Queen Victoria’s untold childhood on display

KENSINGTON PALACE curators are to reconstruct the childhood rooms of Queen Victoria after analysing the shopping bills of her mother.

Experts at Historic Royal Palaces used bills and accounts from the then Duchess of Kent, along with inventories of furnishing and decorations held at the National Archives, to learn more about what the young Victoria would have seen as she grew up.

The results will go on show in a family-friendly exhibition tracing a route through Queen Victoria’s old rooms.

Among the items on show from May next year will be a scrapbook of mementos created by Baroness Lehzen, Victoria’s German governess, which goes on public display for the first time.

Rare surviving pieces from the late Queen’s wardrobe will be displayed at the palace, including a simple cotton petticoat dated to around the time of her marriage, and a fashionable pair of silver boots.

Polly Putnam, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “Although considered one of the most famous women in history, Queen Victoria’s personality, passions and politics remain little known.

“To mark the 200th anniversary of her birth at Kensington Palace, in 2019 we’ll be re-examining the life of this fascinating and contradictory monarch.”

The exhibition will open on May 24 2019.