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00:00Others call it love. For a foresight, it can be both a blessing and a curse.
00:09The Foresights continues Monday at 9. Watch. Stream. On 5.
00:15The future king, William, is ready to reshape the royal family.
00:20I think it's going to usher in a new golden age for the monarchy.
00:23He's got to make it relevant.
00:25How far will he go?
00:26It's going to be a big shake-up.
00:28William, when he becomes king. Next Saturday at 5 past 9. Watch. Stream. On 5.
00:36Both strong, caring and with an overwhelming sense of duty, what else did they have in common?
00:42Catherine and Queen Elizabeth, a special relationship is at 5 past 9.
00:46Granny First, secrets of the royals. Births, marriages and deaths.
00:52Greatness is seeing my dad smile again.
00:58Great British Stories on 5. Sponsored by Help for Heroes.
01:05My crown I am.
01:09But still my griefs are mine.
01:13Still am I king of those.
01:15Royal births, marriages and deaths have determined the course of British history.
01:26It's about power. It's about position.
01:29Our history! Our history!
01:33And this power is passed down by line of succession.
01:38Henry was absolutely over the moon.
01:47Bonfires were lit.
01:49Celebrations were had across the city.
01:52The birth of Archie was a major international event because he was in line to the throne.
01:57A royal wedding is a new start.
02:04It's glitz and glamour and optimism.
02:08On the happiest day of his life, the prince was drunk, crying,
02:13why am I marrying this woman?
02:15Lord Dawson took a syringe and he injected morphine into the king's neck.
02:26This was regicide.
02:33Here in the archives, we can hear these voices.
02:37The hopes wrapped up in a longed-for royal baby.
02:42The fairytale weddings that end in disaster.
02:45This is where we find the grisly deaths.
02:51This blessed plot.
02:53This earth.
02:56This realm.
02:57The final days and hours leading up to a royal death
03:09are usually very private affairs,
03:11family moments shrouded in mystery.
03:14But for Queen Victoria's death,
03:16there are incredible personal diaries written by those who were there
03:19which give us an almost hour-by-hour account
03:22of exactly what happened behind palace walls.
03:25James Reed, Victoria's personal physician,
03:30wrote an intimate diary of her last days.
03:34So James Reed was very close to Queen Victoria.
03:37She grumbled to him about everything that she wanted to grumble about.
03:42Sometimes he would say I was the lightning rod
03:43to absorb all her tension between her family
03:46because she was always in conflict with her family.
03:49Without his diaries,
03:50we would have a rather sanitised account of her dying.
03:55His diaries explain exactly what happens.
03:59We understand the fights between the children
04:01because everybody was in denial about the Queen dying.
04:05And we even have the words of Victoria herself
04:08in the entries she wrote in her own journal.
04:10Queen Victoria began keeping her diaries
04:19when she was 13 years old in 1832,
04:21and she continued writing the diaries
04:24right up until her death in 1901.
04:28She trusted very few people around her,
04:30and it was only really in her diaries
04:33that she could confide the full truth of her life.
04:35These sources allow us to reconstruct Victoria's final days
04:39in unprecedented detail.
04:42And what they reveal is a squabbling household,
04:45a nation in denial,
04:47and a Queen whose servants she trusted
04:49more than her own flesh and blood.
04:53The demise of this great Queen
04:55began in the winter of 1900
04:57at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight,
05:00where she'd gone to spend a quiet Christmas
05:02with two of her daughters.
05:03Victoria is always in Osborne
05:06for the winter, for the Christmas.
05:08Start of the new year, it's bleak weather,
05:10it's snowing, it's cold.
05:12It was fairly quiet.
05:13The Prince of Wales was off shooting in the country.
05:16Most of her children were spread around.
05:18Only her two daughters were there.
05:20So it was a fairly sombre place.
05:22Not too much fun.
05:24And there's an entry in Victoria's journal
05:26written at Osborne House,
05:28which gives us an intriguing glimpse
05:30into her state of mind
05:31just three weeks before her death.
05:34This entry is from the 1st of January,
05:37but far from feeling excited about a new year
05:39and indeed a new century,
05:41she complains that she's feeling
05:43so weak and unwell
05:45that I enter upon it sadly.
05:48She's always been quite resolute,
05:50quite upbeat.
05:51But here there's definitely a sense of weariness
05:54of the world closing in upon her.
05:58It's almost as though she's losing her zest for life.
06:01In fact, the previous 12 months
06:03had been tough for the Queen,
06:05who'd been beset by personal tragedy.
06:08She'd had a grim year leading up to the Christmas.
06:12Her daughter had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
06:15Her daughter was the Dowager Empress of Germany
06:18and mother of the Kaiser.
06:21Her favourite son, Alfred,
06:24had died from throat cancer.
06:26Her grandson,
06:28who'd been fighting out in the Cold War,
06:31died on a journey back to England.
06:34And then her closest friend,
06:36Lady Jane Churchill,
06:38died on Christmas morning.
06:41And that was her last close friend.
06:44So really, Christmas was a bit grim for the Queen.
06:48Losing so many loved ones had taken its toll.
06:52And a rather mundane detail Victoria also records
06:55gives us a further insight
06:57into not just her melancholy frame of mind,
07:00but her physical frailty.
07:03This entry describes how the Queen spent the day
07:05visiting her local convalescent home.
07:08When she returned to Osborne,
07:10she rested for a while
07:11and was able to take a little more food
07:13for her supper than she had for the last three days.
07:16To be quite frank,
07:17Queen Victoria was notoriously greedy.
07:21So to hear that she didn't have much appetite
07:22is definitely a sign that something was wrong.
07:25And in the last few weeks of her life, in fact,
07:28the Queen was only able to digest baby food.
07:32And as January progressed,
07:35very quickly,
07:36Victoria's health started to go downhill.
07:38She has these moments of exhaustion,
07:41breathlessness,
07:42and by the 12th of January,
07:45her doctor was getting quite worried.
07:48In an age before the internet,
07:50the palace issued written bulletins
07:52to inform the press of royal news.
07:54And Sir James was convinced
07:56the Queen would want her subjects
07:58to know about her health.
08:00He asks the Prince of Wales,
08:01shall I put in something?
08:03And Prince of Wales says,
08:04no, definitely not.
08:06So this is going on till the 18th of January.
08:10Reid is getting more and more worried.
08:12And he says,
08:13we need to put out something.
08:15So this very bland statement is put out saying,
08:18the Queen is not in her full health.
08:20In fact,
08:22we now know Victoria had just four days left to live.
08:26Sir James knew the Queen was dying,
08:29but absolutely everybody refused to acknowledge
08:32that she was not going to recover.
08:34It was a situation that Sir James felt needed to be remedied.
08:38So he began secretly to contact those he felt should be told.
08:42The first person he does want to inform
08:44is actually the Kaiser,
08:46the Queen's grandson.
08:49Kaiser Wilhelm II was the Emperor of Germany,
08:52and there was no love lost
08:53between him and Victoria's children,
08:55his aunts and uncles.
08:57The Kaiser had told Reid,
08:59the family will block me when she dies.
09:02Please let me know when she is poorly.
09:04Kaiser had once called the Prince of Wales
09:06an old peacock.
09:07And he had also referred to the Queen's daughters
09:12as the petticoats.
09:14They weren't fond of him,
09:15he wasn't fond of them.
09:16But such a high profile and unexpected visit
09:19was bound to cause a public stir.
09:22Much excitement in London.
09:23The Kaiser has arrived.
09:25He's quite a figure.
09:26You know,
09:27some are fond of him,
09:28some don't like him.
09:29Whatever.
09:30But he's excited the press.
09:32But before the Kaiser had even managed
09:34to get to Osborne,
09:35unbeknownst to the now curious journalists,
09:38the Queen suffered what was believed
09:39to be a series of strokes.
09:42In the face of this new crisis,
09:44Victoria's children began to descend
09:46on Osborne House.
09:48The family were all summoned
09:49to come to Osborne House.
09:52And following them
09:53were a bunch of journalists
09:55who began to camp outside the gates.
09:58And the press bulletins
10:00over the next 48 hours
10:01reveal Victoria's final days
10:03were nothing less than a roller coaster.
10:05Initially,
10:08Victoria defied expectation.
10:10But within eight hours,
10:12it was a very different story.
10:14By midnight that day,
10:16her condition was
10:17Reed is convinced
10:19that she's not going to make it
10:20through the night.
10:21He's now called a team of doctors
10:23and they're all looking
10:24after the Queen,
10:25who is drifting in and out
10:27of consciousness.
10:28But as dawn broke,
10:30the Queen again defied the odds.
10:32So here we go again.
10:33It's like a constantly
10:35swinging pendulum.
10:36But by the evening
10:38of Monday,
10:38the 21st of January,
10:40it was clear
10:41the end was in sight.
10:43It's a very stressful night
10:44for Reed.
10:45And finally,
10:45that bulletin has to go out.
10:47That Queen is deteriorating.
10:49It is actually happening.
10:52As the moment
10:53of Victoria's death
10:54drew nearer,
10:55and whilst the press waited,
10:56we now have astonishing detail
10:58about her final hours.
11:00By now,
11:01Queen Victoria had been moved
11:02to a little divan bed.
11:04She's having trouble breathing.
11:06There's an oxygen mask on her.
11:08The room was packed.
11:09Her daughter,
11:10Princess Beatrice,
11:11was telling the Queen
11:12who was there.
11:14I mean,
11:14they were all devoted
11:15to their grandmother
11:16or their mother.
11:17I mean,
11:17they were really fond of her.
11:19She's a good granny.
11:21There is this din
11:22in this room
11:22because all the household
11:24is there.
11:25They are weeping.
11:26Kaiser,
11:27he will not move.
11:28He's standing
11:29on the right side
11:30of the bed.
11:30He says,
11:31this is my place.
11:32And he actually props her up
11:34so she can breathe.
11:35The Queen remained conscious
11:36throughout this,
11:37even though she couldn't speak.
11:40So James Reed
11:40was feeling her pulse.
11:42She suddenly became alert
11:43and she stared
11:44at a picture on the wall,
11:46which was the entombment
11:47of Christ.
11:52And then,
11:53a few moments later,
11:55she died.
11:58Reed notes the time
12:00and then the Prince of Wales,
12:01he gets up
12:02and he closes her eyes.
12:05Suddenly,
12:06it's all quiet.
12:07It's over.
12:09It's the end of an era.
12:17Coming up,
12:18the funeral of a queen
12:20that broke royal precedent.
12:21She didn't want to be embalmed.
12:24She didn't want black
12:25and she didn't want a hearse.
12:28And the storm
12:29that threatened to disrupt
12:30an autumn wedding.
12:32There's a thunderstorm
12:33and Her Majesty walks in
12:34and the tree goes flying.
12:36My head be it.
12:37Every bride and groom
12:49want every aspect
12:50of their big day
12:51to be perfect.
12:52From the dress
12:53to the cake.
12:55But with the entire country
12:56tuning in,
12:57royal weddings mean
12:58it's not just family
12:59and friends
13:00who are watching.
13:03And on the 12th of October,
13:052018,
13:06when Princess Eugenie
13:08was due to marry
13:08her long-term boyfriend
13:10Jack Brooksbank
13:11at St George's Chapel, Windsor,
13:13every detail
13:14was under scrutiny.
13:15When the public
13:16watch a royal wedding,
13:17they are paying into
13:19a fairy tale,
13:21a vision of what
13:22life and love
13:23should and could be like.
13:26And one of the most
13:27important elements
13:28is the flowers.
13:30I was very honoured
13:31to be asked
13:31to be part of
13:32Her Royal Highness
13:33Princess Eugenie
13:34and Jack's wedding
13:36ceremony
13:36at Windsor Castle.
13:38Both Her Royal Highness
13:40and Jack
13:41were very involved
13:42with the whole look
13:43of the whole ceremony.
13:45And with an October date,
13:47the couple chose
13:48an autumnal theme.
13:49It was mid-autumn
13:51and there was
13:52the perfect time
13:53to bring in
13:54all these beautiful
13:55autumnal British flowers,
13:56foliages and trees
13:57and all in keeping
13:59with autumn.
14:00On the day
14:01before the wedding,
14:02after months of planning,
14:04Rob and his team
14:05were finally allowed
14:06inside the castle gates
14:07to turn this royal
14:09floral vision
14:10into a stunning
14:11regal reality.
14:13But such a historic
14:14building posed
14:15some rather unique
14:16challenges.
14:18You're not allowed
14:18to put any nails
14:19or structures as such
14:21that might damage
14:22the building.
14:23We had to come up
14:24with using lots
14:25of sandbags
14:26to secure the trees,
14:28tying them back
14:28with ropes
14:29to the staircase
14:29handrail,
14:30because you can't
14:32do any damage
14:33to a building
14:34like that.
14:34But at the same time,
14:35we deal with
14:36the royal family.
14:37You don't want
14:37anything to start
14:39flying on the day
14:40and injuring anybody.
14:42So there was
14:43quite a stressful
14:44period of,
14:47yeah,
14:47making everything secure.
14:49The result
14:50was a stunning array
14:51of autumnal blooms,
14:53fit for a princess.
14:55And the focal point
14:56were full-size
14:57liquid amber trees,
14:59framing the entrance
15:00to the chapel.
15:01We brought in
15:02these massive big trees
15:03to place on the staircase
15:04to get that big impact.
15:06We had oak leaves,
15:08we had hydrangeas,
15:09lots of dahlias.
15:11So it was a whole
15:12abundance of autumnal.
15:14With everything in place,
15:16it seemed as if nothing
15:17could possibly go wrong.
15:19But as Rob was doing
15:20his final touches,
15:22there was one ominous sign
15:24of something
15:24he couldn't control.
15:27It was so windy
15:28and the weather
15:29was like dodgy.
15:31It wasn't going to rain,
15:32it wasn't going to stay dry.
15:34So, sleepless nights.
15:37And later that night,
15:38the forecast
15:39didn't bode well.
15:42One of the year's
15:44biggest storms,
15:45Storm Callum,
15:46was about to hit
15:47British shores.
15:49An autumn wedding
15:50is very romantic
15:51in theory,
15:52a little bit risky
15:53in practice.
15:54you are battling
15:55that great British character,
15:58the weather,
15:59that will rule over everything.
16:02As the day of the wedding dawn
16:04and the first guests
16:06made their way
16:06to the beautifully
16:07decorated chapel,
16:08Storm Callum
16:09was making his presence felt.
16:12It was extremely grim,
16:14very windy,
16:15not great
16:16if you've got
16:18full-sized trees
16:19parked outside
16:20your wedding party.
16:22As the royal guests
16:24finally arrived,
16:25with nearly
16:25four million people
16:27watching across the UK,
16:28for Rob,
16:30it wasn't just
16:30his reputation at stake.
16:32One strong gust of wind
16:34could spell
16:35absolute royal disaster.
16:38My husband and I,
16:39we were very lucky enough
16:40to be invited
16:41to the Expo Ceremony.
16:42and I was shaking like that
16:44and sat my husband
16:45and went,
16:45what's wrong with you?
16:46I went,
16:47have you seen
16:48these doors outside?
16:49It's blowing.
16:50I went,
16:50you've made sure
16:51everything is secure
16:52but you still,
16:53if there's a thunderstorm
16:54and Her Majesty
16:55walks in
16:56and the tree goes flying,
16:58might have be it.
17:00But as the bride
17:00made her way
17:01down the aisle,
17:03any major incident
17:04seemed to have been averted.
17:06Thank God
17:06to the guardian angels
17:07looking after us.
17:08Everything went
17:09very smoothly.
17:11People still say to me,
17:12why do you get nervous?
17:13You've done this for almost 40 years
17:14and of course you get nervous.
17:16I think there's only normal
17:17when you're dealing
17:18with something like this,
17:19you know,
17:19where the whole world
17:20is watching.
17:22You know,
17:22it's a huge privilege.
17:24The bride and groom
17:24were over the moon
17:26and that's what we want.
17:38The British monarchy
17:39isn't usually associated
17:41with big surprises.
17:42It stands for tradition,
17:44stability,
17:45a tried and trusted port
17:47in any storm.
17:50But by the mid-1960s,
17:52as Queen Elizabeth
17:53was about to give birth
17:54at Buckingham Palace
17:55to her fourth child,
17:56there were surprises
17:57in abundance.
17:59And the first
18:00involved the pioneering monarch
18:01throwing off the shackles
18:03of royal birthing tradition
18:04and deciding to embrace
18:06the changing times.
18:06There was something
18:10very unusual
18:12and unorthodox
18:13about the birth
18:13of Prince Edward,
18:14which is that Prince Philip
18:15was indeed present.
18:17That's shockingly modern,
18:19newfangled behavior
18:20for the royal family.
18:22The Queen had been reading
18:23some women's magazines
18:24which were suggesting
18:26that, in fact,
18:27it would be a good idea
18:28for these ancillary objects
18:30called the fathers
18:31to be present
18:32at the birth
18:33of their own children.
18:34So there he was,
18:36Prince Philip,
18:37in the room.
18:38Worst having your husband
18:40at your side
18:40during labor
18:41might not sound
18:42like cutting-edge progress,
18:43it was a big shift
18:45for this royal couple.
18:47For her fourth son,
18:48Edward,
18:49this was a complete change.
18:51The first child,
18:53Prince Charles,
18:55Prince Philip
18:55had no interest
18:57in staying there.
18:59He went off
18:59to play squash
19:00and he just said,
19:01let me know
19:02when it happens
19:03and I'll come back.
19:05I think men
19:06at one point
19:07would be very scared
19:08of seeing something
19:09like that
19:10and still are, perhaps.
19:12But, you know,
19:13he'd moved
19:14with the times
19:15and he held her hand
19:17and he talked to her
19:18and he was absolutely
19:20amazed by it.
19:22Prince Philip,
19:23I suspect,
19:24would have been
19:25as keen on this.
19:27I don't think
19:27he would have needed
19:28any encouragement.
19:29He was very much
19:30a sort of pioneer
19:31so I suspect
19:32that was as much
19:33down to him
19:34as down to the Queen.
19:36But the decision
19:36for Philip to be
19:37at the arrival
19:38of his son
19:39wasn't the only surprise
19:40with this royal birth.
19:42In fact,
19:42Prince Edward arrived
19:43a week before his due date
19:45on the 10th of March,
19:461964
19:47and his parents-to-be
19:49had no idea
19:50they were even
19:51expecting a boy.
19:53Prince Edward,
19:54it was thought
19:55that he was going
19:56to be a girl
19:56because he was
19:58a very small baby
20:00so she obviously
20:00had a very small bump
20:02and the projections
20:03that the child
20:04was going to be
20:04rather small,
20:05I think he was
20:05about five or six pounds
20:06and so there was
20:07a sort of surprise
20:08that this small bump
20:10was actually a boy
20:11and not a girl.
20:14The excitement
20:15in Buckingham Palace
20:16was reflected
20:17by the whole nation
20:18that the Queen
20:18was safely delivered
20:19of a son
20:20at 8.20 that evening.
20:21With Edward,
20:23Philip and Elizabeth
20:24had finally completed
20:25their family.
20:27And in another break
20:28with the Norm,
20:29this happy moment
20:30was captured
20:31in an extraordinary photo
20:32taken soon after
20:33Edward's birth.
20:35To see a Queen
20:37sitting up in bed
20:38whether she has
20:39or hasn't
20:40just given birth
20:41is amazingly intimate
20:44and even quite shocking.
20:47Traditionally,
20:47we are used to seeing
20:48Queens and Kings
20:49in full state regalia
20:51being extremely formal.
20:53Suddenly,
20:54we're in their bedroom
20:56and they might be
20:57wearing pearls
20:58and makeup
20:58but they're also
20:59wearing their actual nightie.
21:01It's an amazing view
21:03into ordinary
21:05royal domestic life.
21:08The images
21:08after the birth
21:09of Edward
21:10softens that image
21:11of royalty
21:11and we see
21:13the Queen
21:14as wife
21:15and mother.
21:17Of course,
21:17that's one of the things
21:18that is so striking
21:20about the late Queen's reign.
21:21that she grew up
21:22from being
21:23a young married woman
21:25right through
21:25to being a mother,
21:26grandmother
21:27and great-grandmother
21:28during her reign
21:29and that's a really important
21:30means by which
21:31I think people
21:32are connected with her.
21:32Most royal weddings
21:44are times of happy celebration
21:45and a reminder
21:47to us all
21:47what it feels like
21:48to be young
21:49and in love.
21:51But in the late 18th century,
21:53there was one princely groom
21:54who was very definitely
21:55not looking forward
21:56to getting hitched.
21:58The most chaotic
21:59and scandalous
22:01royal wedding
22:01in history
22:02has got to be that
22:04of George Prince of Wales,
22:06future George IV
22:07and his cousin,
22:09Caroline of Brunswick.
22:10It was an arranged marriage
22:13and it looked great
22:14on paper
22:14but it was
22:15the most disastrous
22:17blind date
22:18in history.
22:20In 1795,
22:22the whole country
22:23is waiting
22:23for a royal wedding.
22:25George has got to get married.
22:26he's the heir.
22:28George has been given
22:29a long list
22:30of possible
22:31Protestant princesses
22:33to marry
22:33and he rather said,
22:35well,
22:36any might do.
22:37Caroline was said
22:38to be pleasant,
22:40attractive,
22:41reasonably well educated
22:42and could speak
22:43a little bit of English
22:44so,
22:45perfect.
22:47Caroline comes over
22:48from her German principality,
22:50a very tiring trip
22:51on rough seas
22:52and they meet
22:53for the first time
22:54in the palace.
22:56Caroline
22:57cuts this
22:59and George
23:00receives her
23:01and then he raises her up.
23:04A look of total
23:06horror
23:07spreads over his face.
23:10He immediately
23:10dashes away
23:12out of the room
23:13looking for Brandy
23:15and saying
23:15he must go to mother.
23:17Princess Caroline
23:19left in the room
23:20says,
23:22by God,
23:22is he always so fat?
23:24He looks nothing
23:25like his portrait.
23:26Well,
23:27George was a bit large.
23:29From this
23:30inauspicious beginning,
23:33things just
23:34get worse.
23:37Three days later,
23:38they are wed
23:39at the Chapel Royal
23:40in St. James's Palace.
23:42It was going to be
23:43the great,
23:44grand royal wedding
23:45of the future king.
23:47The great and the good,
23:49the aristocrats are there
23:50and yet the wedding
23:52is nothing
23:53short of a catastrophe.
23:56George
23:56staggered up the aisle,
23:58totally drunk.
24:00When he gets
24:01to the altar,
24:02he actually
24:02starts crying.
24:04He has a look
24:05of torment
24:05on his face.
24:08George was
24:08overwhelmed
24:09with misery
24:09and that's
24:11because
24:12he was
24:12already
24:13married.
24:21Coming up,
24:22the forbidden wedding
24:23of England's
24:24bigamous king.
24:25Poor old
24:26Mrs. Fitzherbert.
24:27Her marriage
24:27was deemed illegal
24:28and she had to watch
24:30her husband
24:30marry someone else.
24:32And the astonishing
24:33final journey
24:34of a beloved queen.
24:36It was so impressive
24:37because it was
24:3811 miles
24:39of battleships
24:40and cruisers
24:42top to toe
24:43lined across the
24:44Solem
24:44and as the queen's
24:45coffin went past
24:47they were firing
24:48their minute guns.
24:56On the 22nd
24:58of January
24:581901
24:59Queen Victoria's
25:01death was announced
25:02to a shocked world.
25:04It was a
25:04seismic event
25:05not only for the country
25:06but for the Empire
25:07but for the Empire.
25:08It was announced
25:09in the theatres
25:09and all the
25:10performance of plays
25:12and musical concerts
25:13all stopped
25:14and the audiences
25:15poured out
25:16onto the streets.
25:18After a reign
25:18that had lasted
25:19over 63 years
25:21it was a moment
25:22the nation
25:23would never forget.
25:24It was the end
25:25of an era
25:26and nobody knew
25:28what life was like
25:29without Queen Victoria
25:30sitting on the throne.
25:32In 2022
25:33when another
25:34of Britain's
25:35longest reigning monarchs
25:36Elizabeth II
25:38passed away
25:39the preparations
25:41for her funeral
25:41had been worked out
25:43in detail
25:43years beforehand
25:45but for Queen Victoria
25:46it couldn't have been
25:48more different.
25:49Nobody knows
25:50exactly what to do.
25:52They are not prepared.
25:54They are not prepared
25:55in Windsor.
25:56The government
25:56is not prepared.
25:57It's like the Queen
25:58would live forever
25:59was just what
26:00everyone felt.
26:01The last royal funeral
26:02for a monarch
26:03had taken place
26:04in 1837
26:05when William IV
26:06Queen Victoria's
26:08uncle died.
26:09Up to that time
26:10royal funerals
26:12were private affairs.
26:13They took place
26:14at night
26:14in the confines
26:16of Windsor Castle
26:17and they were lit
26:18by candlelight.
26:20There were no
26:20public there
26:21no great ceremony
26:22or anything like that.
26:24But Victoria
26:25had other ideas.
26:27The Queen
26:27left a detailed note
26:29of what she wanted
26:31to happen.
26:32She didn't want
26:33to be embalmed.
26:34There was to be
26:35no lying in state.
26:37She didn't want
26:37black
26:38and she didn't
26:39want a hearse.
26:41And far from being
26:42the private funeral
26:43of her predecessor
26:44Victoria wanted
26:45the whole nation
26:46involved.
26:47She wanted
26:48a full military
26:49state funeral
26:51and she wants it
26:52to be a white funeral.
26:54There'd never been
26:55a full military
26:56state funeral
26:56for a monarch.
26:58The last
26:58military funeral
27:00state funeral
27:00was for
27:02the Duke
27:02of Wellington
27:03nearly 50 years
27:04earlier.
27:06Again,
27:06there was nobody
27:07around who helped
27:08organise that.
27:08They were all dead.
27:10And they were
27:10suddenly faced
27:11with this fact
27:12that this is
27:13what the Queen
27:13wants.
27:14But with no
27:15preparations in place
27:17and only 10 days
27:18to organise
27:18a grand state funeral
27:20with an unprecedented
27:21colour scheme
27:22time was tight.
27:25I think it took
27:25everybody by surprise.
27:27It was just
27:27utter chaos.
27:30And one of the
27:30most pressing
27:31tasks was
27:32preparing the
27:33white funeral
27:34pool needed
27:35to lie over
27:35Victoria's coffin.
27:37But with no
27:37advanced warning
27:38it proved
27:39almost impossible
27:40to find anyone
27:41who they felt
27:42could produce
27:43it in time.
27:44But Queen
27:44Victoria's daughter
27:45Helena was
27:46absolutely convinced
27:47that there was
27:48a group of women
27:49who would be
27:49more than able
27:50to rise to
27:51the challenge.
27:52The ladies
27:52of the Royal
27:53School of Needlework
27:54of which she
27:55was patron.
27:57The story goes
27:57that there
27:58was no company
27:59that would
27:59be able
28:00to do
28:00the funeral
28:01pool in
28:02the time
28:02frame that
28:03there was.
28:04Princess
28:04Helena said
28:05no, her
28:05school could
28:06produce it
28:06for them.
28:08To make
28:08the task
28:09quicker,
28:10the team
28:10chose
28:10particular
28:11techniques
28:11to produce
28:12a stunning
28:12pool in
28:13record time.
28:15The design
28:16on the funeral
28:17pool had
28:18coats of arms
28:19in each
28:19of the four
28:19corners and
28:21then on the
28:21top of the
28:21funeral pool
28:22was a cross.
28:23So with
28:24a tight
28:24deadline we
28:25look at a
28:25technique known
28:26as a pliquet
28:26which is
28:27applying fabric
28:28to fabric
28:28and then the
28:29details are put
28:30in with
28:31embroidery.
28:32Records tell
28:33us that they
28:33had about
28:3448 hours
28:35so they had
28:36a team of
28:37approximately
28:3745 women
28:38who were
28:39brought in
28:40and they
28:40worked a
28:40continuous
28:4121 hours
28:42in order
28:43to complete
28:44in the time.
28:46The finished
28:46effect would
28:47have been
28:47absolutely
28:48stunning,
28:49would have
28:49just caught
28:50any sunlight
28:50and it
28:51would have
28:51just looked
28:52beautiful.
28:52with the
28:55funeral pool
28:56complete the
28:57next challenge
28:58was getting
28:58the Queen's
28:59coffin from
28:59Osborne
29:00House on
29:00the Isle
29:01of Wight to
29:02London for
29:02her funeral.
29:04The Queen's
29:05coffin was
29:05taken down
29:06on a
29:06carriage to
29:07a very
29:08small yacht
29:08called the
29:09Alberta,
29:10tiny little
29:10thing and
29:11it began a
29:12procession
29:13across the
29:13Solon.
29:14As this
29:15great monarch's
29:16coffin sailed
29:17the short
29:17distance to
29:18the mainland
29:18Victoria's
29:20body was
29:20accompanied
29:20by a
29:21magnificent
29:22array of
29:2340
29:24battleships.
29:25It was
29:26so impressive
29:26because it
29:28was 11
29:28miles of
29:29battleships
29:30and cruisers
29:31and they
29:32were top
29:33to toe
29:33lined across
29:35the Solon
29:35and as
29:36the little
29:37Alberta went
29:37past they
29:39were firing
29:39their minute
29:40guns so
29:40it was
29:40very moving.
29:44An
29:44orchestra
29:45was playing
29:46Chopin's
29:47Funeral March
29:48as the
29:48Queen slowly
29:49made her
29:49way to
29:50Portsmouth.
29:52The
29:53strains of
29:53the music
29:54could be
29:54heard from
29:54the South
29:55Downs where
29:56onlookers
29:56gathered to
29:57watch this
29:58incredible
29:58spectacle.
30:00There are
30:00lots of
30:01descriptions
30:01about this
30:02and how
30:02moving it
30:03was and
30:04they remark
30:05how tiny
30:06her coffin
30:06looked on
30:07the Alberta
30:08and the
30:09boat was
30:10tiny with
30:10these huge
30:11great
30:12battleships
30:12with all
30:14the sailors
30:14standing to
30:15attention as
30:16it went
30:16past.
30:17For two
30:18hours the
30:19might of
30:19the largest
30:20navy in
30:20the world
30:21stood in
30:22solemn respect
30:23for their
30:23commander-in-chief.
30:25It's all
30:26very quiet
30:27with the sun
30:27setting.
30:28The rest of
30:29the royals
30:29are all there
30:30and they
30:30all kneel
30:30down and
30:31there are
30:32people on
30:32the shore
30:32watching.
30:33That is
30:34very impressive
30:35and very
30:35sad sight.
30:37Everyone is
30:38moved by
30:38this farewell
30:39that you
30:40know the
30:41Queen's coffin
30:41being carried
30:42from this
30:43little island
30:44that she
30:44loved back
30:45to the
30:45mainland.
30:47As the
30:48day of
30:49the funeral
30:49dawned London
30:51was alive with
30:51visitors from
30:52across the
30:53country who
30:53had all
30:54flocked to
30:54witness their
30:55great Queen's
30:56final journey.
30:59Anybody who
30:59had houses or
31:00shops on the
31:01route they
31:02began to sell
31:03space on their
31:05balconies but
31:06they were selling
31:06them for ridiculous
31:07amounts of money.
31:08A seat in the
31:09corner of a
31:10balcony cost the
31:11equivalent today of
31:12about 3,000
31:13pounds.
31:14But perhaps the
31:15view was worth
31:16the money as
31:17this was one of
31:18the most incredible
31:19sights London had
31:20ever witnessed.
31:22Despite the
31:23bitterly cold
31:24weather it's
31:25estimated that a
31:26million people
31:26lined the streets
31:27to watch.
31:29Military bands
31:29played and over
31:3140 members of
31:32royalty were
31:32present from all
31:34over Europe.
31:35It was a
31:36magnificent royal
31:37spectacle and a
31:39tribute to a
31:39monarch who
31:40throughout her
31:41lifetime had held
31:42a fragile Europe
31:43and world together.
31:46Her funeral was
31:47described as the
31:48epitome of empire.
31:50The 40 kings,
31:51dukes, princes
31:52walking behind
31:53her.
31:54You know, Franz
31:54Ferdinand of
31:55Austria, within a
31:57few years he is
31:57going to be
31:58assassinated.
31:59It's going to lead
32:00to the First World
32:01War.
32:01He is there in
32:02that procession.
32:03Edward VII, the
32:04king, he's there.
32:06Kaiser is there.
32:07And within a few
32:08years all going to be
32:10at war, it is
32:11incredible when you
32:12think of what she
32:13held together and
32:15how quickly it's all
32:16going to fall apart.
32:18The Kaiser,
32:19Victoria's grandson
32:20who'd held her so
32:21gently as she died,
32:23would, in just over a
32:24decade, be leading
32:26Germany against the
32:27nation she ruled.
32:29The soldiers so
32:30proudly pulling their
32:31empress's coffin would
32:32be facing death
32:33themselves at the
32:34hands of German
32:35troops in the
32:36trenches of World
32:38War I.
32:39It's the height of
32:40empire and also, as I
32:42see it, the beginning
32:43of the end of
32:44empire because it's
32:45going to break
32:46apart, empires are
32:47going to fall,
32:48boundaries are going
32:48to be changed, the
32:49whole world is going
32:50to change.
32:51And this woman who, at
32:53age 81, was holding
32:55things together, her
32:56death means it's the
32:57end.
32:57not every royal marriage
33:10is destined for a
33:11happy ever after, but
33:12usually the wedding, at
33:14least, has the air of a
33:15fairy tale.
33:16But in 1795, the
33:18nuptials of the Prince
33:19of Wales, later George
33:20IV, to Caroline of
33:22Brunswick, were nothing
33:24short of a catastrophe.
33:25On the happiest day of
33:28his life, the Prince was
33:29drunk, overwhelmed,
33:31trying, why am I
33:33marrying this woman?
33:34And that's because he
33:36was already married.
33:38So now he was getting
33:39married again, which,
33:42strictly speaking, is
33:44bigamy.
33:46Why did this disastrous
33:47marriage go ahead?
33:49A decade before the
33:50wedding, George had been
33:51in love with Maria
33:52Fitzherbert.
33:53She was a Catholic
33:55widow, and she was
33:55very virtuous, and she
33:57refused to marry him.
33:59So he tried everything
34:00to persuade her she
34:01wouldn't have it.
34:03In the end, George said
34:04he was on his deathbed,
34:05and it was his dying
34:06wish that she married
34:08him, and there was a
34:09clergyman waiting around
34:10just in case.
34:11And when poor Mrs.
34:12Fitzherbert said, of
34:13course, it's your dying
34:14wish, of course we will
34:15marry, George married
34:17her, and then said he
34:18felt an awful lot better.
34:20Mrs.
34:21Fitzherbert was shocked,
34:22but she did love George
34:23very sincerely.
34:25But there was just one
34:26problem.
34:27It was a totally illegal
34:28marriage.
34:30As the heir to the throne,
34:31George could not marry a
34:32Catholic, but also there
34:34was the Royal Marriages
34:36Act of 1772, and this
34:38said that royal marriages
34:39had to be approved by the
34:41sovereign, and there's no
34:42way that his father, the
34:43king, would have approved
34:44it.
34:45So George had broken the
34:47law in these two respects,
34:48and yet George treated her
34:51as a wife.
34:52I mean, the royal family
34:53knew they were married,
34:54but turned a blind eye, and
34:55George adored her.
34:57Yet, as he grew older, he
34:59needed a legitimate heir to
35:01carry on the monarchy, and
35:03he had gigantic debts.
35:06And the king and the
35:07government said to him, if
35:08you want those paid off, you
35:10have to get married.
35:12There's a wonderful cartoon
35:13by James Gilray called
35:14Lover's Dream, and George,
35:16he's lying in bed, imagining
35:18Princess Caroline, and
35:20behind him is everything
35:21he's leaving, gambling, the
35:23women, and he's dreaming of
35:25his future.
35:26It's all very romantic, but
35:27really, his dream is of bags
35:29of gold.
35:30So George was marrying
35:32Princess Caroline for money.
35:35Poor old Mrs. Fitzherbert.
35:37Her marriage was deemed
35:37illegal, and she had to watch
35:39her husband marry someone
35:41else.
35:42Well, perhaps it was some
35:43consolation that she cried
35:45all the way through the
35:46ceremony.
35:48George died in 1830, 35
35:51years after his disastrous
35:53marriage.
35:54He had a miniature of Mrs.
35:56Fitzherbert around his neck,
35:59the only woman he ever truly
36:01loved.
36:06Coming up, the intimate photo
36:09capturing a queen after death.
36:12The Victorians had a
36:13completely different
36:14relationship with death than we
36:16do, and death photography was a
36:18hugely popular tradition at the
36:20time.
36:28As Victoria's body made its way to
36:30St. George's Chapel at Windsor,
36:33what mourners weren't aware of was
36:35that within her coffin were precious
36:37objects she'd left precise
36:39instructions to be buried with,
36:40objects that she was determined to
36:43keep secret, even from her own
36:45children.
36:46If this coffin had fallen,
36:49heaven forbid, and the contents
36:50spilled out, there would have been
36:52so much shock and horror in her family
36:56and the court, because nobody had any
36:58idea what Victoria was smuggling in
37:00with her.
37:01It was her secret.
37:07In the week before her funeral,
37:10an astonishing photo of the dead
37:12queen was taken, showing her lying in
37:14her open coffin.
37:17The Victorians had a completely
37:18different relationship with death than
37:21we do, and death photography was a
37:23hugely popular tradition at the time.
37:26This is an image that is not necessarily
37:29meant to be distributed publicly.
37:31The person who supposedly took this
37:33was an artist who often worked from
37:35photography to then transpose that
37:38to paint.
37:38So this is almost a preparatory sketch
37:41in a way.
37:42But of course what it gives us now is a
37:44remarkable record of that moment.
37:47And the photo gives a placinating
37:49insight into how Victoria wanted to be
37:51dressed for burial.
37:53Rather than wearing the somber
37:55mourning clothes she'd favoured since the
37:57death of her beloved husband, Albert.
38:00Her choice of coffin attire was quite a
38:02surprise.
38:04This queen who had worn black, you know,
38:07for half her life wanted now to be in
38:10white with her wedding veil on her face.
38:13She says that she is now going to meet
38:15Albert in heaven, so she is going as a
38:17bride to him.
38:19And so they put on a white gown for her
38:22and her wedding veil covers her face.
38:24But it wasn't just what Victoria wanted to
38:27wear that gives us such an intimate
38:30glimpse into the woman behind the crown,
38:33but the objects she'd asked to be buried
38:35with.
38:36After her death, she had given her personal
38:38instructions to Mrs.
38:40Tuck, who was her dresser, and these were
38:42about what was going to be with her in her
38:45coffin.
38:46And there's a long list.
38:48As well as trinkets from her daughters
38:50and family photos, she also requested that a
38:53rather curious physical reminder of the man
38:56she'd spent the past 40 years mourning
38:59accompany her to her grave.
39:01She had numerous objects relating to Albert,
39:03but most significant was a plaster cast of his
39:06hand.
39:06This was not a new item.
39:08She'd had it made during his lifetime and
39:10had reportedly taken it to bed with her every
39:13evening.
39:14This was a way for the queen to stay close to
39:16her husband.
39:17She missed his touch and it would slip under
39:20her pillow at night and she would sleep
39:22alongside it.
39:23And here it was entering the coffin with her,
39:25even following her to the grave, this evocation
39:28of the man who'd been missing from her life for
39:30so many decades.
39:32As far as the world knew, Queen Victoria's
39:34entire life had been defined by her love of
39:37Prince Albert and her intense grief after his
39:41premature death, aged only 42.
39:43But in fact, as well as the request she left
39:47with her dresser, Mrs. Tuck, Victoria also left
39:50secret instructions her family knew absolutely
39:53nothing about, which reveal a rather different
39:57love story.
39:59Victoria leaves a secret will and it goes to James
40:01Reed, who's her physician, and he is the person
40:04who then receives these instructions.
40:05And it makes total sense that she would select Reed
40:08for this.
40:09He's someone who's very close to the royal body in
40:11the run-up to the death and in the immediate days
40:13afterwards.
40:14He has access to the coffin and he can enact these
40:17last requirements of hers.
40:20And the highly confidential items Victoria asked
40:23Reed to place with her for all eternity had to be
40:26included in strictest confidence because of who they
40:30once belonged to.
40:31There are other items in there that you might not expect,
40:34and a lot of these relate to John Brown.
40:37John Brown had been Queen Victoria's devoted servant who
40:41looked after her horses at Balmoral for over 30 years before
40:45his death in 1883.
40:48John Brown was a ghillie and became the Queen's constant
40:52companion and he was elevated to a status that no one quite
40:57understood and eased her out of her mourning for Prince Albert.
41:03In the wake of Albert's death, Victoria had withdrawn from the
41:07world to the Scottish Highlands to mourn, and it was there at
41:11Balmoral that Brown lifted her out of her sadness.
41:15In the decades in which Victoria withdrew from society, she became
41:19incredibly close to Brown.
41:21There were rumours that their relationship transcended the usual
41:25servant-mistress relationship, and her children in particular found
41:29this incredibly difficult.
41:30They found him to be uncouth and to behave in a way that really
41:33overstepped the boundaries of the place that he held in society.
41:38But Victoria didn't see it like that.
41:39She had great affection for him.
41:41After Victoria's death, had her children known of their mother's
41:44secret instructions to read relating to the man they so disliked,
41:49they would have been horrified.
41:51They loathed John Brown, and the Prince of Wales in particular,
41:55went round and destroyed anything connected with John Brown after the
41:59Queen died.
42:00He would have nothing to do with John Brown.
42:02In fact, there was a statue, I think it was in Osborne, which he had
42:06smashed down.
42:07One of the first acts he did.
42:10Little did the Prince know that as he was trying to obliterate all
42:13traces of one of his mother's closest confidants, John Reed was
42:18discreetly placing some of Brown's most treasured possessions in Victoria's
42:23coffin itself, on her secret instruction.
42:27She wanted a photograph of John Brown placed in her left hand, and she wanted a lock of
42:34John Brown's hair.
42:35And she would like to have his handkerchief in the coffin.
42:39She requested that her wedding engagement ring from Albert be moved from her left hand
42:44to her right, and instead, on her wedding finger, her ring finger, she had John Brown's
42:49mother's wedding ring placed there.
42:51He always wore his mother's wedding ring.
42:54It was the dearest thing he possessed.
42:56All of these items in the coffin were kept secret by a blanket of flowers that were placed
43:01on top, so anyone coming to see the body, including her children, of course, would not
43:05have seen this secret arrangement of memorabilia that Victoria had so desperately wanted in
43:10there.
43:11So the royal family had no idea of what she was carrying with her when she died, so that
43:17is Victoria's little secret.
43:19Reed had faithfully carried out the instructions his queen had left him.
43:23And it was only with the publication of his diaries in 1986, 85 years after Victoria's
43:30death, that what he and Mrs. Tuck had done for her finally came to light.
43:35She had a realistic view about how difficult her family were, and her children, and their
43:40bickering, and their arguing, and I think she trusted them.
43:44I think she trusted them completely, more than she trusted her family.
43:48Victoria's final wishes and death shed a whole new light on the royal love story.
43:53That appeared to define her life.
43:56It's remarkable, because we have this narrative of Victoria and Albert, this golden couple.
44:02They're the ultimate Victorian love story, and they were the aspiration for so many other
44:06couples in this period.
44:08And yet we have this whole other version of Victoria, years after Albert's died, finding
44:14love again, potentially, and making a life for herself.
44:17A life of which those around her did not approve.
44:22Clearly, she held John Brown in enormous affection.
44:26And to even take the risk of asking for these intimate items to be buried with her, without
44:33her children's knowledge, shows how much affection she had for John Brown.
44:38The worst Queen Victoria is remembered as one of Britain's most powerful and influential
44:44monarchs, who presided over the empire at its height.
44:48Her coffin reveals what to her had mattered most.
44:53Throughout history, there's always that difficult tension between the monarch and the person, who
44:59they are in public and who they are in private.
45:01But in Victoria's case, the list of items, and the fact that they make their way into
45:06the coffin, is an autobiography of her own making.
45:12Royal births, marriages, and deaths remind us that behind the pomp and ceremony lies a
45:18family just like any other, with tensions, secret passions, and simple human love.
45:24From Victoria's final wishes to be buried with memories of those she cared for, to George
45:29the 4th's disastrous public marriage.
45:31Under the immutable golden crown, there always lies a fallible human heart.
45:37Births, marriages, and deaths are so important because the royals are our soap opera.
45:43We want to see love, we want to see funerals, all the finery, with a little bit of passion
45:49and scandal thrown in.
45:54And Secrets of the Royals continues next Saturday at 5 past 8.
45:59If Royal Walls could talk, what would they say?
46:02Discover Secrets of the Royal Palaces, stream now on 5.
46:06Coming up, their bond was about more than just passing down the baton.
46:10Catherine and Queen Elizabeth, a special relationship, is next.
46:14Until next time.
46:18Amen.
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