The Mistake At Albert's Christening | Royal Upstairs Downstairs | Real Royalty

[Music] just what do you have to do when a queen decides she's going to pop in to see you and not just any old queen victoria like a pair of obsessed victoria groupies we're pursuing her around the country to the posh pad she visited we'll be delving into her personal diaries to reveal what happened behind closed doors welcome to lincolnshire our journey today in the footsteps of queen victoria has brought us to the magnificent burley house and as someone who's spent a lifetime getting excited by antiques i'll be upstairs exploring just what would have excited the queen on her visit here on victoria's bed is the pair of doves billing and cooing and we all know where that leads and i'll be downstairs leaving through some extraordinary mementos of her stay and there is victoria's signature oh how magnificent and as a chef who's passionate about food i love the smell i'll be in the kitchen rediscovering a 19th century recipe made in honor of victoria's stay and teasing tim's sweet tooth can i have quite a big bit no it's such a meaning [Music] burley house was built in 1555 not in victoria's era but during the reign of an earlier queen queen rosemary i'm sorry queen elizabeth the first ah yes but we're interested in what happened here in 1844 when victoria came to stay victoria and albert stayed here for four days traveling by train from london to whedon near northampton before a five-hour coach journey to burleigh they were here by invitation of the host the marquess of exeter for a very special purpose the purpose being the christening of the marquess and martinez's daughter and you know in return they called the daughter victoria isn't that a lovely song albert was to be the godfather of baby victoria so this was a very personal and private occasion for the families however that didn't stop the marco's bankrolling exuberant celebrations in the local town of stamford and on approach to the gates of burley he had even arranged for 700 horsemen mainly his tenants to ride behind the royal procession he didn't do things by halves did the old chap no no did you know rother it was decided that the town's folk of stamford would be given a whole half day off so that they'd be able to turn out in force to welcome their majesty's arrival how about that well i'll tell you what they might have got a day off but the staff at burley the work was only just beginning now i'm heading off downstairs to see how they did it and i'm heading off upstairs burley was an outrageous display of design and architecture with its turrets and towers domes and steeples it was described as more of a small city than a single building even though victoria had visited here before when she was 18 her first site of burley nine years later was no less impressive she wrote in her diary i remembered its beautiful exterior and splendid situation but was even more struck when i arrived this time this is the entrance that victoria used we also know that she arrived at about 5 p.m and the weather had been rough and miserable i suspect victoria might have been a bit rough herself because she just given birth to her fourth child and had a month in convalescence in the highlands so you can imagine the amount of correspondence that was happening between the second marquis household and her household to make quite sure that the timing of this visit was convenient all round so keen were the hosts on capturing this momentous occasion that they gave a vip pass to the illustrated london news the world's first illustrated weekly publication the hello magazine of its day they commissioned an artist by the name of ziegler to produce sketches to accompany the story this is the north entrance hall where victoria would have entered and today it forms part of the private piece of burley occupied by the cecil family so i feel rather privileged to be allowed to walk literally in victoria's footsteps this is a marvelous piece of memorabilia relating to her visit it's a poster produced by the mayor of stamford look f jelly mayor what a lovely name that is and amongst other things it records the resolutions that businesses be suspended and the shops closed at one o'clock for the remainder of the day the day the queen visited and also that subscriptions would be raised for the purpose of erecting triumphal arches and making any other demonstrations of loyalty they may think proper well what could be more proper than that [Music] while victoria was being ushered through the hallway her servants would have been making their way to the staff quarters where one room in particular would have been full of hustle and bustle this wonderful kitchen today i'm going to be recreating some victorian treats cooked in honor of the queen with food historian ivan day this was really aimed at children the treats were sold to local well wishes in celebration he's going to be very sticky for you oh no no bung it all in on today's menu victorian gingerbread i can't wait to cook in this incredible evocative kitchen which remarkably is exactly the same as it was during victoria's faces it's an elizabethan kitchen it goes right back to the reign of elizabeth the first and what you see there is the lantern which is a a place where you can get an extra bit of light coming in but it's mainly for venting all of the fumes and the smoke it would have been very different in the 16th century it's been much modified since we know the queen was given a tour of this amazing kitchen because it was featured in the illustrated london news together with this sketch here we can see the servant standing to attention as victoria and albert marvel at a large painting at the far end of the room [Music] which is still here today but what do you think of this fellow here okay i guess well knowing they ate turtle soup is it a turtle soup terrain it is exactly really yes well done now there's some extraordinary archaeological evidence in this kitchen that turtles were actually served up at burley because if you look up above the dresser you can see this macabre display turtle skulls [Music] what a bit of history in the kitchen everyone is a turtle dinner everyone is a turtle dinner turtle soup would be frowned upon today but back then it was quite trendy sofia cecil the sister-in-law of the marquis noted in her diary that the queen was served soup during her stay if it was turtle soup i'm hoping it came without the bones while the kitchen was thrown together the most electable royal delicacies on the evening victoria arrived the queen would have been about to witness another unique part of the house upstairs this is one of the most spectacular sights at burley or indeed in any british stately home it's called quite simply the hell staircase this is the route that victoria and albert would have taken to get to their apartments upstairs but when you think about the religious significance of their visit after all albert was here to become a godparent this ceiling is enough to put the fear of god in anyone frankly gives me the willies [Music] in matters of religion victoria was devout yet broad-minded and you need to be confronted by these scary scenes of hell by italian painter antonio verio you've got this cat-like creature with its gob wide open consuming naughty people death itself is represented by the grim reaper with its scythe the scythe that could cut you down at any time this is something straight out of harry potter as victoria was having the wit scared out of her on hell's staircase downstairs the kitchen staff would have been battling with their own fire and furnaces as nerves jangling they prepared the royal dinner we know at the same time the local bakers made gingerbread to sell for a penny so that's exactly what we're going to be doing today oh fantastic using these original victorian molds except today tim's going to scoff the lot and i rather doubt i'll get a penny for it what i've got here is a pound of plain white flour fine and i'm going to ask you if you can rub that butter into it while you're doing that i'm going to continue turning this candied orange and lemon peel into almost a pure egg to the flour and butter add the brown sugar and ginger followed by nutmeg cinnamon and mace i love the smell they like their gingerbread spicy the victorians i think that's really the smell of england in the past it's got such a wonderful evocative it's fabulous now it's time now to give it a kind of marmalade touch and this is your this is pureed peel that just taste it tell people it's a mixture of several and lemon oh that's good now that's got to be rubbed in really thoroughly the final touch which is going to turn that into a pliable paste is going to be very sticky for you oh no no no bung it all in [Music] right if you can try and get it into a lump it will be very short no it'll be fine that looks really good actually rosemary perfect next we half the dough to make two penny gingerbreads and then press it firmly onto our molds and the technique is this we just let it drop off of its own weight onto the board and there it is oh fantastic there's just one other thing we have to do before it goes into the oven we need to dock it which is to prick it with a fork all over docket that's a new word docket it's a very old word and if you think about biscuits they often have these little holes in them yes and they were made with a thing called a biscuit docker and that will ensure that it doesn't puff up and spoil the design i can just imagine the salesman saying penny for a gingerbread come and get it the gingerbreads go into the pastry oven where they'll bake at around 160 degrees celsius for 40 minutes in victorian times of course there were no temperature gauges so the instructions would have been to cook it in a cool oven meanwhile upstairs victoria and albert were being shown to the lavish roll apartments having survived the hellish ascent of the stairs the royal party would have been ushered into this room the first of the private apartments set aside for their use during the visit and it's called appropriate enough the heaven room and look at that [Music] the royal party might have been reassured by this they have got some salvation after all the royal apartments at burley are amongst the finest the queen found on her travels oozing opulence victoria and albert had the run of six bespoke rooms deck tap with luxurious gilded furniture exquisite ceramics and original works of art by the old masters the marquis really splashed the cash to make sure there was no shortage of servants to look after victoria incredibly curator john calverhouse has the original accounts book from the visit and it makes fascinating reading it was an incredibly expensive visit lord extras host was responsible for everything he put up people all over stamford he entertained people royally it was a well-planned event yes he'd certainly been planning for some four or five years because he's been carrying out improvements to the house to make it even more sort of grand and comfortable for a majesty surely he didn't have to go to the extent that he went to i think he did he was a courtier he was known to the to the royal family very well and i think this was his big chance to show off at home just quite how grand he was it was really the sort of quintessential point in his career was having her majesty and prince albert to stay it was obviously a very good marketing ploy from his point of view but this isn't the only treasure there's also the original diary written by sophia cecil the sister-in-law of victoria's host the queen and prince in which she reveals the queen's rather cheeky sense of humor this is lovely and passing through the blue dressing room occupied by the duke of rutland her majesty appeared to be much amused at something which turned out to be his grace's wig and whiskers but the pierced a resistance is this wonderful guest book from the visit 1844. the marquis had been planning this visit for four years the crest of lord exeter it's no wonder he wanted the royal autographs that of the queen and there is victoria's signature oh how beautiful as is always when the royal family come it's a signature to a page yes and so prince albert's crest and prince albert oh it is it's very special it is indeed well john i can't believe this and it's just it's it's beautiful to hold it's a great treasure [Music] victoria had stayed here nine years earlier with her mother the duchess of kent but there was one room up here that she wouldn't have stayed in before the ultimate destination in the suite of rooms is not unnaturally the bedroom and what a delicious room it is hung on three sides with tapestries but the centerpiece of the room has to be the bed at the time of victoria's visit this bed was thought to have been a lot taller and i guess that was because at the time it was quite commonplace to have not one mattress like today but about six of them the problem with these high beds is how to get into them the answer quite simple a pair of bed steps victoria and albert would have gone to bed by stepping up these steps rather like going up a diving board either side of the bed and then both jumped in lovely but these steps have an additional function i can remove that tread to reveal a pull out commode look now history doesn't record whether queen victoria actually used this commode so i think i'll just shut it up and let it be our little secret victoria was a big fan of this bed her diary says how all morning she admired its extreme splendors with beautiful embroideries it seems to me that victoria and albert spent an extraordinary length of time in this bedroom now sapphire cecil records that on the third day at breakfast we saw the queen and the prince walking out together in the garden indeed the queen records that she skipped breakfast one day and i reckon that she and albert were spending most of their time in this bed therefore it's perhaps appropriate that the cresting on the bed is in the form of a pair of doves amorously billing and cooing and we all know where that leads [Music] in the 1820s they went in for a bit of modernization in these state rooms they simply hatcheted a hole through the wall to give access behind to the oh look who it is how are you darling i couldn't believe it i was just walking up there doing scurrying down the servants passageways i wanted to see where they lead i mean this room how magnificent is this this is wonderful i never get to see upstairs you've never come upstairs i never go downstairs it's lovely to see you anywhere well it's great to be here but i have to tell you i've got to get back downstairs i can't stay with you can't you no i can't what are you up to than you and ivan well all i can say is it's because something that's going to take the biscuit oh is that a bit of a hint well i'm not going to tell you you'll have to find out later they're terribly coy these serpents don't you find i've had trouble listen i've got a program to make right yeah okay you head off past i'll see you later we've got work to do all right i've got a program to make what a treat i love being able to sneak around upstairs like this whilst the servants corridor was brand new for burley at the time of the visit one addition really was last minute this portrait of prince albert was hung just the day before the royals arrived a touch of flattery perhaps or given that they were here for a christening maybe it was just a fitting tribute to the man who was about to become godfather to a member of the cecil family what more prestigious or appropriate place to hang your portrait of an esteemed guest than this the great hall i mean just look at this place victoria was certainly impressed describing the great hall as beautiful and it was here where the royal banquet took place at 8pm on the first evening the guest list read like a who's who of victorian politics not surprising given that marquis was a politician himself the prime minister sir robert peel was there as was the foreign secretary lord aberdeen in total 40 of the country's great and good attended the grand dinner this is the scene immaculately recorded by the artist h b ziegler we've got the same light fittings look the gallery filled with musicians what they call the fiddlers gallery there is victoria herself with her back to the fireplace wearing her sash and of course we've got droves of these foot men wearing the cecil family blue livery the foot men were the reserve of only the grandest households and really looked the part i've banished tim from the great hall so ivan and i can find out more about the most sought after servants who waited on victoria and we've got some modern day equivalents waiting on us well we've got some wonderful looking footman here and they're wearing actually 19th century livery of burly house the footmen aren't from that period but the delivery actually is so these are absolutely authentic how wonderful and what did the footman do what was their actual job they had a whole range of tasks which they undertake during the course of the day polishing boots and brass or working in the lamp room cleaning the glass when they really came into their own was for instance like queen victoria's visit and at the great meal when victoria was entertained here the drinks were superintended by the footmen they could never talk to the guests could they they were like ghosts yes when you needed one one always appeared sometimes if you just were thinking about needing a drink one would magically appear from behind you it was remarkable and a well-trained one knew exactly what the guests wanted gentlemen would you care to show us what you wore when you were outside oh that's wonderful so would people have recognized the various liveries instantaneously when victoria came here with her retinue from the london palaces she had her own footman of course in in royal livery and everybody knew who they were without question [Music] the morning after victoria arrived she noted in her diary it was pouring wet and the rain continued all day so that put pay to exploring the grounds she had to wait until the following day to do that when she enjoyed a romantic walk with albert and later that afternoon she was invited by the marquis to plant an oak tree and here it is the very one planted more than 160 years ago by victoria's dainty spade work and still standing proud and of course we can't leave without taking a glimpse at the place that is the reason for the visit and this is the cecil family's private chapel on the first floor we're not doing a bit of horizontal pt upstairs with albert this is where victoria attended morning prayers indeed the local newspaper the stamford mercury even reports that victoria adopted the same spot on the left side nearest the altar that had been used by elizabeth the first when she visited burley three centuries earlier wow the christening service took place on the second day and was taken by the bishop of peterborough for once albert was the center of attention now if you believe the mother of the child lady safire's account albert is said to have sat at a table in the center of the chapel if you believe victoria's account then her husband stood alongside her who would dare argue with the queen's version of events lady safar also noted that the holy ceremony wasn't without the old blunder the bishop of peterborough seemed lost without his spectacles and began the service before the baby was brought in so he had to stop short and begin it all over again the bishop did not ask the name of the child so even though the bish wasn't on top form our diarist sapphire cecil did not miss a trick both the victorious queen and baby were dressed in white and it said that albert gave his godchild a gold cup the queen herself continues we then returned to our rooms from the windows of which we saw some very pretty fireworks and there we played on the piano till dinner after the ceremony i expect there would have been some refreshments and that's what i've been promised by rosemary who's serving up some victorian party food now she hinted earlier something about biscuits now you stay in the anti-chapel because you servants aren't allowed in there you mean they're two gods one for the tops and one for the servants go to prove that one definitely it's always been that now what are these two brown jobs you've got here now this is gingerbread it's not gingerbread as you know it today it is penny a gingerbread that would cost you one penny and it's street food would you like a piece i'd love a piece and i tell you my old factory passage is telling me that there's quite an odor coming up oh yes um can i have quite a big bit no no start off with that it's such a meanie oh yes seriously it smells very very intensely lots of ginger in there but also it's quite cakey orange comes through i think it's rather fun don't you i'm surprised they don't make such things today i think you should go into business making this no seriously rosa because it's delicious absolutely lovely well you've done terribly well with this rosemary i think it's fantastic but one thing's for certain your biscuits aren't going to last forever but you have a look at this thing that i found upstairs that has lasted right from 1844. so what do you make about that it's a child sort of spade for digging into a sand bucket in spades right stuff well queen victoria planted those great oak trees yes she was given a solid silver spade to do it with it was too heavy for her so they gave her this little child's toy spade which is made of beech and if you look at the top there's some very indistinct pen and ink writing onto the wood that says that this is the spade used by victoria then the family have kept it and here it is today isn't that a treasure but it's really super isn't it that something is insignificant and valueless as this has been treasured and survived since 1844. well we've had a wonderful day haven't we do you know what it couldn't have been better so victoria and albert came to burleigh for a christine but there were many more to come you're not wrong there in her lifetime victoria had 50 godchildren and just to help her remember them they were nearly all named victor or victoria [Music] next time on roll upstairs downstairs we're at hatfield house where prince albert gets handy with a gun double the bag of anybody else he was machine gunning them down and i encountered the most enormous record book this is the biggest account book i have ever seen [Music] you

Channel: Real Royalty

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Id: sCVGRN6rdlQ

Length: 28min 47sec (1727 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 11 2020