Programme Information

As antiques expert Tim Wonnacott travels in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, going to the houses, castles and stately homes she visited throughout her life and exploring what happened "upstairs" when Her Majesty came calling, Programme Information chats to him about his experiences while making the series.

Which was your favourite castle/manor that you visited through the series and why?

This is a terribly difficult question to answer. Unfair really – it's like saying which of your three children is best! All the houses we visited were just wonderful. The tremendous thing about stately homes in Britain is the sheer variety, not only in scale (and we saw some whoppers like Castle Howard in Yorkshire and Penrhyn Castle in North Wales) but also in the warmth or "feel" that they exude. Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire is not a vast pile, the home of politician Disraeli is furnished and burnished in a way that for many people it would be a cinch to move straight into. The wealth of the "upstairs" interiors laden with works of art and treasures made each working day filming an absolute pleasure. But ask me to say which was the "best" ... impossible!

Of all the dishes Rosemary (Shrager) prepared which you tasted, did you have a favourite/least favourite? What are your thoughts on 19th-century cuisine from the high society banquets Victoria would have had prepared for her?

I think food historian Ivan Day and Rosemary did a great job given the time they had to prepare and cook and the often difficult conditions presented by some of the ancient kitchens. As you will see they came up with some pretty glitzy dishes that looked absolutely stunning. I guess the dish that slipped down easiest was the "tipsy" cake from Hughenden Manor – basically a Genoa cake but laced with oodles of alcohol that caught me quite unawares! Produced at the end of a very long day's filming (none of the "upstairs" filming days were less than 12 hours, often more) this lethal "cake" with a smear of custard (crème Anglaise to the cognoscenti) looked innocent enough, but after a couple of forkfuls had hit the empty tummy ... wow! It was fiery and after two slices I was in no condition to drive anywhere – and I normally have a good head for alcohol.

Mind you, the less said about the mutton sausages at Blair Castle in Scotland ... ditto the almost bullet-proof gingerbread from Hatfield House. Oh dear, oh dear ... they took some recovering from, I can tell you!

What is your favourite story or anecdote that you discovered from Victoria's diaries or from the stories you learnt about during your visits?

I had no idea before the series that Victoria was such a prolific diarist – and what we are able to read today is what is left over after her family pruned a lot after her death. I always knew that her childhood was problematic but the series really brought home to me what a nasty piece of work her mother, the Duchess of Kent, was. It is amazing after such a ghastly start in life that the 18-year-old princess transformed herself into such a successful Monarch.

Putting yourself in the era, do you think you could have lived the life of an "upstairs" 19th-century gent?

I would have not had the slightest problem adapting to the "upstairs" mode of life in the 19th century. Beautiful houses and sublime surroundings, magnificent art and furnishings, platoons of servants doing all the cooking and cleaning, endless leisure to explore any avenue of pleasure that appealed, pots of money and with no tax to speak of. What bliss. Only a fool could fail to love that lifestyle!