page_title: The Young Victoria
section_title: Writing
hierarchical_section_title: The Young Victoria / Production / Writing
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of William Lamb&#32;(1779&#8211;1848)
context_page_description: The Young Victoria is a 2009 British period drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes, based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Produced by Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Sarah Ferguson, and Timothy Headington, the film stars Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Harriet Walter, Mark Strong, and Jim Broadbent among a large ensemble cast.
  As screenwriter, Fellowes sought to make the film as historically accurate as possible. With this in mind, Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell and historical consultant Alastair Bruce were hired, and filming for The Young Victoria took place at various historical landmarks in England to further the film's authenticity. Despite this, some aspects of the film have been criticised for their historical inaccuracies.
  Momentum Pictures released the film in the United Kingdom and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group opened The Young Victoria in limited theatrical release in the United States. Critical reception was generally positive.
context_section_description: Fellowes strove to make the script free of anachronisms, to the point where he became upset when actor Jim Broadbent ad-libbed and told the Duke of Wellington to "Enjoy the meal" during a dinner scene, a phrase not proper for the time period. The writer commented, "Everything I have put into it is based entirely on fact. It just happens to be a story that not many people are familiar with." Fellowes has remarked that while he would not alter the "fundamental truth", such as the characters' real relationships to each other, he strove to "use episodes to illustrate the journey you're taking your characters, and with them, your audience".
  Although largely faithful to a selection of historical facts, the film has drawn criticism for embellishing events in order to increase dramatic potential. For example, Prince Albert was never shot during an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria. Fellowes told BBC Radio 4's Film Programme that in actuality the prince did put his body before the queen as protection, and that showing Prince Albert having been grazed by the bullet in the film was added to best show his bravery and devotion as he tried to stop Queen Victoria from being shot.
  Another departure from history comes during Victoria's coronation scene. Contrary to what is shown in the film, Albert was not present at the ceremony; the couple instead wrote letters to each other, but Fellowes felt that having them keep opening letters would be less cinematic. Furthermore, according to Fellowes, "The scene where [Conroy] is trying to make her sign the paper when she is ill and she throws it to the floor - it's completely true", and "The scene in Windsor where the King stands up and insults Victoria's mother is not only true, but about two-thirds of his speech is what he actually said!" However, the Duchess of Kent was seated next to the King when he spoke and did not leave during the speech; and, undepicted in the film, the princess burst into tears, "and the two parties, soon realising that they had gone too far, patched up an uneasy truce". According to Charles Greville's memoirs: "The Queen [Adelaide] looked in deep distress, the Princess [Victoria] burst into tears, and the whole company were aghast. The Duchess of Kent said not a word. Immediately after they rose and retired, and a terrible scene ensued; the Duchess announced her immediate departure and ordered her carriage, but a sort of reconciliation was patched up, and she was prevailed upon to stay till the next day."
  William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who was prime minister when Victoria came to the throne and a political mentor to the young queen, was forty years her senior, but is portrayed as a much younger man in the film. As for King Leopold, he was her favourite uncle whose advice she constantly sought; her interest in Albert was due not to the latter's success in wooing her, but simply to please Leopold.
  Victoria's great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II viewed the film in a special screening; according to one source, she believed the film had a "lot of good points", but was unhappy with the change to the assassination attempt, and also thought the British officers' costumes looked too German. Apart from the assassination attempt, historian Alex von Tunzelmann noted that "historically, [the film's] not at all bad", and especially praised the depiction of contemporary politics and the characteristics Friend put into his performance as Prince Albert.
caption: In the film, Lord Melbourne (pictured) is portrayed as a young man; he was in actuality forty years Victoria's senior.
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