BUCK HOUSE? IT’S IN AN AIRCRAFT HANGAR – AND WATCH OUT FOR THE BIRD DROPPINGS!

THEY may look like the lavish interiors of Buckingham Palace, but the series’s stunning sets – which include Queen Victoria’s private quarters – are actually in the very unlikely setting of a 36,000sq ft aircraft hangar in Church Fenton near Leeds, below.

The hangar proved to be the perfect place to recreate the largerthan-life splendours of Buckingham Palace because it is taller than a traditional film studio. A team of 40 carpenters, 10 painters, 14 gilders and six chandelier assemblers put together the stunning set pieces, working from sketches and plans from the period.

But the cast and crew who filmed during the freezing Yorkshire floods of last year found themselves battling not only against extreme weather conditions but also unexpected visitors.

In key scenes, actress Jenna Coleman, who plays Victoria, and her co-stars had to keep warm with hot water bottles, thermals and heat patches, which were cleverly hidden from the eye of the camera.

Other challenges came in the form of a noisy owl and several dozen pigeons that called the hangar their home. Bird droppings were a particular problem, with actor Tom Hughes – who plays Prince Albert – having to deal with one pigeon that insisted on flapping its wings every time he said his lines in the pivotal engagement scene.

As for the exterior shots, the drama – despite being set in London, Windsor and the German principality of Saxe-Coburg – was actually filmed in Yorkshire. Castle Howard and Harewood House provided additional interiors for Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, while Beverley Minster stood in for both Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, where Albert and Victoria were married. The Germanic-looking Allerton Castle in North Yorkshire provided the interiors for Saxe-Coburg and a German brothel visited by the Prince and his brother Ernest in tonight’s episode.