15 Pieces of History That Victoria Did Differently
By Lacy Baugher
Alex Jennings as King Leopold in Victoria. (Photo: ITV)
King Leopold Wasn’t Really Such a Jerk
Victoria doesn’t spend a lot of time on the queen’s uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium. This generally makes sense, as the one of the most interesting parts of his life story was largely past by the time his niece came to her throne. But the show initially and almost singularly focuses on Leopold as a kind of matchmaker, obsessed with the idea of marrying Victoria off to his nephew Albert. (Seriously, he’s kind of creepy about it, at points.) But Leopold wasn’t actually the harsh, selfish figure he often comes off as on the show.
His marriage to Princess Charlotte was a real love match, and by all accounts the two adored each other. The tragedy of their doomed romance was that they didn’t even get two years together. And Leopold was devastated by her death. According to Princess Charlotte’s biographer, Thea Holme, “without Charlotte [Leopold] was incomplete. It was as if he had lost his heart.” Unfortunately, Victoria chose to primarily focus on Leopold as a more ambitious, this-close-to manipulative figure. So we’ve largely missed out on this part of his story.
During the subplot surrounding Albert’s allowance, Victoria notes that Leopold converted to Catholicism when he became King of Belgium. This isn’t true. Belgium is a largely Catholic country, and when Leopold eventually married again, he did wed a Catholic bride (Princess Louise-Marie of Orleans). But he remained a Lutheran for his entire life.
Victoria also implies Leopold not only kept his allowance from his marriage to Princess Charlotte, but used the money to pay for the upkeep of his mistress in England. When Victoria gets married on the show, Leopold is still paying for said mistress. And that’s why Albert can’t get a larger allowance. Well, that didn’t happen either. Leopold did have an affair with an actress. But only for about a year while he was a widower living in England, before Victoria ever became queen. And he gave up his allowance before he became King of Belgium in 1831.