Are they part of the Tudor Tiara so lovingly designed by the late Prince Consort? Or are the earrings in that hideous bauble merely paste? Come to that, is the tiara the real tiara or just a copy of the genuine thing? Nothing seems certain in this summer of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Such an unsettling time! Not like the good old days!
Abridged by Mollie Hardwick from the novel by Robert Player
Read by John Moffatt Producer John Cardy
(First of 12 instalments)