Encounters with Victoria

In this revealing series, acclaimed historian and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, Lucy Worsley, explores the reign of Queen Victoria through pivotal figures in her life.

We meet ten key individuals and find out how they influenced the Queen, what she thought of them: and what they thought of her. 

Beginning with Victoria's Prime Minister and closest advisor, Lord Melbourne, Worsley goes on to introduce us to the Queen's lady-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings; the Mayor of Newport, Thomas Phillips, governess Louise Lehzen and two popular American entertainers, Tom Thumb and Buffalo Bill - as well as dresser Frieda Arnold; celebrity nurse Florence Nightingale; royal 'favourite' Abdul Karim and Bishop Randall Davidson. There are also encounters of a different kind, as Lucy Worsley chronicles Victoria's grief at the death of her husband, Prince Albert, and records Victoria's own final days.