0:00:02 > 0:00:06The past few weeks we've been scooting all around the countryside
0:00:06 > 0:00:09following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria,
0:00:09 > 0:00:15as she visited some of Britain's most spectacular houses and castles.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20And we have been discovering the most amazing preparations for each royal visit.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Upstairs...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Wow!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26And downstairs.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28I'm so excited about this pie.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33And at each stop-off, we've delved into Victoria's diaries.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38"The bedroom was very small, and dreadfully cold and drafty."
0:00:38 > 0:00:42The result has been a revealing picture of our longest-reigning monarch.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Today we're going to look back
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and recollect what we've found out about Victoria,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55and see how she changed over the years.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57We've travelled with Victoria
0:00:57 > 0:01:01during every stage of her extraordinary life,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04from childhood to teenage Queen,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08becoming wife to Albert and mother to nine children,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and finally, in her years as a widow.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Today we'll be looking back at her life through the visits she made,
0:01:17 > 0:01:23choosing some of our favourite stories that helped us get to know that thoroughly modern monarch.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28We started at Chatsworth House,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30where we met a 13-year-old princess
0:01:30 > 0:01:35who was being paraded around the country to introduce her to her future subjects.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41I loved the story of how tiredness got in the way of her first grown-up dinner.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47She stayed here for four days in October 1832.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49The host was the 6th Duke of Devonshire,
0:01:49 > 0:01:54one of the richest men in the land, and desperate to wow the Princess.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58She and her mother had arrived late,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and Victoria probably wanted to chill out.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07But no such luck. The Duke had laid on a dinner party starting at seven o'clock.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10He even had a dress rehearsal the night before
0:02:10 > 0:02:14because this particular dinner was so important.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17This wonderful dining room was the setting
0:02:17 > 0:02:21for Princess Victoria's first grown-up dinner party.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24But Victoria, in her journal, writes,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29"I dined by myself in my room with Lehzen."
0:02:29 > 0:02:32That's Baroness Lehzen, her governess.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35So Victoria didn't turn up.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40Her first big moment was probably scuppered by tiredness.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Well, we all know how much teenagers like their sleep.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46But the Duke must have been a bit cheesed off.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48All that effort he'd put in.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50But it just showed us
0:02:50 > 0:02:53how these long journeys and visits
0:02:53 > 0:02:55wore out the little Princess.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56But despite her complaints,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00her mother, a rather power-hungry old girl,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03who couldn't wait for her daughter to inherit the crown,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06kept the Victoria show on the road.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12When we got to Holkham Hall, three years later in 1835,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14she was sweet sixteen.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18And we heard a great story
0:03:18 > 0:03:21of how her mother's PR offensive seemed to be working,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25if the reception she got from the locals was anything to go by.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26When she got to King's Lynn,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30a group of very enthusiastic agricultural labourers
0:03:30 > 0:03:33decided to detach the horses from her carriage,
0:03:33 > 0:03:38and then pull her all around the town for a couple of hours,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41as an expression of their extreme loyalty.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46And I loved hearing about how Victoria's arrival
0:03:46 > 0:03:48had consequences below stairs at Holkham Hall
0:03:48 > 0:03:55when a baby made an unexpected appearance, as archivist Mary-Anne Garry explained.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00So tell me about this extraordinary story that I've heard whispers about.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Well, the story goes
0:04:02 > 0:04:07that the children's nurse, whose name was Jane Salmon,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11had secretly married the head gardener Hugh Girvan.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12Really?
0:04:12 > 0:04:13And was pregnant.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18And the excitement brought on by the arrival of the royal party
0:04:18 > 0:04:20meant that she went into a premature labour
0:04:20 > 0:04:24and gave birth to the baby the day Princess Victoria arrived.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26BABY CRYING
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Because the wedding was a secret,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31most of the household thought she was a single mum
0:04:31 > 0:04:33and the child was illegitimate,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38which would have been a huge scandal during the royal visit.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41But, in fact, she was married and all was well.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Princess Victoria, who was only 16 at the time,
0:04:44 > 0:04:49was also very intrigued by this and demanded to see the baby.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52And out of respect for the Queen,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54the baby was a girl, luckily,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and was duly christened Victoria Jane.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02What a lovely, lovely story!
0:05:02 > 0:05:08It's been funny to learn that almost wherever Victoria went, babies were named after her.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Luckily for the boys, they were usually called Victor.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Well, it's wonderful for us that the young Princess kept a diary,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and she comes across as very different from today's teenagers,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24royal or otherwise.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Just two years after her visit to Holkham, Victoria became Queen.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31She was only 18 years old,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35but the first new year's resolution after her coronation
0:05:35 > 0:05:37recorded in her diary
0:05:37 > 0:05:40shows she was becoming a serious-minded young woman.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44"Almighty God, preserve me safely through this year,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46and make me daily more fit for my station."
0:05:46 > 0:05:51Then just three years after Victoria had become Queen,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54wedding bells were in the air.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00The pace of our journey suddenly hots up. Victoria marries Albert.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04And we find ourselves traipsing all over the countryside
0:06:04 > 0:06:07following the newlyweds, literally from bed to bed.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Every host wanted to make sure she had a comfortable night's sleep,
0:06:15 > 0:06:20and provided her with the most divine divans that money could buy.
0:06:20 > 0:06:27Almost every house we visited seemed to have purchased a bed from Royal Beds R Us.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33After all, they didn't want her complaining like the princess and the pea.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43When we visited Walmer Castle in Kent,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48it was lovely to hear how new hubby Albert brought out another side of Victoria,
0:06:48 > 0:06:49the romantic Queen.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54They stayed at the castle for a month in 1842,
0:06:54 > 0:06:56when she was 23 years old,
0:06:56 > 0:07:02and the two lovebirds liked nothing more than to be in each other's company far from the madding crowds.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07As Tim discovered in a revealing extract from her diary.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Victoria wrote in her diary,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14"At half past nine we sallied forth
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and walked at least a mile along the beach,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20where there is not a house."
0:07:20 > 0:07:23"So different to Brighton."
0:07:23 > 0:07:25"This is so private."
0:07:27 > 0:07:31One morning the royal lovebirds slipped out of the castle with their favourite dogs
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and set off for Kingsdown.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36And according to the Illustrated London News,
0:07:36 > 0:07:41on her return, "she was the very picture of blooming health."
0:07:41 > 0:07:46And at Walmer, I did the sums and made a rather exciting discovery.
0:07:46 > 0:07:52Victoria was, in fact, about 12 weeks pregnant when she was there.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01When we visited Belvoir Castle in Rutland,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04the focus was not on Victoria for once,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08but Albert, who was not popular with the people.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16While Victoria clearly loved Albert to pieces,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19her subjects weren't quite so enamoured with him.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23On their visit to Belvoir in 1843,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Albert had to prove himself to the public and grooming classes
0:08:27 > 0:08:29by taking part in the Hunt.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34Michael Clayton, an expert on the Belvoir Hunt, told me more.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38- Ah, Michael, very nice to see you. - And you.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Most appropriately, we've discovered your gorgeous girly hounds.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44BARKING
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Hello, girls, how are you? Look at that chatter.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51- They are magnificent. - One of the great packs of England.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54So your normal field would be how many mounted?
0:08:54 > 0:08:59Well, in those days they would have had up to 200 on a good day with the Belvoir,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01although many days they'd have less.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03But when Albert came?
0:09:03 > 0:09:08- Well, they had 800 people came. - Mounted?- Yes, people came from all over Leicestershire.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Did they come to watch Albert fall off?
0:09:10 > 0:09:15That's always at the back of hunting people's mind when visitors come to their country.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20They say afterwards, "Well, he may be good but he couldn't ride our country."
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Imagine the adrenalin coursing through Albert's veins
0:09:24 > 0:09:27as the Master of the Hunt sounded the horn,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and so with the weight of expectation on his shoulders,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34just how well did Albert do?
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Albert passed with flying colours. His aides fell off, which probably pleased local sentiment.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Both of them, he recorded later, "fell to the right and left of me".
0:09:43 > 0:09:46But Albert did jolly well. He could do it.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Victoria was proud of Albert,
0:09:49 > 0:09:54but like any loyal wife, she was also a bit put out at the stir it caused.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57She never doubted his prowess.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Writing to King Leopold of Belgium,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02she said, "It rather disgusts one."
0:10:02 > 0:10:08"But still, it does good, for it put an end to the impertinent sneering about Albert's riding."
0:10:13 > 0:10:15In every one of Victoria's visits,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18the food played a very important part.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Every host wanted to show off to the Queen.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The chefs and the cooks were incredibly skilled,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27more than they're given credit for today.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32And talking of day, our very own Ivan Day the food historian
0:10:32 > 0:10:36has enabled us to unlock some of those cooks' secrets.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42- And then it's a very swift and careful movement.- Fantastic.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44And here is our perfect shortbread.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47One Victorian kitchen gadget that I just loved,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50used in almost every kitchen we've cooked in,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52was the mould.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55And boy, did they use them!
0:10:55 > 0:10:57From risque jellies...
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Just put it down!
0:10:59 > 0:11:01..to tipsy cakes.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06And from OTT ice creams to amazing pies.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Originally they used cardboard to do this,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19and the fashion was to have a pie that looked a bit like a corset.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22You see, it's waisted just like a Victorian corset.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24And amazingly, originally,
0:11:24 > 0:11:29this cardboard corset you made to put round your pie
0:11:29 > 0:11:31even had laces on the back to pull tight so you got that shape.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34But by the 1820s they were making these things.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38- They're beautiful, aren't they? - Yes, some of them are extraordinary.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The moulds also allowed the food to be so elaborate,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48another classic feature of Victorian cookery.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56I also learned how Victoria's cooks had to be extremely skilled.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01Even the most traditional methods of cookery were surprisingly, very technical,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04as I discovered on a visit to Penrhyn Castle,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07where Victoria and Albert stayed in 1859.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Ivan explained how the wonderful spit-turning mechanisms in Penrhyn
0:12:12 > 0:12:16were effective only if you really knew what you were doing.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Most people, when they think of spit cookery, think of campfire cookery.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22But this is all a different level,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25it's really sophisticated, very flexible cookery.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Timing is absolutely important so you don't overdo it.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32But also, I see it almost, how you're describing it,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35as actually very like a barbecue.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36This is a high-end barbecue.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39This is a high-end barbecue, but that's it.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48The spit or rotisserie was powered by a smoke jack rotated by heated air rising in the chimney.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53It was a skilled job to make sure the joint was cooked at the correct distance from the fire
0:12:53 > 0:12:55and for the right amount of time,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59while continually basting the meat in its own fat.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01A lot of visitors to these old kitchens,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04they see these extraordinary, large spits,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08and think they must have roasted a whole pig or an ox on it.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09But that's not the case.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13A Victorian meal had lots of roast meats at different intervals.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18So what that's for is for cooking lots of different types of meat,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21rather than one great big, massive ox.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25It was a recipe of a different sort
0:13:25 > 0:13:29that I got excited about at Scone Palace in Scotland.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32One for cleaning all those blooming moulds we'd used.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35We're going to use a very old mixture
0:13:35 > 0:13:40of flour, salt, and vinegar.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43We're not given any measurements for this.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45It's all really rule of thumb.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53You've certainly got the elbow.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55I certainly have.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58That looks perfect.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Right, now, let's get started.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17I bet those upstairs didn't quite know what went into keeping all this clean.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20They would never have had a clue.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27I think most of us have a vision of Victoria dressed mournfully in black,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31saying, "We are not amused."
0:14:31 > 0:14:36And that is a pretty fair picture of her life after Albert died,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39when she was only 42 years of age.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42But we've discovered that much of her life,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44she had a jolly good sense of humour.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46She liked to laugh.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48- She loved to laugh.- A bit like you.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52And one of my favourite stories
0:14:52 > 0:14:57involved the Queen, a chair, and a giggling fit at Warwick Castle.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Victoria was on a tour of the castle
0:15:00 > 0:15:03during a brief visit with Albert in 1858,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06part of a wider tour of the Midlands,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08and was shown the boudoir.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11As the Warwickshire Standard describes,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14"The boudoir was a perfect picture,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16fitted out with blue and white satin."
0:15:18 > 0:15:19But it wasn't quite perfect.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Unfortunately for the poor Warwicks,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26some dodgy seating provided a true moment of farce.
0:15:27 > 0:15:33A relative of the Earl had a contretemps with a chair in front of the Queen,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35as the 5th Earl's memoirs reveal.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40"My mother's kinswoman, old Lady Mexborough was with us,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and the Queen, who knew she was even older than she looked,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48said to her very kindly, "Please sit down"."
0:15:48 > 0:15:50"Lady Mexborough thereupon sat down
0:15:50 > 0:15:54on one of the new and incomplete chairs...
0:15:54 > 0:15:55Ooh!
0:15:55 > 0:16:01..and her partial disappearance was very swift and dramatic."
0:16:01 > 0:16:04"Queen Victoria's strict sense of decorum
0:16:04 > 0:16:08was not quite proof against this incident."
0:16:08 > 0:16:13Clearly, Victoria had a complete fit of the giggles.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15GIGGLING
0:16:19 > 0:16:23And we came across more laughter at Penrhyn Castle,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26where Victoria visited in 1859,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30in a story where upstairs met downstairs.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35I'm on the grand staircase, and grand it certainly is.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40It's just the sort of staircase you can imagine a queen ascending.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43The staircase was very regal,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47but it was a heck of a long route to her apartments.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51The account written about the visit by one of the Pennant family
0:16:51 > 0:16:53who hosted Victoria and Albert,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55shows a Queen happy to be a mere mortal.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57And according to the story,
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Victoria liked to take a short cut to her suite of rooms
0:17:02 > 0:17:04using the spiral staircase.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07This was the servants' staircase.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11But you must remember, there was no electricity in those days
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and the family hired a lamp man.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18They brought him specially from London to light up the Queen's way.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23But Adela tells us that the man deserted his duties, and she wrote,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26"When my mother took the Queen to her room,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30she found the stairs in complete darkness."
0:17:30 > 0:17:35"My mother begged the Queen to wait while she ran upstairs for a light,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38but on returning to the head of the steps,
0:17:38 > 0:17:43she found the Queen had laughingly groped her way up behind her in the dark."
0:17:43 > 0:17:50Well, imagine Queen Victoria stumbling up these steps without even a candle,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52wearing the wide, long dresses.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54She was laughing!
0:17:57 > 0:17:59What has become increasingly clear
0:17:59 > 0:18:03is Victoria's intense desire for privacy.
0:18:03 > 0:18:10Now, whilst there may not have been any paparazzi knocking around in those times, chasing her about,
0:18:10 > 0:18:16her subjects certainly wanted to get as close as possible. Urgh.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18None more so than in Brighton.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23The Royal Pavilion was a family holiday home that she'd warmed to over the years.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25But during our visit there,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27I was intrigued to learn that by 1845,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30when she'd been on the throne for eight years,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32the public started to overwhelm her.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35And it was all down to a Victorian invention.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37TRAIN WHISTLE
0:18:37 > 0:18:42Ironically, it was one of the greatest technological advances of the age
0:18:42 > 0:18:46that led to her increasing headache.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51The railway arrived in Brighton in 1841.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55The prospect of rubbing shoulders with royalty
0:18:55 > 0:18:57attracted tremendous crowds.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03In fact, the traffic of 50,000 tourists a year by stagecoach,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05increased in the railway age
0:19:05 > 0:19:10to 250,000 visitors to Brighton every year.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15All at the cost of 15p return.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20For Victoria, the sudden increase
0:19:20 > 0:19:24in the numbers of visitors wanting to get close to her was alarming.
0:19:24 > 0:19:25OK, here we go.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Could I have your autograph, please?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Nowadays with the cult of celebrity, we're used to it.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Well, some of us are.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37But in 1845, a local newspaper even reported that
0:19:37 > 0:19:39several errand boys accosted her
0:19:39 > 0:19:44and lifted her bonnet to get a glimpse of her face beneath.
0:19:44 > 0:19:45The cheek!
0:19:45 > 0:19:49The young Queen could stand it no longer.
0:19:49 > 0:19:55This vast influx of ghastly people all trying to rub shoulders with her
0:19:55 > 0:19:57was just too much.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00There was no privacy in the Pavilion gardens,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04and even stopping the tourist trains on the outskirts of Brighton
0:20:04 > 0:20:06when she was in residence
0:20:06 > 0:20:08did absolutely no good.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12She didn't come to the place after 1845,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and in 1850, she sold it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24At Floors Castle, which she visited in 1867,
0:20:24 > 0:20:25we discovered a Queen
0:20:25 > 0:20:30who had removed herself from the public's gaze even further.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Her beloved Albert had died six years earlier,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and she was now a lonely widow.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Victoria, whose heart, even six years after the loss of Albert,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45was aching uncontrollably,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48had this to say from her diary.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51"The children were close at hand,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55but the feeling of loneliness when I saw no room for my darling
0:20:55 > 0:21:02and felt I was indeed alone and a widow, overcame me very sadly."
0:21:02 > 0:21:06"It was the first time I had gone in this way on a visit,
0:21:06 > 0:21:12and I thought so much of all dearest Albert would have done and said,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and how he would have wandered about everywhere,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18admired everything, looked at everything."
0:21:18 > 0:21:23"And now, oh, must it ever be so?"
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Poor woman.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35Her grief almost cost her the monarchy itself,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39as I was fascinated to discover at Hughenden,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42home of her beloved Prime Minister Disraeli.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44As the years without Albert passed,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49her involvement in public life had grown ever more distant
0:21:49 > 0:21:52by the time she visited in 1877.
0:21:52 > 0:21:59This was much to her advisors' despair, as I was fascinated to hear from historian Jane Ridley.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02He did one terribly important thing, Disraeli.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Queen Victoria, after Albert died,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06retired into seclusion.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09She was hardly seen, she was always dressed in black,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and after ten years of this, there was a lot of criticism.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18The monarchy is supposed to be a public institution, and the Queen was invisible.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20The person who really managed
0:22:20 > 0:22:24to charm Victoria out of this was Disraeli.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29He was able to sort of persuade her to appear in public, to open Parliament.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33He was able to flatter her and tell her she was wonderful.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37So in a way, Disraeli saved the monarchy, you could argue.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38So at the end of her reign,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42it was Disraeli's turn to convince Victoria of the importance
0:22:42 > 0:22:44of engaging with the public.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Just like at the beginning of her reign,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49when it was her mother the Duchess of Kent,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53who had insisted on keeping Victoria in the public eye.
0:22:56 > 0:23:02So, Rosemary, what do you think the most surprising items were that we found?
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Well, Tim, I think some of the archive materials we came across
0:23:06 > 0:23:09in the great houses that Victoria visited,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11was fantastic.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14From scraps of paper to whole books.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Fabulous.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22At Hatfield House,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26I encountered the most enormous record book I have ever seen,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28which showed the amazing lengths hosts went to
0:23:28 > 0:23:30to impress Her Majesty.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34This is the biggest account book I have ever seen.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37This is the account book dating from 1846,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39which shows the household expenses.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43We've got it open on the week of the royal visit.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47So you can see along here are all the provisions that were purchased.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Over the page, here,
0:23:51 > 0:23:56the week before the visit, they spent £13 on turtle,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00which would almost certainly have been made into turtle soup.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02That was very popular, wasn't it?
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Yes, and a bit of a status symbol
0:24:04 > 0:24:07to have served turtle soup because it was so expensive.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Expensive, and of course, nowadays illegal.
0:24:10 > 0:24:18I love this, the turtles came to thirteen pounds, five shillings and eight pence.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21That would be an incredible £800 today.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26They certainly pulled all the stops out for Queen Victoria's visit.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30They did. They spent over £1,200 during the week on food.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32That's some food bill.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37In fact, in today's money, that's over £70,000.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42And I think the most astonishing piece of archive was at Walmer,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44where the royal family stayed
0:24:44 > 0:24:47in the Duke of Wellington's residence in 1842.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49It's the actual slip of paper
0:24:49 > 0:24:53that reveals the medical records of the royal nippers.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Wellington's own physician, one Doctor Hulk,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00was called to attend the family.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Walmer still has his amazing journal
0:25:03 > 0:25:08that reveals a day-by-day account of treatment for the royal tots.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Dr Paul Grassby, a pharmacist with knowledge of the Victorian era,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14deciphered the good doctor's squiggles for Tim.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17On 14th, a Monday,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21it says, "The Princess Royal seemed slightly oppressed."
0:25:21 > 0:25:25"Gave her goobly goobly goobly googly guck
0:25:25 > 0:25:27in a powder."
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Can you decipher what those are, those drugs?
0:25:29 > 0:25:34I can actually only make out one drug, which is magnesium carbonate.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Now, I think on this occasion,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40the doctor was using some fairly simple powders,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45and I think this equates to liver salts or something like that.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Cos you see, by the time we get to the Wednesday, he's saying,
0:25:48 > 0:25:53"The Princess Royal passed a good night. She ate her breakfast." That's all very nice.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57"But the Prince had his diet slightly altered."
0:25:57 > 0:26:02"Arrowroot, the bowels being a little relaxed."
0:26:02 > 0:26:04So this is the one-year-old, right?
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Something's happened in the old gippy tummy department overnight.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Would you prescribe arrowroot for that? Gippy tummy?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- I'd prescribe arrowroot for anything.- Oh, good.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Arrowroot is not going to hurt anyone.
0:26:18 > 0:26:19It's mainly composed of starch.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23You powder it up, you can make it into a paste,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27and it's useful for all sorts of things, because it coats the throat,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29which can be good for coughs.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32It mimics some of the cough mixtures we have today.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35At the same time, the child gets quite a lot of carbohydrate
0:26:35 > 0:26:39if they're off they're food they're taking in carbohydrate.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Taking in a lot of starch, if you are a bit loose down the bowel area,
0:26:43 > 0:26:45it can sort that out as well.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48But for sheer commemorative beauty,
0:26:48 > 0:26:53I don't think the very personal scrapbook at Stoneleigh Abbey can be topped.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56The Leigh family were delighted and honoured
0:26:57 > 0:27:01to have their beloved monarch come to stay, and it shows.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04- We've got all these delicious images, look.- Oh, wonderful.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09- We've got here...- Oh, look at Albert. - Albert looking so proud.- Oh, yes.
0:27:09 > 0:27:15And so this thing goes on. Each of the memories exquisitely preserved.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17What a wonderful record.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Isn't it lovely?
0:27:19 > 0:27:21And just look at this bit here.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25They've actually preserved and pressed...
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- Oh, look at that! - ..the posy that she was carrying.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32- I mean, really special, isn't it? - That is very, very special.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Well, Tim, I have left a real surprise until last.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42We have got Queen Victoria's favourite tipple.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46It is claret and a single malt whisky.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49- I beg your pardon? - It's claret and single malt whisky.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51- Mixed?- Mixed equal quantities.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Gosh.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01I may not like it, but maybe that's what kept Victoria going.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03But even she succumbed eventually.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07In January 1901, Victoria wrote in her diary,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11"I am feeling so weak and unwell."
0:28:11 > 0:28:13It was to be her last entry.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Two weeks later, at the age of 81, she died.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Her monumental reign was at an end.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I think we should toast Queen Victoria.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26To our longest-reigning monarch.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28- Cheers.- Cheers.
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