As the end of Victoria series three draws to a close, viewers have been shocked to see the cruel behaviour of the Duke of Monmouth towards his wife, the Duchess Sophie, when he found out she was having an affair.
But as much of the long-running series – which features Jenna Coleman as HRH and Tom Hughes as Albert – is written from historical documents and Victoria’s diaries about events that actually took place, did this storyline also happen in real life?
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The storyline in the show
Over the course of season three, the Duchess of Monmouth, Sophie (played by Lily Travers) – also a lady in waiting to Victoria – has become increasingly close to a royal footman, Joseph, and eventually plans to leave her husband, the Duke of Monmouth, and run away with her new lover.
But the Duke gets wind of her plans, then gets two doctors to declare her hysterical and insane, and locks her up in a bedroom in their house. When the queen realises what the Duke has done, she demands that he release her, and Sophie is left in the position of having to decide whether to elope to America with Joseph or whether to stay in London for her son, William.
When asked about this particular plot, the creator of the series, Daisy Goodwin said: “Sophie is a fictional character but the other two [new characters, Feodora and Lord Palmerston] are real characters.”
Who is it based on?
While Sophie may be dreamt up by Goodwin, the role is inspired by the Victorian social reformer and feminist writer, Caroline Norton.
Norton was involved in a scandal in the prudish Victorian era, when she tried to leave her husband, the Tory MP George Norton in 1836. He was said to have beaten and abused his wife and for her own safety she escaped the marriage, but was forced to leave behind her three children.
George also believed Lord Melbourne – then the Prime Minister – was having an affair with his wife.
Caroline managed to subsist on her earnings as an author, but then Norton claimed these as his own, arguing successfully in court that, as her husband, Caroline’s earnings were legally his.
Impoverished and with her husband confiscating her earnings, she then used the law to her own advantage and she ran up bills in George’s name and told the debt collectors they would have to settle the bills with her husband.
George then kidnapped the couple’s three children and took them to Scotland, and refused to tell Caroline where they were. He then tried to blackmail Lord Melbourne for £10,000 and when that didn’t work, he then tried to sue him.
A jury threw out the claim in court, but Caroline was unable to obtain a divorce. However, her reputation was ruined and she was then forbidden from seeing her sons.
Further family tragedy
Further tragedy struck when her youngest son, William, fell from a horse in 1842. George told Caroline about the accident too late – by the time she arrived after being informed he was ill he had died.
Caroline protested vehemently at her lack of rights and her subsequent campaigns led to the passing of the Infant Custody Bill in 1839.
But Caroline did not stop there, she continued to demand better protection and rights for women to make sure they were supported after divorce.
She wrote and published pamphlets in support of mothers’ custodial rights. In one, she wrote, “I exist and I suffer, but the law denies my existence”. While Norton’s life was filled with strife, she began an important fight to allow women to have a separate legal existence from their husbands.
Her work helped to pass the Marriage and Divorce Act of 1857 that gave women greater rights than previously held.
She died in 1877.
The final episode of Victoria is on ITV on Sunday 12 May at 9pm.
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