Prince Albert

When young Victoria first met Prince Albert, the awkward noble criticised the young Queen’s piano-playing skills.

The two had a frosty relationship to begin with, and the feisty monarch wasn’t impressed with the stand-offish German prince.

We’ve also seen the young Queen trying to make Albert, played by The Game star Tom Hughes, look stupid and she complained about having to spend time with him.

But viewers were delighted later when Albert asked Victoria to dance.

She was seen gifting him a corsage of flowers, then Albert passionately ripped his own shirt so he could wear them “close to his heart”.

Lord Melbourne wasn’t impressed with Prince Albert, though, and the series portrayed them as rivals for the Queen’s affections.

Queen Victoria wasn’t shy about offering her opinion and was immediately impressed with Albert after he was sent to her court by her uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.

She wrote a letter to Leopold after she met Albert, and it was full of gushing praise.

“He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too,” she gushed.

“He has, besides, the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see.

“He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy.”

Not quite love at first sight – but not far behind it either.

Lord Melbourne and Prince Albert weren’t enemies, as hinted at in the ITV drama, either.

They did differ on certain key issues when it came to advising the Queen, though.

According to historians, Lord Melbourne didn’t encourage Victoria to pay much attention to the poor and needy.

Meanwhile, the real Prince Albert was a compassionate man who helped convince his beloved wife to pay more attention to her starving subjects.