Programme Information

Antiques expert Tim Wonnacott and chef Rosemary Shrager travel in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, our longest reigning monarch, going to the houses, castles and stately homes she visited throughout her life.

Using Queen Victoria's own diaries and other first-hand accounts of her visits, they discover the extraordinary preparations that were undertaken and exactly what happened during the visits and also explore the legacy of each visit – upstairs and downstairs.

In each programme, food historian and chef Ivan Day joins Rosemary to recreate some of the amazing dishes that would have been cooked for the Queen, in some of the most amazing Victorian kitchens in the country. From elaborately dressed spit-roast meat and elaborately decorated fish to sumptuous puddings, Ivan and Rosemary reveal just how skilled the chefs who attended to Queen Victoria's needs were.

In each house, Tim explores upstairs telling the story of what happened when Her Majesty came calling, from grand house makeovers to hastily refurbished beds, and from stories of the Queen bursting in on unexpecting servants to secretly using the servant's stairs to get to her room...

Here, Programme Information reveals some little-known facts about Queen Victoria and her visits.

Royal Upstairs Downstairs facts and trivia

• Queen Victoria's favourite drink was a mixture of claret and a single malt whiskey
• Hatfield House spent a staggering £70,000 on food and drink for a three-day visit! A total of £800 was spent on turtles for turtle soup and they roasted a 96-stone ox on the lawn for the locals.
• The Duke of Wellington was booted out of Walmer Castle in Kent, his official residence, when Queen Victoria turned up for a month-long stay. He complained of having to "pull the building to pieces" to suit her needs, and when she arrived her carriage got stuck in the entrance.
• One of the puddings served to the Queen at Stoneleigh Abbey contained Sturgeon's bladder (the same fish that produces caviar). It was used as a gelling agent.
• Prince Albert shot 150 heads of game when he visited Hatfield House with Queen Victoria in 1846.
• When she was 19, Queen Victoria was reading Oliver Twist – she was fascinated and amazed by the descriptions of the poor.
• On a three-day visit to Belvoir Castle in 1843, the Duke of Rutland fed 1,000 guests.
• Although Queen Victoria had a personal doctor, he didn't examine her physically during the 20 years he was employed.
• Servants drank beer below stairs rather than water as it was safer and gave them energy. They usually had eight pints a day, but it was not strong beer. The phrase having "one over the eight" comes from servants having more than their allocation.
• Princess Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, was so paranoid that something would happen to her daughter that she either slept in the same bedroom or in the same bed on their visits.
• Dinner was frequently a nine-course affair and could have up to 30 separate dishes!