The English stately homes in The Young Victoria

There have been a glut of British period dramas in the past few months. Brideshead Revisited, The Duchess and The Edge of Love have all taken us back in time to a world before mobile phones, traffic jams and Dominos pizza where people talk in perfectly enunciated clipped voices and know how to stand up straight. This is the Britain, or most commonly the England that is imagined by tourists to our shores and further adding to this weighty catalogue of historical pieces is new flick The Young Victoria.

Never fear, this is not a look back at the early days of Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, how she learned how to perfect her pout or the dance routine to “Spice Up Your Life”, rather it takes as its subject matter a more influential Victoria if such a thing can be imagined. A woman that like her pop star namesake coped with incredible celebrity all the while managing to lead her nation through the industrial revolution, oversee the rise of the British Empire and pop out an eye-watering nine children. This is Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent, who after the death of her uncle King William IV ascended to the throne and stayed there for an unparalleled 63 years and seven months.

The film doesn’t look to encompass this entire duration, focussing on the period from 1836 until 1840 that saw Victoria become both queen and a married woman, and yet this doesn’t mean a scaling back of ambition. In contrast, the film radiates quality throughout. Onscreen there is a star-studded cast including Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt as the young Victoria, Pride and Prejudice’s rogue Mr Wickham, Rupert Friend as the love of her life, Prince Albert and Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent and Miranda Richardson among others; while behind the cameras it’s Oscars galore with screenwriter Julian Fellowes, costume designer Sandy Powell and producers Graham King and Martin Scorcese. There’s even a touch of royal class courtesy of fellow producer The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.

Adding further to the prestige of the project are the sumptious stately houses and grand buildings such as Blenheim Palace, Lincoln Cathedral and Hampton Court Palace that The Young Victoria had the fortune to film at – though it very nearly didn’t happen that way.

Producer Graham King has revealed that the high cost of shooting on British soil almost saw the production up sticks for Eastern Europe or Germany, though the idea was soon shelved in a bid for authenticity. “It adds so much to the film to shoot at these beautiful locations,” explains King. “You look at these places and think how can you not shoot here? Not only does the film look ravishing, but it’s important for everyone especially the cast and director to feel that authenticity and see that translate onto the screen.”

King’s belief that the locations would benefit the cast and crew is echoed by his co-producer Denis O’Sullivan who felt “transported” by the experience, though he also hopes the audience will share in the sense of grandeur. “I’ve seen so many period films where you can tell that the producers have spent money on one or two beautiful locations and that’s it,” he says. “For an audience to really feel like they’re getting a glimpse into what it was like to be royal it was important to have a big visual scope to the film.”

And the scope truly is big with a total of 17 English locations used in the film. Among this number is the odd public space such as royal park St. James’s Park, yet its chiefly behind closed doors that the true magic of the age is created.