14 Victoria Characters With Their Real-Life Counterparts

Born in 1819, Victoria became queen in 1837 when she was 18 years old. She reigned until her death in 1901, and until her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II beat her record in 2015, she was the longest-reigning British monarch in history. Victoria married Albert in 1840 and by all accounts was deeply in love with him. They had nine children together; when he died in 1861, she was devastated and wore black for the rest of her life.

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was Victoria's first cousin; they married in 1840. As depicted on Victoria, he was relatively progressive and campaigned for abolition and education reform. He died at the age of 42 — young even for 1861. At the time of his death he was diagnosed with typhoid fever, but modern historians believe he may have suffered from a chronic illness like cancer or Crohn's disease.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, was a mentor of Victoria's during her early years as queen; he also served as Prime Minister in 1834 and from 1835 to 1841. The show implies that Lord M and Victoria may have shared more than platonic feelings for one another, but chalk that up to the handsomeness of Rufus Sewell — the real Victoria said she thought of Melbourne as a father figure.

This Victoria was the mother of the other Victoria (whose given first name was Alexandrina — that's why you hear her mother calling her "Drina" on the show). Victoria married into the British royal family in 1818, but when her husband Prince Edward died in 1820, she stayed in England in hopes that their daughter would eventually inherit the throne.

Louise Lehzen was Victoria's governess, and after Victoria became queen, Lehzen served as one of her closest advisers. Lehzen and Prince Albert did not get along, and after the birth of his and Victoria's first child, Albert convinced Victoria to dismiss her former tutor.

Ernest II was the older brother of Prince Albert; he became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon their father's death in 1844. Like his show counterpart, he was promiscuous in real life though probably not as handsome; at some point he also suffered from a venereal disease.

Harriet was one of Victoria's closest friends and served as Mistress of the Robes off and on from 1837 to 1861. Her grandmother was Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, who you may remember from the 2008 Keira Knightley movie The Duchess.

Leopold was Victoria's uncle and the brother of Victoria, Duchess of Kent. He was king of Belgium from 1831 to 1865. Fun royal fact: Alex Jennings also stars in The Crown as Queen Elizabeth's uncle Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in 1936 after falling in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

Lady Emma was a Lady of the Bedchamber for Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1851. Her father was Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood, who — another Crown connection! — was an ancestor of Tommy Lascelles, formidable Private Secretary to both George VI and Elizabeth II.

Peel was Prime Minster of the U.K. from 1834 to 1835 and from 1841 to 1846, or to put it in terms of the show, he was the guy who was Prime Minister when Lord M wasn't. Peel died in 1850 from injuries sustained after he was thrown from a horse.

Charles Elmé Francatelli was a British Italian who served as Victoria's chief cook from 1840 to 1842. He later authored several cookbooks, including A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, served as Prime Minister from 1828 to 1830 and again in 1834. He is perhaps known for his defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Louis Philippe I reigned as the king of France from 1830 to 1848. His daughter, Louise of Orléans, married the aforementioned King Leopold, just in case you needed further proof that all these people are related.

I couldn't find a usable picture of the real Duchess of Buccleuch, but I'm never going to pass up an opportunity to put Dame Diana "I Want Her to Know It Was Me" Rigg in a slideshow. The real duchess was a friend of Victoria's and served briefly as Mistress of the Robes; Victoria was also godmother to one of Charlotte's daughters.