A passionate marriage. Nine children. Assassination attempts, and the monarchy is threatened with a scandal.
In the second part of our deep dive into Queen Victoria, Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams explore Victoria as wife, mother, monarch and increasingly formidable stateswoman.
Her marriage to Prince Albert begins as an intense love affair, but behind the carefully cultivated image of domestic bliss lies a more complicated struggle over who really holds power. As Victoria endures pregnancy after pregnancy, Albert carves out an increasingly influential role beside her, while together they reshape the monarchy and create the intimate royal getaways of Osborne House and Balmoral Castle.
Victoria survives multiple assassinations, embraces the new and controversial use of chloroform in childbirth and begins using her growing family to forge dynastic links across Europe.
But trouble is brewing much closer to home. Her wayward heir, Bertie, is caught up in a potentially explosive affair, and when an already ailing Albert intervenes, events culminate in his sudden death at just 42.
Victoria is left a widow, a mother of nine and a Queen devastated by grief. And she knows exactly who she blames.
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