The former Duchess of York has experienced her fair share of royal controversies over the years. But tabloid headlines and royal scandals aside, did you know that she was also a successful Hollywood movie producer?

It’s true! Fergie was instrumental in conceptualising and producing the Oscar-winning film The Young Victoria, which is currently streaming on Tubi. Starring a young Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, it chronicles the monarch’s turbulent early life and reign, focusing on her ascension to the throne.

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At its heart, however, it’s a love story detailing the queen’s passionate romance and enduring partnership with husband Prince Albert, played by Rupert Friend.

High stakes

The idea for a film about the young Queen Victoria was something Fergie conjured up when she was a lonely new bride, knocking around the halls of Buckingham Palace while her then-husband was working away as a helicopter pilot for the Royal Navy.

It was an idea she fiercely guarded for 15 years, repeatedly rejecting attempts to insert historically inaccurate Hollywood flourishes into the script to avoid insulting her then mother-in-law.

“Oh my God. It has been the biggest worry of mine and the biggest fear … ever, for 15 years, that I would offend the Queen,” she told The LA Times. “Because I love her and I never would do anything that would in any way dilute from that love.”

(The Young Victoria is available to stream on Tubi)

It wasn’t until she pitched the idea to acclaimed British film producer Graham King that Fergie found the right collaborator, who then brought Martin Scorsese on board to also co-produce. Scriptwriter Julian Fellowes was then hired to write the script, who a year later would go on to write his career-defining TV series Downton Abbey.

The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 2010, with critics praising its production design and the undeniable chemistry between Blunt and Friend.

But according to “unverified sources” in a UPI article, Queen Elizabeth wasn’t as much of a fan of the movie as Fergie might have hoped. Because Queen Victoria was her great-great-grandmother, the late monarch had an in-depth knowledge of her own family history and was allegedly “not amused” by certain perceived inaccuracies.

One of the film’s most criticised historical liberties came during an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, when Prince Albert dramatically throws himself in front of a bullet to save her. This scene has frequently been criticised by royal historians and history enthusiasts, who note there is no evidence the real-life incident unfolded that way.

The royal cameo

For her part, Fergie contributed significantly behind the scenes and was instrumental in helping to raise the film’s $35 million budget. She also used her royal connections to secure filming access to British landmarks and stately homes, such as Arundel Castle and Belvoir Castle.

While Fergie didn’t appear in the film herself, her daughter, Princess Beatrice (Queen Victoria’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter) was on set to film a brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a lady-in-waiting, which marked the very first time a member of the British Royal Family had appeared in a non-documentary, scripted feature film.

You’ll see Princess Beatrice near the beginning of the movie during Queen Victoria’s coronation scene. She can be spotted walking in the grand procession at Lincoln Cathedral (which played the part of Westminster Abbey), directly preceding Emily Blunt and holding the train of her robes. Later she’s also briefly visible in background ballroom scenes.

Emily Blunt later commented on the princess’s cameo as her lady-in-waiting.

“Princess Beatrice came in and was incredibly friendly and carried my train, which was very nice and ironic!” she told IndieLondon.

When behind-the-scenes photos and the movie were released, royal fans and historians were stunned by Beatrice’s uncanny resemblance to a young Queen Victoria. Her wide eyes, rounded face and distinct Hanoverian features mirror the historical oil paintings of Victoria, which were painted in the 1840s.

A lifelong obsession

The former Duchess of York has publicly acknowledged that she’s been obsessed with Queen Victoria for decades. She has co-written several nonfiction books about the monarch in the 1990s, based at least two recent fiction titles on women within Queen Victoria’s court and played an instrumental role in bringing Young Victoria to the big screen.

So where did Fergie’s fascination with Queen Victoria begin? It might have something to do with the fact that she’s distantly related to Queen Victoria herself through her mother – and also that her two daughters are directly related to the monarch through her royal-born ex-husband. But as she hinted in a LA Times interview, it could also be a case of one royal relating to the trials and tribulations of another.

Whatever the reason, that fascination would eventually evolve beyond books and historical research and into the mainstream. Now, nearly two decades after its release, The Young Victoria remains one of the most acclaimed royal dramas of modern times, and it originated not inside a Hollywood studio, but rather from the idea of a lonely, real-life duchess living in one of the world’s most famous royal palaces.

(The Young Victoria is available to stream on Tubi)

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