A full military state funeral almost ends in disaster as the Queen’s coffin topples on the gun carriage and a royal tradition is born.

Not many get this close to history.

Conclusion of Michael Chaplin’s drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

Based on the book Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s, an eyewitness history by Stewart Richards.

For two weeks the nation stopped in its tracks, mesmerised by the mortality of a little old lady who had sat on the throne for over 60 years. Her children squabbled, her doctors quarrelled, her army bickered and the public were misled and kept in the dark.

This is the remarkable story of Queen Victoria's final days and the chaos and confusion surrounding her funeral, told by those who were there.

Old Winnie Powell …... Marcia Warren
Interviewer …... Carl Prekopp
Mary Tuck …... Wendy Nottingham
Young Winnie Powell …... Lauren Cornelius
Sir James Reid …... Ross F Sutherland
Sir Frederick ‘Fritz’ Ponsonby .….. Tom Turner
King Edward VII …... Gerard McDermott
Almeric Fitzroy .….. Hywel Morgan
Daniel …... Douglas Clarke-Wood

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Director: Carl Prekopp

Producers: Lucinda Mason Brown & Stewart Richards

A Stewart Richards / Goldhawk Essential co-production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018. Show less