![]() Later, as the two monarchs saunter through a hothouse filled with citrus trees, Louis Philippe deftly waltzes away from the subject.īut he finally allows the topic to be discussed in the privacy of a salon. The French do not mix business and pleasure, she is told as they feast on tiny birds (ortolans) killed by drowning in Armagnac and towers of crème puffs (for those in the know, a croquembouche). ![]() Victoria has already tried several times to convince the king to change his mind about the Spanish marriage, but she is continually rebuffed. That apparently does the trick, and the royal couple, freshly invigorated, go to negotiate with Louis Philippe. She comforts him: she loves him no matter what, it doesn’t matter who his father is, he is still the same person. Afterwards, he tells Victoria that Leopold might be his father. Photo: ITV StudiosĪlbert’s refreshing escapade finally cheers him up, and when he returns to the palace he and Victoria engage in their own sort of frolicking. Victoria finds the French charming and amusing, but struggles to engage Louis Philippe in diplomacy. The Frenchwoman assures them it must be peasants. Victoria, Wilhelmina, and a French noblewoman, going for their own stroll, hear the carousing. When they come upon a secluded pool, everyone but the Frenchman dives in – they’re tired of being “civilized.” Drummond and Alfred strip naked and end up frolicking together in the water – they’re clearly not over each other. After admonishing his brother Ernest that he’s behaving like his father in his womanizing – yes, Ernest is at the chateau, and has cruelly rejected Wilhelmina’s attempt at conversation – Albert goes for a walk in the woods with the French prince, Ernest, Drummond, and Alfred. He “can’t bear” Victoria wearing such face paint – as if it’s his decision to determine how she presents herself.Īlbert finally finds some relief during a garden party. When she tries out makeup after feeling judged by the women of the court, Albert is mortified. Ah, sexism.) The moralistic German is horrified by the sensual French (he’s in good company with the Ducchess of Buccleuch there), whereas his wife is simply amused and charmed. The French court is a “place of artifice,” he rants, full of deceit, where the king has “vulgar” taste and the women lack “purity.” (What about the men? Sounds like they’re more guilty when it comes to philandering. He finds more to complain about once the queen and her entourage arrive at Louis Philippe’s grand summer chateau. Victoria has broken free of her depression, but Albert is slipping deep into his own. Having learned that Leopold might be his father, the prince is having an identity crisis – to the point where he’s drawing himself in the mirror and then splashing ink over his portrait if this efficiency-prizing prince is wasting ink, he really must be upset. Those incestuous families are precisely why Albert has sunk into a depression. Nineteenth century interfamilial royal politics are a doozy, especially given all the inbreeding. ![]() Worse, Louis Philippe is a “master of duplicity,” according to Robert Peel. Victoria therefore decides to visit the king and convince him to change his mind this plan, however, is complicated by her uncle Leopold’s desire to marry someone from his family to the Spanish princess – Louis Philippe is going to assume Victoria is protecting her own dynastic interests. But Victoria’s government is against this match, viewing it as an aggressive expansion of France’s influence. The French King Louis Philippe wants to marry his youngest son to the Spanish princess, thus garnering his family a chance at the Spanish throne. Victoria and Albert are traveling to a godless country where the women wear makeup, undergarments are hung up to dry in open courtyards, mistresses are passed from father to son, and the bread comes oddly shaped: France. Find our previous Victoria content, including recaps of season 1, here. Read our recaps of the previous and following episodes. Victoria is available to stream for Passport members.
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