- The Lord Melbourne and Victoria relationship is very unique and very blurred.
I don't think she's really ever had an ally, and suddenly he appears as a prime minister and gives her a voice and lifts her in a way, and she trusts him.
And I don't think she's really trusted anyone before other than her governess and her dog, Dash.
But I had to talk to you.
It's a relationship that, it's blurred.
It's friendship, it's father-daughter, it's prime minister and queen.
It's been described as being half lovers before.
So it's this incredible mixed bag of not quite being sure what it is, but it's very intense.
- She will have to marry one day, William.
- Yes, she will.
I just hope her husband will appreciate her.
- There is no doubt that he was her first great love.
And I think there's no doubt either that he was in love with her.
And diarists at the time said, "The queen talks of nothing but Lord Melbourne," and her feelings for him are clearly sexual, even though she doesn't know it.
It was clear to everybody else that this was love.
This wasn't just a relationship between a queen and her prime minister.
There was a really strong bond.
And if you read her diaries, literally every sentence is about Lord M.
"Lord M, Lord M, Lord M thinks this, Lord M thinks that.
"He doesn't like earrings.
"He likes me to wear blue."
I mean, it's a crush of the very highest order.
- I want to dance with you.
- I think Melbourne knew that they could never get married, because he was 30 years older her, he was her prime minister, he was a subject, she couldn't marry somebody who wasn't of royal blood.
Plus, he'd had a very colorful love life himself.
His wife had run away with Lord Byron.
The year before the series starts, he'd been in the divorce courts named as a co-respondent.
So he was a shady character in that sense, but I think Victoria brought out his nobility.
I think he felt protective towards her.
And I think he really loved her.
And I think that what I've tried to get over is that he struggles all the time between his real attraction for her and his knowledge that if he really loves her, the best thing that he can do for her is to set her free so that she can marry someone who can really be a husband to her.
