While the relationship between Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne was strong enough to encourage speculation that they might marry, most scholars describe their feelings for each other as more akin to a surrogate father and daughter, or at most a school girl crush on Victoria's part.
The opera watched and much referred to is 'Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti (1835). Loosely based on 'The Bride of Lammermoor' by Sir Walter Scott, it concerns a heroine torn between duty to her family and preference for another, while her sanity is doubted.
At their first meeting, Victoria complains to her uncle that Albert was not to her liking the last time they met as he "didn't smile, didn't dance, and was asleep at half past nine." In contrast, the real Victoria was quite taken with Albert at their first meeting, describing him as both charming and delightful and thanking her uncle Leopold (who arranged for the meeting) "for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." They wrote letters for the three years between their first meeting and their marriage, some of which have become public following Victoria's death.
The return to its regular Sunday evening slot saw viewing figures for this third edition of the show climb to 6,025,000 pushing Victoria up to fourth place in the ITV rankings for the period 29th August - 4th September 2016.
Prince George attends the costume ball as Sir Galahad. He was repeatedly misidentified as Sir Lancelot. In the Arthurian legend, Lancelot had an affair with Queen Guinevere and was responsible for the end of the golden days of Camelot.