Victoria’s family values
As the second series returns to our screens, SUSAN GRIFFIN chats to the cast, including Jenna Coleman and writer Daisy Goodwin, about tumultuous relationships, socialising off set and misconceptions they’re keen to quash
VICTORIA ITV, tomorrow, 9pm
DAME Diana Rigg might have bid a beautifully-crafted adieu from Game Of Thrones in recent weeks but it won’t be long before we see the acclaimed actress back on the small screen, this time in the upcoming second series of Victoria when she’s introduced as the Duchess of Buccleuch, Queen Victoria’s outspoken Mistress of Robes.
For Jenna Coleman, who reprises her role as the young queen, the experience of working alongside acting royalty was “fabulous” – and it’s not the first time.
“I worked with Dame Diana on Doctor Who, similarly in Victorian garb except she had a creature attached to her chest and was trying to take over the world,” says Jenna, 31, with a laugh.
“The relationship between Victoria and the Duchess of Buccleuch doesn’t get off on the best foot but becomes surprisingly tender. I think Victoria really grows fond of her.”
But then it’s widely known that Victoria appreciated straighttalkers in her immediate circle.
“I suppose if you’re in a position of power, she likes someone who can make her laugh and just cut through that divide. She’s very human, actually,” reasons Jenna, who, in preparation for the part, avidly watched Dame Judi Dench’s portrayal of Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown, a role Dame Judi returns to in the forthcoming Victoria And Abdul.
“You’ve got that, so rewind 40 years and then this is the Victoria we’re meeting. You’ve got similar traits,” explains Blackpool-born Jenna.
We’re on set in the North of England, where an incredibly detailed replica of Buckingham Palace has been created within a vast aircraft hangar. The petite Jenna, who quips she has a couple of inches on Queen Victoria’s 4ft 11in frame, has arrived straight from a photoshoot to promote the new series and is wearing an exquisite gown, with a delicate tiara perched on her head. One of the challenges for the costume department, headed by Rosalind Ebbutt, has been the numerous bumps required for this series, which spans five years.
Lest we forget, Victoria was a mother of nine and it opens with the queen recovering from the birth of her first child.
“They believed once women had had babies, they should lie horizontal for a month and not move basically,” explains Jenna.
“So she’s not in the best of tempers, having been babied and fussed around and then she comes back to work and sees Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) has effectively taken over and obviously she doesn’t like it.”
Three months later, she discovers she’s pregnant again, “which she was devastated by”, continues the actress.
“She wrote in her diary, in capital letters ‘The only thing I dread is being pregnant’. It’s a really interesting story because you have a woman who loves her husband and is distraught by her pregnancy and feels imprisoned by it.”
One of the misconceptions that Jenna is keen to quash is that Victoria didn’t like her children.
“If you go through her diaries day to day, she really is a doting mum so I was very keen to portray that, but the resentment is there absolutely for the pregnancies.
“She says, in an ideal world, ‘I wouldn’t have been caught so early. I would’ve been left free to enjoy the first couple of years of marriage’.”
Daisy Goodwin, a successful author who made her screen-writing debut with Victoria, believes the young queen “probably resented the amount of time having children took up and how that stopped her from being with Albert”.
“I hate the idea of people dismissing her as a bad mother,” she states.
“Motherhood was something she couldn’t do anything about. For Victoria it was just a natural outcome of having sex with her husband, which she loved doing, but this was the consequence.”
Daisy likens Victoria and Albert’s relationship to that of Hollywood greats Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
“It’s a very tempestuous marriage, very passionate,” notes the writer, who’s also crafted a Victoria Christmas special this year.
“They’re not unfaithful to each other but they’re constantly testing each other and there is sort of this power struggle that goes on between them. Every time she gets pregnant he gets a bit more power and she hates that and that’s something that does simmer beneath the surface of their marriage. And she is a very impulsive, volcanic person with no self-control and he’s got bags of self-control so you can imagine how annoying that is.”
Another relationship examined is that of the married Duchess of Sutherland (Margaret Clunie), one of Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, and Prince Ernest, Albert’s brother and a man actor David Oakes refers to as “a cad but the right side of naughty”.
“They’ve kept the relationship a nice slow-burner,” says David, 33.
“The fact it’s forbidden love doesn’t make it raunchy, it’s just quite a tender period relationship that isn’t ever quite allowed to exist because there are genuine barriers in the way so it sort of muddles along and then something happens about episode six that enables the relationship to blossom a little further.”
David acknowledges that Goodwin has “deviated from history” but for the greater good “as it means we get more exciting things to do”, he laughs.
“I think it’s one of the relationships on the show that has gone down particularly well. It’s that ‘Will they, won’t they? Could they, should they?’ It’s the fun relationship.”
Not only are the upper echelons of society explored but also the palace’s staff beavering away “downstairs”, and the second series will see the return of chef Francatelli, a real-life figure portrayed by Ferdinand Kingsley.
Francatelli was seen leaving the palace heartbroken at the end of series one after being stood up by Skerrett, the Queen’s dresser.
“The new chef’s no good so Victoria politely requests I return and, when the queen requests something, you’re not really allowed to say no. I’m in a bad mood for quite a long time because no-one wants to be forced back,” explains Ferdinand, who hints at a reconciliation with Skerrett (Nell Hudson) as he recalls an unfortunate boating scene shot at Harwood House.
“It felt like gale-force winds so we’re trying to have a romantic moment talking about strawberries and cream and being really delicate and the crew were half a mile away on walkie-talkies going ‘Start acting now, the wind’s gone down’ and then us dropping the anchor and getting stuck in the weeds. But I bet it looks great.”
His father, the Oscar-winning Sir Ben Kingsley, watched the first series.
“He loved it and we watched one or two together, which is weird because you’re half looking at him,” laughs the actor, but then he’s used to watching with an audience.
The close cast gather each Sunday to watch the episodes, taking it in turns to host at their houses. There isn’t any whooping or heckling but “people compete to send themselves up”, reveals Ferdinand. “Like ‘I can’t believe that got cut!’ or ‘Everyone shut up, I’m marvellous in this bit’. Or people read out what’s being said about it on Twitter.”
Something to consider if you’re planning to send a Tweet when it makes its return.