TV Review: Victoria

Episode five of ITV’s hit drama Victoria aired on Sunday night and saw the Queen marry her German Prince.

Last week we saw the monarch, played by Jenna Coleman, propose to her cousin Prince Albert which we suspected would cause some disruption in Parliament and the country. This week, the engagement was made public and a whole lot of men decided that the Queen of England shouldn’t marry a German because they couldn’t have Germans “running the country”. Ah, the sexism of the Victorian era.

Tom Hughes’s portrayal of Albert was once again top notch. He’s moody, far too reserved and lacking in charisma. Goodwin still fails to persuade me that her Queen really does love her husband, especially with the fantastic Rufus Sewell as Lord M. on the scene. However, they still get married and it has to be said that the aesthetics of episode five were extraordinary. Despite producers admitting to using props from Poundland, the clothes and the jewels featured in the wedding scene are those that many dream of and what I’d imagine are pretty close to what the monarch actually wore.

One scene in particular stood out like a sore thumb, especially to those who haven’t yet let go of the beloved Lord Melbourne. At the wedding reception, Coleman’s Victoria asks to speak with Lord M. in private and I’m not joking, I almost cried. Victoria reminisces on something her first (and true, in my opinion) love told her about herself and said he was “almost” right. In the saddest part of the series so far, the monarch bids goodbye to her closest aide and he does the same in return too before asking: “may I kiss the bride?” Like I said, I was close to tears.

Next week’s episode of Victoria will be just as gripping, I imagine. We’ll see how Victoria and Albert deal with married life and if the new husband will stay true to his promise of devotion to the new Queen, despite his fury at not having a seat in the House of Lords.