'Victoria & Albert: The Wedding': A Review

As Season 3 of the popular period drama kicks off, PBS airs a companion piece to Victoria, focused on exploring her royal marriage, in Victoria & Albert: The Wedding.

For those who are monarchy nerds, Lucy Worsley is a familiar name. She's an English historian and author, but she's best known for hosting royal-themed historical TV shows. She's covered everything from the Tudors to the Tsars to the world of Versailles, many of which are now on Netflix having been brought over from BBC Two and BBC Four. Therefore, it's not surprising she's the host of the newest historical deep dive into Queen Victoria's early years, from the time of her birth through to her wedding to Albert. Created by the BBC for PBS, it's a two-hour retread of nearly everything covered in Victoria Season 1, with some details the show left out the first time. The first episode airs directly following the premiere of Victoria Season 3, with the second hour one week later.

The series' aim is to recreate the real wedding for Victoria and Albert, from the flowers to the cake to the dress. Throughout the two hours, Worsley meets with different historians and artists to go over the nitty gritty details, all the way down to Victoria's actual undergarments, a set of which are preserved. There are digressions into things like how the measurements in the 1840s are different as compared to how modern measurements are taken, as well as fabrics, food, and finery. Naturally, the final act in the second hour is this wedding recreation, where the bridesmaids, the guests, and the servants are all recreated down to the best historical details available.