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S1 E3 Episode 3
本集简介

In this episode, the palace is in the grip of the Victorian Era – but as the mood swings from joy to heartbreak, what will become of Britain's most iconic royal residence?

We begin in 1845. Life in the palace is a fairytale for loved-up newlyweds Victoria and Albert. But with four tearaway toddlers roaming the palace corridors – and plans for many more children – the fast-growing family demands more space. Victoria adds some 200 rooms to the palace, including an entire new wing at the front and the iconic central balcony. But as the Palace grew bigger, so did the number of people required to keep things running smoothly. JJ Chalmers discovers what life was like for Victoria and Albert's servants, thanks to an extraordinary palace census taken on Sunday 30th of March 1851.

Despite the small army of staff patrolling the corridors, Buckingham Palace was terrifyingly vulnerable to intruders. JJ unlocks the tale of a notorious palace prowler who was rumoured to have stolen Queen Victoria's knickers! Meanwhile, Raksha Dave finds out what was involved in a royal homebirth at the palace – including the curious role of a crowd of bureaucrats, tasked with verifying the baby's bloodline.

Raksha tracks down the first flushing toilet installed at the palace – and JJ struggles to learn Victoria's favourite Waltz. But in the winter of 1861, tragedy struck when Prince Albert died at the age of only 42. Overwhelmed by grief, the queen fled Buckingham Palace, and the building that had given Victoria and Albert so many happy memories was left deserted.

The future of the abandoned palace hung in the balance. Alexander reveals how the government persuaded Victoria to return for the palace's first ever public garden party in 1868. The mood at the palace continued to be sombre, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel - and soon, an unprecedented celebration would bring the palace back to life…

上一集
2023/08/05 S1 E2
Episode 2

This second episode kicks off as King George III and Queen Charlotte enjoy the high-life in their royal home – and ends in the Victorian era, when a new teenage queen takes over the palace.

We begin in the 1780s, as Raksha Dave investigates how the royal residents kept themselves from stinking by taking a bath, Queen Charlotte-style: bizarrely fully clothed. Meanwhile, JJ Chalmers investigates how tough life was for the hidden army of 200 servants toiling "below stairs".

But in 1788, tragedy struck Buckingham House. King George's health took a devastating turn for the worse, and his behaviour spiralled out of control. Alexander discovers how the king's "madness" made life at the royal residence intolerable as it tore his family apart, ending with his devastating death in 1820.

George III's son, also called George, stepped up to the throne. The new King George IV was an arrogant, drunken womaniser and the party-loving monarch splurged millions enlarging "Buckingham House" so massively that the press began referring to it as Buckingham "Palace" for the very first time.

But the showy King wouldn't live to see his grand designs fully completed. Weighing in at 20 stone and having developed a taste for opium, his body finally gave up in 1830. His successor, the straight-talking William IV, hated Buckingham Palace – leaving it uninhabited and unwanted. But Britain was about to get a new queen – the teenage Victoria – who adored the palace from the moment she set eyes on it.

Raksha investigates the filth and squalor that greeted Queen Victoria when she inherited the place, while JJ discovers how the kitchens coped with hosting her lavish wedding breakfast, which included a surprisingly unappetising dish of braised calf glands.

This episode draws to a close in the 1850s, as Victoria cements the importance of Buckingham palace by declaring it the official headquarters of royal business. But soon, heartbreak would cast a shadow over the Palace, throwing its very existence into doubt once again…