19:51 > 0:19:56below stairs, the harsh realities of life could also be unending.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02One servant's tale at Hatfield reads like a storyline from a costume drama.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Vicky Perry is going to tell me more.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07One of the most interesting things that we have in the archives
0:20:07 > 0:20:13is a series of letters from John Mott who was the porter at the time of the royal visit.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18He'd worked here for about 18 years at that time, but, in 1848, he was sacked
0:20:18 > 0:20:23- after he was accused of stealing beer from the marquess.- No!
0:20:23 > 0:20:25What does he say?
0:20:25 > 0:20:29In this letter, he says, "I have nothing, but poverty and distress before my eyes.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35"I have now my wife on the bed of sickness and son out of employ, and nothing to help myself with.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40"I do hope, my lord, that you will take it into your consideration and not send me away so disgraced."
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Oh, that is really...
0:20:42 > 0:20:44That's really quite sad.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49He did write a few letters to the second marquess claiming
0:20:49 > 0:20:52that he didn't steal the beer and he says here,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56"I have served your lordship upwards of 21 years and to be
0:20:56 > 0:21:01"disgraced to leave your lordship for a fault I'm not guilty of, it is too much for me to bear."
0:21:01 > 0:21:07So when the second marquess replied to his letter he said, "I am exceedingly sorry
0:21:07 > 0:21:13"that it is impossible for me to requite you of any guilt in the pilfering of which I complained."
0:21:13 > 0:21:19And we do know from the letters that he never managed to find another job and died in poverty in London.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24So just two years after Victoria's visit, the porter was sacked.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27What a hard life if you fell out of favour below stairs.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31Back out in the grounds,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Prince Albert put down his gun and joined his wife for a romantic tour
0:21:35 > 0:21:41of the grounds in a phaeton, a small carriage built for two.
0:21:41 > 0:21:47Victoria and Albert's destination on their carriage drive was this spot.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50You have to imagine that Victoria would have had a frisson
0:21:50 > 0:21:57of excitement, a little tingling of the spine when she arrived here because it's extremely special.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03In 1558, nearly 300 years to the day before Victoria's visit,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06the then Princess Elizabeth,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09the 25-year-old daughter of Henry VIII
0:22:09 > 0:22:15and Anne Boleyn, discovered that she was to become Queen Elizabeth.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19The great oak under which Elizabeth sat when she received
0:22:19 > 0:22:24this momentous news was still alive during Victoria's visit, but only just.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28This picture in the Illustrated London News shows it on its last legs.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Victoria was given the only acorn that could be found on the tree
0:22:32 > 0:22:37before it died, but her gardeners were unable to propagate it.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42The oak that's here today is thanks to another monarch.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47And there's one final chapter that relates to this replacement tree,
0:22:47 > 0:22:54planted 25 years ago in 1985 by Queen Elizabeth II.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Three incredible monarchs reigning for more than 150 years between them,
0:22:59 > 0:23:05linked by their femininity, Hatfield House, and a tree.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Back downstairs, the moment of truth has arrived.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Ivan, the moment has come.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- Yes, it's a bit like unveiling a statue.- It is.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18I cut the string and...
0:23:18 > 0:23:23It's been cooling down for about two hours, so if I get this pin out...
0:23:25 > 0:23:30..we can then gently reveal...
0:23:32 > 0:23:36- ..our pie!- Fantastic!
0:23:36 > 0:23:41That is fabulous!
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Absolutely fantastic!
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Well, I can't wait to take this to Tim.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52The pie was served at what was to be the climax of the Queen's day
0:23:52 > 0:23:55at Hatfield, as these pictures show.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02On the second and final night of Victoria's visit,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06dinner was served at 8pm. Meanwhile, up here in the gallery,
0:24:06 > 0:24:12the preparations were being made for a ball that was to follow.
0:24:12 > 0:24:20A great number of additional guests gathered, so much so that when Victoria ascended to the gallery,
0:24:20 > 0:24:27there was a crowd of some 300 people to greet her to the strains of God Save The Queen.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36The dancing commenced at 9pm and, as Rev Starkey's account records,
0:24:36 > 0:24:42"it did not abate until 1am." In short, they had a rave-up.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Queen Victoria did the diplomatic thing and had the first dance
0:24:47 > 0:24:53with her host Lord Salisbury, whilst Prince Albert, as Starkey
0:24:53 > 0:25:00rather amusingly recorded, had his first dance with Salisbury's daughter, Lady Blanche.
0:25:00 > 0:25:07After all, Victoria had recorded that Blanche was a bit of eye candy.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12I'm not surprised the guests were able to stay up late and dance the night away, they had the most
0:25:12 > 0:25:18amazing food and plenty of it, and there's plenty for Tim and me too.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Here's Rosemary. Gosh, that looks heavy.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Now, this is...
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- quite weighty.- That's a pie.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29- Well, it IS a pie.- Tell me about it.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33This is a raised pie that Queen Victoria would have eaten,
0:25:33 > 0:25:39incredibly ornate, absolutely beautiful, and there is so much in it.
0:25:39 > 0:25:45Now, what I'm going to do, before I'd tell you what is in it, I'm going to open it up.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Are any blackbirds going to get out?
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Well, that remains to be seen, Tim.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52I'm going to move that little decorative rose there
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and what I'm going to do, I'm literally going to saw through it.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Oh, this is a moment.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00It certainly is.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02It's like a chainsaw massacre, isn't it?
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Can I hold the board for you because you've got to get through that bottom bit?
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- Really, it's like the last bit of a log you're doing.- Yeah.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11OK, now...
0:26:15 > 0:26:20Now, that is beautiful.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22It's got veal forcemeat,
0:26:22 > 0:26:28it's got chicken, it's got pheasant, it's got pigeon, it's got venison,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33all layered up with a lovely egg yolk covered in parsley. So what I'm going to do now, I'm just going to slice.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Look at that jelly.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Can it be quite a big piece, please?
0:26:38 > 0:26:40SHE LAUGHS
0:26:40 > 0:26:44It's the only way to do this, I'm going to take it like this,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46pop it on your plate there.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48That's lovely. Oh, yes, look at that.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Would you like to have a little bit of condiments? This is horseradish.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- I love horseradish. - This is a sweet plum.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56A bit of horseradish.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00So I'm going to just take it au naturel to begin with.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Does it get the seal of approval?
0:27:04 > 0:27:08That is delicious.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09I'll have that little morsel.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Oh, my lord.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Mm-mmm.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24But there is one last story that our Rev Starkey observed
0:27:24 > 0:27:28and that was there was a great furore because
0:27:28 > 0:27:34somebody, after she got up from the table, nicked one of the glasses
0:27:34 > 0:27:41that she had drunk from, so keen were they to have a royal memento at the end of this supper party.
0:27:41 > 0:27:47Of course Her Majesty didn't nick any mementoes from the house to remind her of her visit, but we do know
0:27:47 > 0:27:50that she left something behind -
0:27:50 > 0:27:55gifts of gold bracelets for her host's two daughters wishing them well.
0:27:55 > 0:28:02According to Rev Starkey, the trip had been a great success, commenting as Victoria left
0:28:02 > 0:28:06that "she was in the highest health and spirits during the whole time."
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Join us tomorrow on Royal Upstairs Downstairs at Castle Howard, where the royal couple's
0:28:13 > 0:28:18high spirits were tempered by their eldest son and heir, naughty Bertie,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21but also lifted by their fabulous surroundings.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26You can imagine that titchy Queen Victoria coming into this entrance hall
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and literally standing gaping.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:53 > 0:28:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk