Boussoles à la page Victoria’s secrets Kensington Palace, where Queen Victoria spent her childhood, conjures up intimate memories of England’s famous female monarch. An evocative exploration of the corridors of history, big and small. A plump lady with a severe expression and stiff manners, Farther on, in the Pigott Gallery, a display of artworks presents the draped in black: this is how photographs captured Queen life of Victoria as queen. The rooms follow the path of the young Victoria, how history canonized her reign of over 63 years. But wife (white petticoats and silver boots), the mother (nine children, history and mythology do not always coincide. Was Queen portraits of each) and the widow (seven mourning dresses). Victoria as Victorian as legend would have it? Two hundred Another showcase contains examples of some of her writings. years after her birth, Kensington Palace has set out to spruce Here, Victoria is about 60 years old, and her Indian servant up that lackluster portrait and bring to light the complex Mohammed Abdul Karim is teaching her to write the Urdu lan- character of Her Majesty the Queen. guage. The queen loved learning about Indian culture and eating Those of us who watched the Netfl ix series The Crown, based curry, as well as tracing the foreign words with her quill. The on the reign of Elizabeth II, Victoria’s great-great-granddaughter, colorful turbans of the man she called “the Munshi” lifted her learned some of the many secrets of the history of the British dark moods. Victoria never got over the death of her husband, Crown. Twenty episodes gave us a glimpse behind the scenes. Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The black she The exhibition devoted to Victoria may be less adventurous, wore was not a sign of prudish morals, but rather spoke of her but the original setting makes up for the lack of scandalous physical passion for her “dearly beloved Albert.” And there’s still tidbits. Victoria lived at Kensington Palace until she acceded the Cupola Room to visit, where Victoria was baptized. The high to the throne in 1837, at the age of 18. Restorers scratched at ceiling is painted in trompe l’oeil, giving the effect of a coffered the walls to fi nd out what the wallpaper looked like in the dome. Some might see this decorative illusion as an apt refl ection 1820s and 1830s, when Princess Victoria was learning to of a royal family that shows only what it chooses to show. Before write, going to the opera and drawing ballerinas. Cult objects leaving, stop by the palace café, where generous slices of Black like her writing books, letters and drawings are shown for the Forest gâteau, Victoria’s favorite cake, are served in pretty dishes. fi rst time. The atmosphere of the apartments was recreated by theater designer Verity Quinn, who drew on a furniture inven- DISCOVER THE REAL VICTORIA À partir du 24.05. Exposition et tory made at the palace in 1832, as she hunted down the right nouveau parcours autour de la reine Victoria. Kensington Palace, kind of chests and tables with turned feet and gleaming wood- Londres. www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/discover-the-real-victoria work. Visitors are encouraged to peep into the future queen’s doll’s house and to marvel over a lock of hair kept in a scrap- book of mementos, which belonged to her governess, Baroness Lehzen. A series of fi gurines has even been made, showing the princess at her daytime and evening activities, sitting on a pony, dismissing a private secretary. You’re allowed to touch these small, delicately hued statuettes, but not to move them about—Victoria is not some kind of pawn. Gravure de la jeune Victoria entourée de ses paets,e duc et la duchesse de Kent, 1838. Engraving of the young Victoria flanked by her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, 1838. Bottines de satin argentées confectionnées pour la reine par Gundry & Sons, 1840. Silver satin boots made for the queen by Gundry & Sons, 1840. Robe de deuil avec traîne en soie, crêpe et mousseline, 1898. Mourning dress of silk, crêpe and chiffon, 1898. 94