Victoria (2016) s03e04 Episode Script

1 Gloriana, hallelujah Hallelujah.
I must to go to Cambridge as I have been asked to stand as chancellor of the university.
In my absence, I hope you will follow my advice and employ a male tutor for Bertie, his behavior has become unmanageable.
For the prince.
Mm-hmm.
From the queen, sir.
Bertie's misbehavior is simply that he does not fulfill your very specific expectations of how a boy should act.
Thank you.
There is no question of you going to Cambridge today.
Have you forgotten we are receiving the foreign ambassadors tonight? We must present a united front.
By "united front," you mean another opportunity for you to indulge your vanity while I am paraded around like a show pony.
Sir.
Must I explain again that since I was forced to run away to Osborne, I have had to double my efforts to show my people the same devotion as I show my children? What you call vanity, I call duty.
Well, if you treat your country like a child, how will it ever mature? I, too, have important work, Albert, and that is to show my people their queen is by their side.
Look what I can do with my new toy! Your Grace.
I I have been meaning to thank you for what you did for me in Osborne.
I Anyone would have done what I did.
We open in three days.
The place is filthy.
Look.
Look at these windows.
Once they taste my strawberry tarts, they won't be looking out the window, Nancy.
Do you think we should change the name? What shall we call it? The Palace.
It was a joke! You're a chef.
You should know about timing.
Please tell His Royal Highness our correspondence is at an end.
I believe this letter is from Mrs.
Skerr -- Mrs.
Francatelli, ma'am.
Is that the best you can do? Leave us.
You seem out of sorts lately, Drina.
Could you blame me? Albert is God knows where, and the one person who could do my hair properly has left me to get married.
It's hopeless.
Don't worry, Drina.
Hm? I will never desert you.
Can't you just give him some medicine, doctor? Just last night he was on the street playing, refusing to go to bed.
Why has the Lord saved me when my boy I'm very sorry to tell you that your son has cholera, Mrs.
Dolan.
We don't know where it comes from, only that it acts fast.
Now, do, do you remember who he was with yesterday? What are you talking about? Could you tell me, where, where he had been before he came home last night? Do you want your son's life to mean something? If you can help me discover the cause, he will not die in vain.
Allow me.
William's been at school for two months now.
Perhaps I could visit him? Are you fond of this necklace? Remember.
Everything you are fond of belongs to me.
Her Majesty the Queen.
Emma, I do believe the prince is smiling at the queen.
That is just for the public, I'm afraid.
Perhaps that's all marriage is.
Presenting an appropriate facade.
Your Majesty, may I present His Excellency the Ambassador to Oudh.
Your Excellency.
Your Majesty.
The king of Oudh sends his felicitations on the birth of the Princess Louise.
And he hopes that you will accept this gift for the princess.
The gems are said to protect the wearer from misfortune.
'Your Majesty, may I present His Excellency the Persian Envoy.
His Excellency the Portuguese Envoy.
Prime Minister.
I wanted to tell you, I, I have been asked to stand as chancellor at Cambridge University.
Mi dispiace, signora, un momento.
You'll be a vast improvement on the previous royal incumbent.
The duke of Gloucester had great difficulty in keeping his mouth closed.
Well, there is much to be done.
At Bonn, we studied botany, geology, all of the natural sciences.
But at Cambridge, they study little more than the classics.
Homer and Virgil made me the man I am today.
Oh, yes, I believe you studied at, um, "Mag-dalene" College Lord Palmerston.
You might want to learn the names of the colleges before you start telling them what to study, sir.
"Maud-lin," sir.
Thank you.
Of course, the chancellorship is an honorary position, sir.
It has no executive power.
And Cambridge is not a place that relishes innovation.
Even more reason to accept the post.
Ah, you must not worry about your duties here.
I will support Victoria.
I hope Cambridge is ready for you, sir.
Thank you.
Your Serene Highness, have you heard the "Swedish Nightingale" sing before? I have not.
Well then, how fortunate that you are here tonight.
I don't suppose singers of her caliber often make it all the way over to Langenburg.
But now Europe is at peace, I'm sure you'll be making preparations to return there.
Tell me, is your wife here? I should so like to meet her.
She is very particular about the company she keeps.
As is the prince.
I believe he has forbidden the maids of honor from walking the grounds unaccompanied.
In case of assignations.
Casta Diva.
Used the leftovers from the Chartists' banners.
Isn't much call for them now.
Cuffay's been transported.
Sometimes it feels like none of it ever happened.
Well, you've made them look beautiful.
I shall repay the favor one day.
It is you doing me the favor.
Not much keeping me busy since you left.
I'm troubled by opening with all of this, Charles.
You've been troubled from the moment you left the palace.
Please try to remember what you've got.
Not what you had.
(Prime Minister.
) (Prime Minister.
) Sir.
Thank you.
Something the matter? Nothing to concern you at present, ma'am.
Judging by the look on the prime minister's face, I would beg to differ.
I've just been informed that there is a cholera outbreak in Soho.
We thought it was just a few isolated cases.
I assure you we're doing all we can.
We're closing all the graveyards in town, and opening them in the country, to prevent any congestion.
So your suggestion is to tidy the problem away.
Surely we should be trying to find out what is causing this.
It's a laudable aim, sir.
But as politicians, we can't waste our time with scientific red herrings.
We need to make sure that the public are reassured.
The last thing we need, is to have cabs filled with dead children outside graveyards.
I don't want my guests to hear any of this.
Perhaps Miss Lind could give us an encore? I think the only way to get rid of this disease is to get rid of all these foreigners.
What do you reckon, Joseph? I'm sure you have a theory.
Ah, non credea All we can do is protect those in need.
Si presto estinto O fiore Why would you not want me to be in a position where I can make a real change to this country? I need you here, Albert.
How can you think of leaving London at a time like this? I'm sure you believe that your presence here, it will cure the sick.
No, your, your predecessors may have believed in such superstitions, Victoria, but this is the 19th century! You are so callous at the moment.
You know how hard it is for me without Skerrett.
I suppose that you believe we are all abandoning you.
I don't recognize you.
Well, I recognize you! What does that mean? How could I forget your warmth? Your generosity in times of crisis? It is what holds this country together.
I am a queen, Albert! What is it you fail to understand? I can only assure the Honorable Member that every precaution is being taken to stop this terrible plague spreading! 'This is the third and most devastating outbreak of cholera to ravage the streets of London in the last five years! 127 people have died within three days in one single street in Soho.
Half a mile from this House.
I can only repeat! We are expediting every remedy we know.
And now His Royal Highness, and soon, I hope, to be chancellor of this university, will say a few words.
Thank you, Master.
My university in Bonn, one was not afraid to challenge tradition.
We should strive to build a future that is enlightened by science and rationality.
The dreaded disease that today is causing misery in our capital must be stopped.
But that will only happen if institutions such as this ask the right questions.
I'm sure you will resolve your differences.
Hm? Do you know why I spend so much time playing this piano? My husband sold my instrument in Langenburg to pay off his gambling debts.
I hardly know anything of your life in Germany.
When I first arrived here, I I thought we would never understand each other the way we did as children, my life had become so dark.
And yours was so light.
But perhaps we have more in common than I thought.
I too understand the ache of a lonely marriage.
We've always fought, but in the past, it would It would bring us closer together.
He still resents me for taking him away from Osborne, his His creation.
You believe he is trying to take revenge? That's a strong word.
Hmm.
Perhaps it's the right one.
No human pursuits have ever made any material progress until science was brought to bear upon them.
Now, we must not be complacent.
We must consistently test the limits of our knowledge.
For, in the words of Alexander von Humboldt, the renowned scientist, who I believe was in residence at Magdalen College, universities ask questions where the answers are not known.
School is discipline.
University is freedom.
Hear! Hear! Thank you for your thoughts on our education, Your Royal Highness.
Cambridge has produced the greatest minds in the world for over 600 years from a curriculum based in theology and the lessons of the past.
Are you, for example, suggesting that we teach the heretical work of Charles Lyell, who believes that the world was not created in seven days? Hear! Hear! Foreigners.
It is bought in by foreigners.
The first case recorded was in a seamen's hostel in Limehouse.
Nonsense.
The toxic miasma should abate soon, and now that Covent Garden has been closed.
The only cure is for people to maintain their composure.
Are we safe here in the palace? Here, you are quite protected, ma'am.
The air is clean and safe around the palace.
But outside, the danger of encountering the miasma is too great.
Are you proposing to put me in quarantine? As your prime minister, I urge you to remain here until contagion has passed, ma'am.
And what example does it set to my people if I am hiding here in the palace? You don't have to be seen, ma'am.
You could announce a national day of penance, perhaps a day of fast.
Would that would raise the spirits of my people? No.
Dr.
Snow? Do you have another theory about how the disease is spread? I s-s Yes? Without proof, I cannot offer you an answer, and as I have no proof, I have no answer, Y-your Majesty.
Russell has been most unhelpful.
I have heard the reports from Parliament and I do not wish to stand idle.
I should like you to organize a visit to the hospital.
I'm your foreign secretary, ma'am.
May I suggest you contact the commissioner for the Board of Health.
And he will hem and haw and talk about the danger of infection.
You, on the other hand, you've never met a rule you didn't want to break.
You sound like my wife, ma'am.
But don't you worry about catching it? Lord Palmerston, if one of my children were ill, I would not hesitate to go into the sickroom.
I understand -- I'll make the necessary arrangements.
Although I imagine those woolgatherers at the Board of Health will have a conniption fit.
Not if we don't tell them.
Your Grace.
From the duke.
Can you, uh, order my carriage? I have been summoned.
I hope you will be careful.
Surely your husband would rather you remained in the palace until the contagion has passed.
I cannot refuse him.
In this circumstance, you should not be afraid to.
Shall I let him know that you are to remain at the palace? If he's not at home, he will be at his club.
Exactly.
I make two kinds of tonic for women in your condition.
This one works a treat for ladies who are happy to welcome a little stranger.
And, um, I have this one for those who aren't.
Do you want a surprise? Depends.
Is it a good one? Yes.
But you'll have to be patient.
Why? Because you'll have to wait nine months.
Yes? Yes.
You also want some entertainment.
What we've been craving.
Your Grace, I have a message for you.
I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.
A message, Your Grace.
It's almost as though he's speaking a different language.
Her Grace would like to inform you that she has decided to remain at the palace.
You can remind the duchess that as it was a command, I did not expect a reply.
She must leave immediately.
Are you sure you want to do this, ma'am? It's not a matter of want.
It's a matter of duty.
Excuse me, miss.
Help me, sir.
Just straight ahead, ma'am.
This way.
It's a cruel disease, ma'am.
What's that noise? I found her on the floor of the Parthenon in Athens.
She had fallen from her nest.
And I've had her with me ever since.
Aren't you worried she'll bite you? No, she never has yet.
Just as I've never caught anything from my patients.
So you don't believe in the miasma theory? If it was in the air, I would be dead by now, ma'am.
What do you think causes it? All I know is that it is a disease that follows poverty, and dirt.
There must be God, there must be something I can do.
A subscription.
Blankets.
The medical board have theories.
Fairy tales.
There's only one doctor who comes to visit.
A quiet man with a stammer.
I hope he will put an end to it.
Thank you.
What is your name? Florence Nightingale, ma'am.
The work of Lyell is most intriguing.
If the fossils do indeed date from different periods, then there is no basis Sir, I I thought you should know, the gentleman, Powis, who made his preferences so clear at dinner has decided to stand against you.
Has this ever happened before? No, but then they have never been faced with the prospect of a foreign chancellor, and a German one at that.
Thank you.
Mama! Mama! Mama! Darling! Oh, come here, come here.
We missed you.
What is it, Mama? Is it my fault? No, darling, I'm I'm just so happy to see you.
Aren't you happy to see me? Come along.
Back inside.
Oh, Victoria.
My poor sister.
There was nothing I could do.
You're so hard on yourself, hm? Duchess, it's your turn.
Your Grace.
The duke has asked me to inform you he does not wholly agree with your message.
I see.
I could let him know that it is a royal command.
Thank you, I will deal with the situation myself.
I wish to see him.
The young gentleman, Yorkshireman.
Dr.
Snow? The fellow who could hardly string a sentence together? You should know that he is seen by the medical establishment as an eccentric.
I hear he doesn't eat meat.
Or fish.
If he can discover the cause of this disease, then his diet is of no concern to me.
Please send for him immediately.
Home, home Home, sweet home There's no place like home There's no How long you been there watching me? Long enough.
For what? For you to finish so I won't have to do any work.
That's why I married you.
Oh! Oh, it's perfect.
Am I late? The guest of honor is never late, Mr.
Brodie.
Never late! Take this off.
Thank you.
Oh, hello.
Welcome.
Abigail! Both hungry? There is a lot to get through before we open to the public tomorrow.
How's life at the palace, Mr.
Brodie? Well, the queen isn't very happy with her new dresser, and she has been doing her own hair.
You're not hitting the bottle, are you? Joseph? I, uh I, I need some sealing wax.
Your Grace.
I am glad you are still at the palace.
The queen is the only woman he can't pull rank on.
You weren't at dinner.
It was very quiet.
Is my voice so loud? When it's the only thing I can hear.
I can hardly believe I'm here, under my own roof, with my beautiful wife and with a little Francatelli on the way? Long live the house of Francatelli! Thank you.
I want to propose a toast.
To Charles Francatelli, for not listening to me when I said this couldn't be done.
We may have left the palace, but he is a king among men.
Good health.
To good health.
If you'll excuse me for just a moment.
Oh, that is delicious.
Lovely speech.
Thank you.
'Powis for chancellor! Powis for chancellor! Down with the German! Lord Palmerston.
I did not know you were in Cambridge.
I thought I'd make the trip to brush up on my Ovid.
And as a graduate, I've come to vote, of course.
The future of this university is very important to me.
And to the nation.
What do you want? You are still open, despite the cholera.
What's it to you? I have patients in this street.
Nothing wrong with my men.
How curious.
It's simple: no women, no foreigners, and all the beer you can drink.
Here, go on, have one on the house.
No, thank you.
Suit yourself.
I reckon it's the best medicine out there.
Cheers! He refused my invitation? As I said, Dr.
Snow is seen as a maverick.
But what was his reason? Apparently he hasn't found the proof you needed, ma'am.
Proof or no proof, I should like to speak with him.
Send for him again.
I went to church.
And then? To my apothecary shop.
Where is that? Soho.
Just off Broad Street.
And-and after work? Mrs.
Arbuthnot.
I need a few more answers.
You're the only case outside Soho.
I visited my sister.
Is she sick? No.
What route did you take home? The usual.
Marshall Street.
Broad Street.
You can stop off for fresh water at the pump.
For my tonics.
Here you are, my darling, everything just as you like it.
Coddled eggs, poor knights of Windsor, and then more What shall we call the baby? Plenty of time to decide that.
Victoria if it's a boy.
Albert if it's a girl.
No, that's not right.
Victoria if it's a girl.
Shh Nancy.
Nancy.
What are you doing? We have to get up or Mr.
Penge will find us.
Shh, shh, Nancy, Nancy.
We're not in the palace anymore.
Stop using that pump! Stop! Please! What are you doing? Go on, get out of here! The votes have been counted.
Votes for the earl of Powis -- Votes for His Royal Highness Prince Albert -- Congratulations, Your Royal Highness.
Thank you.
Although I'm sure you will be pleased to hear that I shall not be accepting the chancellorship under such circumstances.
Clearly they do not want me.
Well then, my journey will have been in vain.
You voted for me? Yes, I surprised even myself.
I had what the dons might call a Damascene conversion.
You have come around to my way of thinking? Only on the matter of cholera, sir.
Congratulations, sir.
I I wondered what We don't have all day.
Prime Minister, perhaps you could leave Dr.
Snow and I to talk alone.
Please.
Make yourself comfortable.
Tea? I th -- I thought that the, uh Please, let me.
That will be all.
Speaking in public has always been of great difficulty to me.
The trick, I find, is is to pretend I'm speaking to Islay.
Islay hangs on my every word.
Don't you, Islay? You were saying? I've been certain for a while.
It's not miasma, not the air, but the water.
Bad water, ma'am.
Women and children are more likely to drink water and they have died in greater numbers.
Men who work in the breweries are unaffected because they only drink beer.
But then this case in Hampstead.
Only one woman in the village had contracted it.
I discovered that she had her water brought up from a pump in Broad Street.
She even used it in the tonics in her apothecary.
It is the pump that is spreading the disease.
This evidence, I believe, can finally stop the contagion.
Excuse me.
Sir, what was the name of the woman making the tonics? Arbuthnot.
Your Royal Highness.
They are ready for you.
No.
Do something.
Do something! When did it start? Early this morning.
I thought it was something to do with the child.
Child? Oh, dear Skerrett.
Do you want me to do your hair, ma'am? I've got my own palace now.
Yes, you have.
It's splendid.
Victoria if it's a girl.
I couldn't dream of a greater honor.
Charles! The chancellor of Cambridge University.
Congratulations, Albert.
It should have been a, a formality, but instead it was a a humiliation.
But you won.
Just.
I should have listened to Victoria.
It is not enough to be right, one also has to win over the public.
Do you remember when I first told you my name? That was when I knew.
So did I.
All that time, we could have been together.
Just you wait.
All of this will be a marvelous success.
Not without you.
I should have married you sooner.
It wasn't long But it meant everything.
Nancy? Nan -- Nancy.
Through bushes and through briars I lately took my way All for to hear the small birds sing And the lambs to skip and play All for to hear The small birds sing And the lambs to skip and play 'I know that I left when you needed me most.
I I never opened her letter.
You could not have known.
But as much as I wanted to remain by your side My heart took me into my new life.
Long time have I I hope you will accept my future with Mr.
Francatelli, as you once accepted my past.
Long time have I Abigail, whom you met, I recommend to fill my position.
Your obedient servant, Mrs.
Charles Francatelli.