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In Jenna Coleman’s third outing as c t the monarch, she facces turbulent times with revolutionn in the air...
AS Victoria returns for a third series, the monarch, played by Jenna Coleman is pregnant with her sixth child.
But the 32-year-old actress doesn’t rate working with children, or indeed animals, as the biggest challenge of making the lavish period drama.
Instead, it would be the day last year when she had to take the plunge into the sea for a scene – dressed in a 19th-century-style swimsuit.
“Queen Victoria takes a dip in the water while wearing her bathing suit, which is a lot like pyjamas that are made from hemp,” she laughed.
In the scene supposedly set on the Isle of Wight but shot on the beach in Flamborough, Yorkshire, last August, Victoria is seen stepping from a bathing machine into the sea.
And although we haven’t seen the final scene, bystanders heard Jenna’s Victoria quip: “The Queen of England is not a fish” when she realises that while she’s the most powerful woman in the world, she’s not the best of swimmers.
It could be the Queen almost drowns with head dresser Miss Skerrett, played by Nell Hudson, plunging into the water in her clothes to save her. All Jenna will say though is: “It was absolutely freezing and unfortunately we had to film this twice because the weather was so awful.”
Taking a dodgy dip is the least of Victoria’s worries as the drama returns.
Starting in 1848, the third series depicts a turbulent and uncertain time for both Europe and the monarchy.
With revolutions on the continent in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Denmark and Poland, and the Chartist movement reaching its peak in London, Victoria is under pressure from the Government to leave the city for her own safety.
Her relationship with husband Prince Albert, played by real-life boyfriend Tom Hughes, is also at breaking point.
It is a conflict which comes to a head with the Great Exhibition of 1851,
ceived by Albert in the teeth of mense opposition. It was generally ected to be a huge flop until it ned and became one of defining nts of the 19th century. nna said: “Victoria is faced with the stion of whether or not her role is posable because the King of France ns up on her doorstep in rags, having n overthrown and she questions ether this could happen to her. The core difference between toria and Albert is that Albert is y methodical, whereas Victoria is otionally led.
Ultimately, she just wants to be ported and adored by her subjects. always wrote about it. On the day er coronation she wrote about the wds and how loudly they were ering and at The Great Exhibition it was the same – she wrote about the joy on people’s faces and the tears in their eyes.
“Being loved, more than she would like to admit, is incredibly important to her.” The series also delves into the expanding royal family – in particular the problems Victoria and Albert had with Bertie, The Prince of Wales, who is wilfully disobedient.
Jenna, it seems, has taken to S on-screen motherhood with ease. he laughed: “It is a form of utterly amazing and completely chaotic mayhem. You just have to call action and see what happens.
“Kids really do say the funniest things and it is the unpredictablity on set which is hilarious, especially when you throw in a few dogs, horses and a couple of politicians. I can’t imagine the palace now not inhabited by hordes of children.”
The actress, who dated Scot Richard Madden for four years until 2015 and has been seeing Victoria co-star Tom since 2016, hasn’t been put off having children herself.
But playing a mother who had nine children, as Victoria did, hasn’t made her broody. She said: “I want to take my time. There’s a whole lot more of the world for me to see first. I’d love to have children one day. But not nine of them.”
Jenna spends much of her time researching Victoria and one of her favourite memories from this series is visiting Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight.
She said: “More than anywhere else, Osborne House was their familial home and no one has lived there since, so all the decorations you see were designed by Albert and their double desks are still together with the pictures on them.
“Victoria’s bedroom, where she kept Albert’s picture and pocket watch next to her bed, is there to see, along with their piano stools which are still next to each other today. More than anything, I felt like I got such a strong sense of their life.”
Blackpool-born Jenna, whose TV breakthrough was in the noughties as Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale and who drew many plaudits last year for child abduction thriller The Cry, always enjoys returning to her most famous role and has a strong admiration for Victoria. The star, who played Clara in Doctor Who, said: “I love her lack of filter, her frankness and honesty.
“In terms of playing her, when she is in a bad mood or is tired, she is very reactionary and temperate so she has always been known and written about as having tempers.
“They used to write about her having a ‘combustible’, which I love.
“Victoria didn’t have to answer to anybody and so could really get angry within her own house. She would feel mortified after having one of these ‘combustibles’ and would cry and apologise to Albert but she ping pongs through emotions rapidly.
“As she gets older, she becomes even less controlled so it is fun to age with her.”