by Susan Flantzer

Ferdinand Kingsley (Charles Francatelli) and Nell Hudson (Nancy Skerrett) on the exciting, new chapter of Skerretelli's relationship, as well as the risks of what they're leaving behind. Charles Elme’ Francatelli is believed to have been born in London in 1805, to Nicholas and Sarah Francatelli. He actually grew up in France. He studied cooking at the Parisian College of Cooking, from which he received a diploma. Charles Francatelli Charles Francatelli was the Queen's Head Chef. He first appeared in Doll 123 and we didn't know much about him. Marianne Skerrett remained in contact with Queen Victoria, visiting her and writing to her, until her death in 1887 at the age of 94. She bequeathed to Queen Victoria a painting by the British painter William Hogarth, The Popple and Ashley Families, a colonial family in Bermuda, one of which had been Marianne’s grandmother (the child in the painting).

Marianne Skerrett attributed to Dr. Ernest Becker, circa 1859; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

Marianne Skerrett was the Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1862.

Marianne Skerrett was the daughter of a British Army officer who owned a plantation in Bermuda. Her uncle had been sub-treasurer to Queen Charlotte, Victoria’s paternal grandmother. Her great-grandfather William Popple had been a Governor of Bermuda. Marianne was born in 1793, so she was 44-years-old when the 18-year-old Victoria became queen. She was very intelligent, extremely well-read and fluent in Danish, French, and German. Recommended to Queen Victoria by Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, a Lady of the Bedchamber, Marianne became one of Queen Victoria’s two dressers in 1837 and eventually became head dresser.

As the head dresser, Marianne, who was called Skerrett by Queen Victoria, was responsible for Victoria’s wardrobe. She oversaw the ordering of all the queen’s clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, and undergarments. In addition, Marianne kept the wardrobe accounts and was diligent in checking all the bills to make sure no one tried to cheat Victoria. She was also responsible for supervising the hairdressers, dressmakers, and the seamstresses who kept the royal wardrobe in good repair.

Marianne and Victoria had a lot in common. They were both intelligent, loved animals, spoke several languages, read and discussed books, and shared an interest in paintings and painters. Victoria would come to rely on Marianne to help with the purchase of paintings and in corresponding with artists. After the departure in 1842 of Baroness Louise Lehzen, Victoria’s former governess and then advisor and companion, Marianne took on some of her duties, becoming somewhat of a secretary and doing whatever Victoria needed her to do.

After 25 years of serving Queen Victoria, Marianne retired in 1862 at the age of 69. She was anxious to return to the world beyond the palace walls. She wrote about her retirement, “This year I shall hope and trust to be able to say and do to a certain extent what I have so long been wanting to do…” Marianne received a pension of £70 and went to live with her sister in the Marylebone section of London.

Marianne Skerrett by Rosa Koberwein, 1880; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Marianne Skerrett remained in contact with Queen Victoria, visiting her and writing to her, until her death in 1887 at the age of 94. She bequeathed to Queen Victoria a painting by the British painter William Hogarth, The Popple and Ashley Families, a colonial family in Bermuda, one of which had been Marianne’s grandmother (the child in the painting). The painting is currently in the Royal Collection. Upon hearing that Marianne Skerrett had died Queen Victoria wrote in her journal: “She came to me at my accession, & was most useful at the head of my Wardrobe, ordering everything, looking over my bills, &c, & arranging with the different artists. She was quite a superior person, very clever, read enormously, had an intense passion for animals, & was a great friend of Landseer’s, & of many of the artists.”

The Popple and Ashley Families by William Hogarth; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard
Support Unofficial Royalty by using this link for all your Amazon purchases! Amazon.com

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.

Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805–10 August 1876) was an Italian Britishcook,^[1] known for his cookery books popular in the Victorian era, such as The Modern Cook.

Biography[edit]

Francatelli was born in London, of Italian extraction, in 1805, and was educated in France, where he studied the art of cookery. Coming to England, he was employed successively by various noblemen, subsequently becoming chief chef of the St James's Club, popularly known as Crockford's club. He left Crockford's to become chief cook to Queen Victoria from 9 March 1840 to 31 March 1842,^[2] and then returned to Crockford's. He was managing steward of the Coventry House Club from the day it opened on 1 June 1846 until it closed on 25 March 1854, and at the Reform Club from 1854 to 1861. He was Manager of the St James's Hotel, at the corner of Berkeley Street and Piccadilly, from 1863 to 1870. He worked as chef de cuisine to the Prince and Princess of Wales at the nearby Marlborough House from early 1863 until at least late September 1866. From 1870 to 76 he was manager of the Freemasons' Tavern.^[3][4]

Works[edit]

Francatelli was the author of The Modern Cook (1845);^[5] of A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes (1852), The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant (1861), and of The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book (1862). Francatelli died at Eastbourne.

A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes was reprinted in 1993, complete with the original advertisements and introduction.

Charles Francatelli Cookbook First Edition

Reception[edit]

Clarissa Dickson Wright, describing Francatelli as 'the Italian confectioner', describes him as liking 'his elaborate sugar decorations. He also talks about making pearls, birds and feathers out of sugar to decorate your dessert course.' She compares it to a meal in Daisy Ashford's The Young Visiters, and comments that while such fiddly decoration may have looked good, she wasn't sure it did anything for the taste.^[6]

In media[edit]

In Victoria Charles Francatelli is played by Ferdinand Kingsley. In the series, Francatelli works at the palace for several years until he marries Nancy Skerrett, the Queen's Head Dresser,^[7] and the couple leaves the palace to open their own hotel.^[8] But in real life, Francatelli never married the Queen's Head Dresser (whose real name was Marianne Skerrett).^[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Charles Francatelli Wiki

1. ^'Francatelli, Charles Elmé' . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
2. ^Account books of the Lord Steward of the Royal Household for 1840–42, National Archive, Kew, refs. LS 2/66, LS 2/67 and LS 2/68
3. ^Colin Smythe, 'Charles Elmé Francatelli, Crockford's and the Royal Connection' in Petits Propos Culinaires 101 (2014), pp. 42–67, and 'Charles Elmé Francatelli, Additions & Supplementations' in Petits Propos Culinaires 102 (2015), pp. 100–118
4. ^Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 'Francatelli, Charles Elmé'. Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 774–775.
5. ^The Modern Cook
6. ^Wright, Clarissa Dickson (2011). A History of English Food. Random House. pp. 340–341. ISBN978-1-905-21185-2.
7. ^London Bridge is falling down. Victoria Series 3 2019. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8098850/?ref_=ttep_ep2
8. ^Foreign bodies. Victoria Series 3 2019. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9280046/?ref_=ttep_ep4.
9. ^Dennison, Matthew (2016). ITV didn't need to embellish Queen Victoria's life... https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/03/itv-didnt-need-to-embellish-queen-victoria-life

External links[edit]

• Works by Charles Elmé Francatelli at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Charles Elmé Francatelli at Internet Archive