QUEEN VICTORIA: SECRET MARRIAGE, SECRET CHILD?

DR FERN RIDDELL on examining the relationship between Queen Victoria and her servant John Brown

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QUEEN VICTORIA: SECRET MARRIAGE, SECRET CHILD? NEW THURSDAY, 9PM, C4 FACTUAL

In 1861, when her husband Prince Albert passed away, 42-year-old Queen Victoria was a woman in her prime. Soon, rumours of a romance with her Scottish servant John Brown persisted and stories circulated suggesting a secret marriage, earning the monarch the nickname 'Mrs Brown' - later used as the title of a 1997 film inspired by the relationship, starring Dame Judi Dench and Sir Billy Connolly.

Now, after four years of research, historian Dr Fern Riddell believes she has unearthed 'incredible' new evidence that supports a love affair, with her claims forming a book and a C4 documentary, Queen Victoria: Secret Marriage, Secret Child?, which she co-hosts with Rob Rinder. 'I realised early on that I'd found some of the letters that historians had said had been destroyed or lost,' says Fern, 39, in an exclusive interview with TV Times. 'And I traced John Brown's sole surviving descendants, who had some really big news.' Here, she tells us more...

What can we expect from this documentary?