Historical romance
Jenna’s love reigns
On screen, we know her as formidable Queen Victoria, headstrong ruler of the British Empire, sweeping through Buckingham Palace with her ladies-in-waiting and butting heads with her equally stubborn husband, Prince Albert.
Off screen, we hardly know her at all – and if truth be told, actress Jenna Coleman rather likes it that way.
Take her relationship with Prince Harry. A few years ago, for a split second at least, it seemed the impossibly pretty former DoctorWho sidekick was about to be trumpeted into Buckingham Palace for real when she was photographed chatting with the prince at a polo event, the royal hand on her knee.
Instead of bowing to the immense public interest, however, all Jenna has ever said about the now happily married prince is, “We’re just friends. I don’t really want to talk about him. I don’t think it’s fair.”
And it should come as no surprise that the actress, who turns 33 this week, has been equally tight-lipped about her current squeeze, actor Tom Hughes, who plays her royal husband Albert on the smashhit series
The couple’s relationship blossomed in 2016 while filming the first season of the show that’s become compulsive viewing for millions around the world. But apart from the odd snap of the pair walking through London in baggy outfits and the occasional photo of them together at showbiz events, little has been said about their oh-soprivate romance.
Asked if rumours of their engagement are true, Jenna waggles her ringless fingers in response. “I think it’s been very wise not to speak about it,” she says sparsely.
It’s a very regal answer from the actress who has brought a fresh perspective to the matronly queen whose reign has become synonymous with prudishness and repression on a grand scale.
Jenna’s Victoria is, by contrast, a youthful and gloriously impulsive creature, whose juggling act between a demanding job, a gaggle of children and a relationship with an emasculated-feeling husband seems strangely contemporary.
To watch the actress on screen, it would be easy to make the assumption she was born to rule, wearing the crown with such aplomb. But nothing could be further from the truth. Born in Blackpool – an historic British seaside resort town complete with vintage wooden rollercoasters – her roots are seriously working-class.
Her grandfather, now in his 80s, still runs a medievalstyle hoopla stall along the town’s golden mile. Her dad Keith has a company that fits out bars and restaurants, while her mum Karen devoted herself to Jenna and her older brother Ben, now a construction site manager.
When straight-A student Jenna began acting at the age of 11, there was no looking back. Instead of going to university at 18, she landed a role on long-running British soap Emmerdale. She thought she’d play the part of wild child Jasmine Thomas until she was allowed into drama school, but the acceptance letters never arrived.
When she left Emmerdale four years later, Jenna pulled pints to make ends meet before spending a pilot season in Los Angeles, stashing her outfit changes in the boot of her car.
Timetoshine
Her big break finally came in 2012, when she landed the role of Doctor Who’s lovable companion Clara Oswald, a part she played for three years before being cast as long-reigning Queen Victoria.
If her background doesn’t match Victoria’s – to be fair, whose would? – Jenna’s height certainly gave her an advantage over competitors for the role. At just 1.58m tall, she is dainty, although in reality, she would still tower 7cm over the famously tiny monarch.
Jenna admits to obsessively scouring biographies and even Victoria’s own diaries for clues to the monarch’s personality. After three seasons, she’s played the 19th Century queen through three prime ministers, a war, a famine, a cholera outbreak, several assassination attempts and, more startlingly, seven pregnancies.
“I love playing her when she’s pregnant,” laughs Jenna. “She’s more volatile – she’s so pissed off. But the bump does change the way you walk. It makes you waddle.”
Despite having worn multiple pregnancy bumps of different sizes and screamed her way through several labour scenes – with two more to come! – she hasn’t been put off having a family of her own.
“Half of my friends have babies and half don’t, so it doesn’t feel like a pressure. I want to take my time. There is 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. I can tell you that for a fact!”
For the time being, she and Tom, 33, are enjoying settling into their new home in London, which they spent much of last year doing up.
“It’s kind of mismatched,” smiles Jenna. “I’m a big fan of pattern, velvets and textures – lots of vintage fabrics. It’s nearly finished, but my dad had to come and help.”