Enjoy a recreation of the wedding that changed British matrimonial ceremonies forever.
This series, hosted by Lucy Worsley, celebrates an enduring love that was to melt the nation's heart and set the standard for generations of brides to come.
With the help of a team of experts, Lucy oversees the meticulous recreation of the most important elements of the wedding celebration, scouring history books, archives, newspapers and even Victoria’s own diaries for details.
Lucy is joined by food historian Annie Gray, clothing expert Harriet Waterhouse, military historian Jasdeep Singh and more.
From the bouquet and the beautifully tiered cake to the music for the ceremony and the wedding gown — Victoria’s game-changing white dress started a tradition that still lives on — each element has been carefully researched, remade by hand, and finally put to use in a joyous recreation of the big day itself.
Throughout, Lucy and her team unpack and explore the hidden iconography and symbolism of this hugely significant wedding.
They uncover new insights into Victoria and Albert’s relationship, both public and private, and shed fascinating new light on the broader implications of the wedding.
The series reveals how the pomp and pageantry secured the nation’s unwavering attention as Victoria gained favor with her subjects and invented the modern ideal of marriage.
“In 1840, two 20-year-olds became the most important power couple on earth,” said Worsley. "The marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg was a pivotal moment in British history. It was a political union that became the greatest royal love story of all.”
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode: 1 airs Sunday, Jan. 13 at 10 p.m. - Lucy Worsley introduces the team of experts who will join her in reconstructing the wedding that changed history.
As they get ready for the ceremony and investigate the stories behind the dress, the food and the music, they uncover surprising details while the reality of their enormous undertaking comes into focus.
As they labor, Lucy and her co-presenters reveal the backstory of the most romantic of all Royal romances, a tale of tragedy, scandal, intrigue – with a whiff of revolution.
Episode: 2 airs Sunday, Jan. 20 at 10 p.m. - Lucy and her team are in their finery for Victoria and Albert’s big day. The ceremony is the culmination of the love story at the heart of this series, and the most accurate reconstruction of the event ever staged.
It’s also the launching point for an examination of the feuds and political undercurrents that meant that this union had to be a fresh start for the monarchy, with a new kind of Royal family.
The ceremony is followed by a sumptuous wedding breakfast prepared in a Georgian kitchen by food historian Annie Gray, a prelude to the first night that began a marriage so iconic it saved the Crown and heralded constitutional monarchy as we know it today.
Watch On Your Schedule:
Both episodes are available to stream on demand with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members ($60 yearly) using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.
Credits:
A BBC Studios production for PBS. Written, produced and directed by Ian Denyer, edited by Alison Hunt and Helen Wickham, and executive produced by Jon Swain and Jack Bootle.
