Behind the scenes at Victoria's Yorkshire palace

IN September, 1835 the young princess who would become Queen Victoria stayed at Harewood House.

She noted in her diary: “Harewood is in Yorkshire. The park seems very fine; the view from the window is very pretty. We dined in the beautiful gallery with a party of nearly 300 in number.”

The great country house has strong links with Queen Victoria - who was the great great great grandmother of the 8th and current Earl of Harewood. Harewood’s collection includes several items owned by Victoria, including her writing set, etchings of her children, and a watch she received from her mother on her 11th birthday.

Harewood House was one of the main sets for last year’s hit ITV series Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman, which was produced at Yorkshire's new Church Fenton Studios near York. Filming for the second series is now under way, and continues at Harewood until September.

New exhibition Victorian Harewood, celebrating the house's links with Victoria, features costumes worn in Series One, including the Coronation dress worn by actress Jenna Coleman as Victoria, and personal objects from Harewood’s family collection given by Queen Victoria. The doors are open to magnificent rooms used as sets in the lavish period drama.

Filming for Victoria transforms Harewood House into Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. Harewood's rooms feature prominently, and filming takes place in the grounds too.

"There are always new stories to tell about Harewood and the success of the TV series Victoria gives us the chance to bring the Victorian era at Harewood to life - something we’ve never really done before," said David Lascelles, Earl of Harewood. "What is interesting is that the most influential and creative personalities of that time here were all women, including Victoria herself, who visited as a teenager before she became queen.

"We’re showing costumes from the show, watercolours, photographs, jewellery and other personal objects to shed new light on a fascinating era."

In Harewood's library lies a leather-bound album filled with charming sketches by Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, of their children and pets. The album - one of only two in existence, the other is in the Royal Collection - offers a personal glimpse of the couple's domestic life.

Another album, 'Souvenir du Bal Costume', contains colourful paintings of guests in fancy dress at a Medieval ball held at Buckingham Palace. "The ball is in Series Two of Victoria," said Harewood's marketing manager, Alexis Guntrip. "Victoria herself is in there, and so is Lady Emma Portman, her lady-in-waiting and the 2nd Earl of Harewood's daughter. She too is portrayed in the series."

Princess Mary, great-grandaughter of Queen Victoria, brought Harewood into the Royal family, when she married Viscount Lascelles in 1922. An assortment of family photographs, including one of Victoria with her great-grandchildren, are arranged in Princess Mary's dressing-room, and other items include a Christening cup given to her by Victoria.

In the State Bedroom stands the ornate bed, made of silk and gilt, Victoria slept in when she stayed at Harewood, aged 16. "Only two people have ever slept in it; the other being the Tsar of Russia," revealed Alexis. "It's the most expensive piece of Chippendale furniture ever made, costing £250 in the 1780s."

The Spanish Library reflects styles of the Victorian age, not least secret servants' doors in bookcases, leading to hidden corridors, and a rocking chair from the 1851 Great Exhibition. Glass doors lead out to the terrace, a regular location in Victoria. "It has been the back of Buckingham Palace, the Opera House and the Reform Club," said Alexis. The Italianate terrace was added to the house in the Victorian era.

Taking pride of place in the Gallery are costumes worn by Jenna Coleman as the young queen. Designed from portraits, they include the dress she wears in the title sequence, a white dress worn by the teenage Victoria on discovering she was to be queen, and the magnificent Coronation gown. The Gallery was used for an elaborate Buckingham Palace dinner scene, with Harewood's state dining table placed in the centre.

Every box is ticked when it comes to attention to detail. "Of course there weren't picture lamps back then, so we have to bring in scaffolding to take them down," said Alexis. "The fire seen by viewers in the fireplaces is made of a gel, as we don't have real fires here. The smoke alarm has to be managed when candles are on set. What you see on TV is only a fraction of what is actually in a room - half of it is filled with cameras of various sizes, lights, and 50 or so people. Cameras have tennis balls on the bottom so they don't damage the floors."

More costumes are on display in the Cinnamon Drawing Room, which appears as Kensington Palace in the TV drama. Objects displayed here include a necklace belonging to Lady Louisa, 3rd Countess of Harewood, its 13 charms representing her 13 children, each containing a lock of their hair.

Life below stairs is depicted in Victoria, filmed largely in the Old Kitchen, where many original Harewood pans are used on set, and the Pastry Room, used for a memorable scene involving a rat infestation. "The rats were released down pipes, but being well-fed, content 'celebrity rats' they just plopped onto the floor and had to be scattered around the room to achieve the desired effect!" smiled Alexis.

Harewood House has renowned art collections, and art plays a significant part in this celebration of its Victorian heritage. Lady Charlotte Canning, Victoria's lady-in-waiting, linked to the Lascelles family through marriage, was a prolific watercolourist and Harewood is home to many of her works detailing life in Britain and India during the British Empire. Victoria was a great friend and on display is a beautiful bracelet she gave to Charlotte, a book bearing the queen's signature and a watercolour Victoria painted.

"Charlotte moved to India when her husband was appointed Governor-General," said Alexis. "When she died of a tropical disease her husband, who had been quite a 'rogue', wrote to Victoria expressing guilt. Victoria had already written to Charlotte outpouring her grief at the death of Albert - these letters would have crossed en route to and from India."

In the Terrace Gallery are black and white images, never seen in public before, by Lady Florence Katherine Bridgeman, 5th Countess of Harewood and an amateur photographer. Her enchanting snaps, accompanied by handwritten captions, capture picnics, children on ponies, fun tennis games, and a group of young women balancing glasses of water on their heads. The natural, informal scenes are in contrast to posed portraits of the Victoria era.

Also on display is contemporary artwork influenced by the Victorian era. The Empire Line, by Gavin Fernandes, is a striking series of contemporary fashion images looking at race, culture and the Victorian Empire. In the library is artist Steve Manthorp’s exquisitely-detailed Haunted Doll’s House, based on a 19th century ghost story.

And artist Kathy Dalwood’s 21st century re-interpretations of the Victorian bust are displayed alongside traditional bronze and porcelain busts of Victoria and Albert. Kathy's busts are created by moulding objects such as buttons, toy trains and part of a wig, cast in plaster.

Kathy moved to Yorkshire as a child when her father, sculptor Hubert Dalwood, took up a Fellowship at Leeds University. "My father was very much a landscape enthusiast so we often went on picnic trips to surrounding countryside," said Kathy. "We usually drove via Harewood village, the house itself seemed remote and otherworldly to me as a child. Fast forward several decades and I finally get to see inside the spectacular edifice of my childhood imaginings. Exhibiting at Harewood felt like a way of reconnecting with Yorkshire, my father and his work, and my childhood and upbringing."

Victorian Harewood runs until October 29. Visit harewood.org