Do you think a German sausage will tempt our virgin queen?
Um, actually, I think one will.
While they have tried to rid the Queen of Lord Melbourne, she just doesn’t know how to quit him, even with the pressure from her Uncles to marry her cousin.
Which, I mean, ick.
There’s a Russian Grand Duke who comes to court Victoria, and she also has a cousin, Prince George, who is being forced upon her.
That guy is so annoying, but her Belgian uncle wants her to marry her German cousin, Prince Albert.
Historical spoiler: We know what happens. But it’s still fun to watch it play out. I would say another mark against Prince Albert is that Victoria’s mother and Sir John approve of that marriage as well, and we know how she feels about them. It’s not a best-case scenario by any means.
While all these young men are being forced to court the young queen, or just trying to marry her, she has her heart set on Lord Melbourne and goes to his house, Brockett Hall, to profess her love.
He lets her down by saying he’s a rook who mates for life—that he will never marry again.
She’s devastated, but he keeps playing the field, sending her white orchids from his hothouse.
In the meantime, she has to govern through a crisis with the Chartists. There’s a whole other story line in the works about the servants, one of whom has a brother who’s to be drawn and quartered. (Her hairdresser convinces her to change her mind, and she has the men transported for a few years.)
Someone else who’s going to be paid off to leave is Sir John Conroy. Victoria offers him an Irish title and big wad of money to send him packing. He takes the money and her mother is heartbroken, but he loves money more than her, and off he goes.
Lord Melbourne continues to look at Victoria with longing and tells her to get married.
As she sits there playing the piano, in walks Prince Albert, and you can see the attraction right away.
Sometimes Mother does know best, and with a German governess and a German mother, Prince Albert looks like just the ticket.
Keri is a professional chatterbox who loves watching TV & movies, reading about pop culture, and gawking at any craziness on the internet. You can follow Keri on Twitter.