Facts and Fiction
The bedchamber scandal and the incident with Miss Hastings were real. The man sneaking into the palace early in Victoria's reign really happened, too. The timing of events has been condensed. I created the setting and description of Victoria's proposal to Albert. A garden meeting would be private and satisfy my romantic notions of what a young girl of Victoria's age would have done.
Albert may not have come to England to win the hand of his cousin, but he captured her heart anyway. In her diary, Victoria wrote of their first meeting, saying that Albert was "excessively handsome, such beautiful eyes… My heart is quite going."
Any doubts that it was love at first sight?
After the marriage she wrote, "Really, I do not think it possible for anyone in the world to be happier, or as happy as I am. He is an Angel, and his kindness and affection for me is really touching. What I can do to make him happy will be my greatest delight."
While all believe his acceptance of her proposal was reluctant, most believe they had a very loving strong marriage. The general public, however, was not enamored with him. Albert was excluded from holding any official political position, was never granted a title of peerage, and was named Prince Consort only after seventeen years of marriage. I did find a reference or two that showed Albert wasn't perturbed by those slights. He considered being a Duke of Saxony a higher title than anything the English could give him, so it didn't really matter. I like a man with a strong sense of his own worth.
Over her reign, Queen Victoria suffered nine assassination attempts.