{"id":257803,"date":"2025-07-12T02:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257803\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T02:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:42:14","slug":"channel-4-has-new-evidence-to-prove-that-queen-victoria-and-john-brown-were-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257803\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel 4 has ‘new evidence’ to prove that Queen Victoria and John Brown were lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The widowed monarch and mother of nine is to get a new reputation as a woman who made the most of her ‘passionate mid-life’<\/p>\n

18:00, 11 Jul 2025Updated 20:46, 11 Jul 2025<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Fern Riddell is to showcase her findings in C4 documentary The Queen’s Secret, aided by Rob Rinder <\/p>\n

Channel 4 is to air \u201cextraordinary\u201d new evidence which proves Queen Victoria<\/a> and her Scottish servant and loyal companion John Brown were lovers.<\/p>\n

The revelations about the long-held rumour of a romance between the pair are based on a new book, Victoria\u2019s Secret, by cultural historian Dr Fern Riddell. The TV documentary will air the same day that the book is published, on July 31.<\/p>\n

In her book, Riddell challenges the long-established historical view of Victoria as a grieving widow who pined for years after the death of Prince Albert. Instead, she crafts a compelling human portrait of a woman in passionate midlife. Sources say the \u201cstaggering\u201d new evidence proves \u201cbeyond all doubt\u201d that the pair were in a full, intimate relationship.<\/p>\n

\"Queen(Image: Bettmann Archive)<\/p>\n

Billed as a real-life Bridgerton, and set against a backdrop of London court politics and the dramatic Scottish Highlands, the book sets out to clear up mysteries that the royal family<\/a> has tried to keep hidden for generations.<\/p>\n

Dr Riddell is behind previous works including The Victorian Guide to Sex: Desire and Deviance in the 19th Century and Sex: Lessons from History. She will present the hour-long special Queen Victoria\u2019s Secret: The New Evidence alongside TV lawyer Rob Rinder<\/a>, who will cast \u201ca sceptical eye\u201d over her findings.<\/p>\n

Programme-maker Adam Luria, head of documentary at Impossible Factual, explained: \u201cThis story has been keep secret for over 160 years, and Fern\u2019s book will shake the very foundations of the British monarchy and rewrite the history of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MovieThe pairwere portayed in the 1997 movie Mrs Brown by Judi Dench and Billy Connolly<\/p>\n

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 and reigned for 63 years until her death, aged 81, in 1901, longer than any British monarch who\u2019d gone before. She married her German first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg in 1840 and they had nine children before his death in 1861.<\/p>\n

John Brown, a former gillie on the Balmoral estate, became very close to the widowed monarch and when he died in 1883, she is said to have started work on a biography of Brown, who\u2019d been her close companion for more than 20 years. However her advisors disapproved, fearing it would stoke rumours of a love affair, and the manuscript is thought to have been destroyed.<\/p>\n

Channel 4<\/a> commissioning editor Emily Shields told the Mirror<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s so rare to find brand new evidence relating to well-known figures in history, but Dr Fern Riddell\u2019s research into the relationship between Queen Victoria and John Brown is extraordinary. It will be thrilling to see Rob Rinder interrogate the details and ask if it\u2019s time for the history of The Widow of Windsor to be re-written.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MrsThe actors spent a lot of time on horseback while making the hit film\"JohnJohn Brown was seven years younger than the Queen, and went to work at Balmoral when he was just 21(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Executive producer Steve Maher added: “This is a project that we\u2019ve been developing with Fern for some time, and we are really excited to be working with Channel 4 to explore this compelling new take on the life and loves of Queen Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n

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