퀸 Victoria adored Prince Albert so much it made her loathe her nine children 

Queen Victoria adored Prince Albert so much it made her loathe her nine children

As Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes enthral the nation with their epic love story it is clear Victoria and Albert\'s obsession with each other made them terrible parents

Jenna Coleman as Victoria and Tom Hughes as Albert in the ITV show

Their fairytale royal romance had the nation enthralled when it played out almost 180 years ago.

And it’s happening all over again as more than seven million viewers tune into the TV version of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s love story.

The fact that the stars of ITV1 drama Victoria – Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes – are an item in real life only adds to the show’s pulling power.

But Sunday night’s penultimate episode brought an unwanted interruption to the royal couple’s marital bliss. Morning sickness.

A child is on the way – it would be the first of nine – and to say Victoria looked less than thrilled at the prospect would be an understatement. But the hints at her lack of maternal instinct only scratch the surface of the reality.

Victoria and Albert were obsessed with each other and that, historians say, made them terrible parents.

“Albert was the real love of her life and the children were just there as bi-products of that relationship,” says Professor John Plunkett of Exeter University’s Centre for Victorian Studies.

“In terms of intimacy she felt more for Albert than for her own kids. He was always by her side – even when he dies she sleeps with a photo of him pinned to the headboard of her bed.

ITV confirms Jenna Coleman-starring Victoria will return for second series

So with such an obvious distaste for children, at least in private, why did Victoria go on to have four sons and five daughters? In a word, sex.

When Victoria’s doctor warned the 38-year-old queen against having a 10th child she cared about one thing, asking: “Am I not to have any more fun in bed?”

And there were few effective forms of contraception available at the time.

In last week’s episode Albert found Victoria jumping up and down 10 times after they had had sex, in an attempt to avoid getting pregnant.

Victoria with her youngest child, Princess Beatrice, who she kept close throughout her life

Initially the couple, who were both just 20 when they wed in 1840, seemed to have produced a flawless family.

By the end of 1841 they were parents of Princess Victoria and Prince Albert.

Princess Alice followed three years later then, at two-year intervals, Alfred, Helena, Louise and Arthur.

Leopold was born in 1853, before Beatrice became the last of the couple’s nine children, in 1857.

The arrival of the first two children gave the monarchy’s popularity a much-needed boost after the reigns of her philandering uncles, George IV and William IV.

Jenna Coleman 'dating Victoria co-star Tom Hughes': Pair's on-screen romance 'playing out in real-life'

“The whole nation wanted them to get together and have an heir as soon as possible,” says Prof Plunkett.

“It was really good for her image. People really wanted to believe in the royal family’s myth and there was enough truth to the myth to make it stick in the minds of the public. But she actually wasn’t that interested in the children.”

Victoria hated many aspects of being a mother. She suffered depressions before and after births and loathed breastfeeding. Her letters revealed that she had a “totally insurmountable disgust for the process”.

Even when her own children started breastfeeding she said it had reduced them to cattle, writing: “It makes my hair stand on end that my daughters have turned into cows.”

In one letter she referred to babies as “nasty objects” saying that even “the prettiest are frightful”.

She even says they have peculiar “big bodies and little limbs and that terrible frog-like action”.

With her feelings clear, it would be easy to assume Victoria would have left the upbringing of the children to nannies. In fact, she did the opposite, imposing herself and her views on every part of the children’s lives, even once they were grown up. She even had spies watch them and report back to her.

Beatrice, known always as “Baby”, seems to have suffered most.

She was just four when Albert died and from that moment Victoria took over every aspect of her life, seemingly desperate for her never to leave home.

Beatrice was devoted to her mother and, despite Victoria’s meddling in her love life – chasing away at least one suitor – she married a prince.

With Beatrice still unable, or unwilling, to leave her mother’s side, the newlywed couple moved into the palace to live with the queen.

Deirdre Murphy, a historian at Victoria’s childhood home, Kensington Palace, said: “Victoria was very dependant on her children, particularly after Prince Albert died. She leaned on her daughters.

The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video

“She always regretted her daughters getting married because she felt that they were leaving her alone and lonely.”

Victoria clearly played favourites, with son Bertie – the future Edward VII – a constant disappointment to her, a failure both academically and artistically. Not to mention his lack of good looks which saw Victoria say: “Handsome I cannot think him, with that painfully small and narrow head, those immense features and total want of chin.”

In contrast Victoria’s favourite son was Prince Arthur, who had a successful military career and, perhaps more importantly, obeyed his mother.

Victoria star Jenna Coleman is a regal beauty as she puts on leggy display in LBD to visit the BBC

Nevertheless, Victoria seems to have taken her deep-rooted frustration out on the children, often losing her temper when they misbehaved.

She was once giving a beating to Leopold, who suffered from haemophilia, when her mother intervened to stop her. Asked how she could hear them cry so much Victoria replied: “Once you’ve had nine, mother, you don’t notice any more.”

Leopold died aged 30 as a result of the condition, which stops sufferers’ blood from clotting.

Even Albert despaired of her heavy-handed treatment. “It is a pity you find no consolation in the company of your own children,” he once wrote to her. “The root of the problem lies in the mistaken notion that the function of a mother is always to be correcting, scolding and ordering them about.”

Tom Hughes has garnered many fans for his portrayal of Albert

But Albert was no perfect parent and had cripplingly high expectations of their children, especially Prince Edward.

Prof Plunkett says: “They tried to micro-manage him. They pushed him too hard, too early. But Albert had these high expectations of all his children and they suffered because of that.”

From an early age, Prince Edward rebelled. He became known as the “playboy prince” for his love of gambling, boozing and women.

It was his affair with actress Nellie Clifton that caused the greatest upset, however, because it led to the intervention of Prince Albert.

Victoria was convinced the stress of dealing with Edward’s reckless affair had led directly to her husband’s death, believed to be from typhoid fever, aged 42.

She wrote of Edward: “I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder.”

Several of Victoria’s other children suffered scandals, including Princess Louise, who is believed to have had an illegitimate child, aged 18. She was also a big supporter of the early feminist movement and married a commoner, Lord Lorne, later Duke of Argyll.

In her twilight years, Victoria became even more overbearing and demanding of the regal offspring, often putting her own happiness before theirs.

But by the time she died in 1901, the combination of cold and overbearing parenting had already backfired. Her legacy would be a long way from a model monarchy or a happy family

Are Prince William and Kate Middleton expecting baby number three? Bookies slash odds after Canada tour

Bookmakers have cut the odds to just 4/6 for a 2017 announcement while it\'s a 4/1 shot that the news will emerge before the end of the year

'Bomber's plot to kill the Queen' when she was in Dublin for historic State visit

Jenna Coleman steps out with Tom Hughes as the country falls in love with their romance on Victoria

The Victoria co-stars are rumoured to have been dating for months in secret, but they are keeping tight-lipped about their relationship

Queen Victoria's knickers get collectors in a twist as they sell for a whopping £16,250 at auction

The Rock and Ellen DeGeneres named in highest paid TV stars survey as Kim Kardashian DOESN'T make list

Strictly's Anastacia back at rehearsals after doctors give her the all-clear

Evan Rachel Wood strips NAKED opposite Luke Hemsworth in eerie scene for new hit TV series Westworld

Alan Carr says he'll NEVER present The Great British Bake Off with Paul Hollywood

Quiz: How well do you remember X Factor's funniest contestants?

X Factor's Gifty Louise cautioned for assaulting policeman she claims was 'touching her inappropriately'

Coleen Nolan impersonates Britney Spears as she squeezes into popstar's iconic skintight red latex catsuit

X Factor's Honey G signed up to Tinder to find love, get married and have kids ASAP

Olly Murs reevaluated his life after X Factor and thinks he and Caroline Flack had more to offer

X Factor makeovers revealed: First look at this year's final 12 ahead of live shows

Britney Spears looks stunning on Loose Women but annoys viewers by openly CHEWING GUM

Emmerdale's Ashley Thomas actor John Middleton teases emotional exit: 'I could be going next week'

Ruth Langsford is 'too busy for sex' with Eamonn Holmes but Janet Street Porter is willing to help

X Factor contestants The Brooks respond to Katie Price's THREESOME proposal

David Cameron swept aside ministers' fears to push Syria bombing plan through Cabinet, Iain Duncan Smith claims

Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi continues war of words with Cristiano Ronaldo over Messi 'jealousy' jibe

Kanye West hires Kim Kardashian lookalikes and adds £6m to security bill after Paris raid

Cristiano Ronaldo set for Portugal return as he trains ahead of qualifiers against Andorra and Faroe Islands

Jason McAteer reveals how transfer from Bolton to Liverpool left Kenny Dalglish "fuming"

Demi Lovato is QUITTING music and fame next year amid Taylor Swift row

Stevi Ritchie breaks down in tears as he confirms split from fiancée Chloe Jasmine

Home Secretary Amber Rudd's former business partner appointed liquidator of one of her failed firms