Mrs Brown

Queen Victoria

John Brown

Henry Ponsonby

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

Archie Brown

Doctor Jenner

Prince of Wales (Bertie)

Lady Ely

Lady Churchill

Lady-in-Waiting

Princess Alexandra

Princess Helena

Princess Louise

Princess Alice

Prince Alfred

Prince Arthur

Prince Leopold

Bertie's valet

Mrs. Grant

Mr. Grant

Lord Stanley

Mary Taylor, Assistant Dresser

Mary Ann Disraeli

Speaker of the House of Commons

Commons counter

Dean of Windsor

Journalist

Journalist

Sir Charles Dilke

Barney

Footman

The Assassin (uncredited)

Secretary (uncredited)

Supporting artist (uncredited)

Actor Geoffrey Palmer, who plays Henry Ponsonby, plays opposite Dame Judi Dench as he did for years in As Time Goes By (1992) and again in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

Gerard Butler (Archie) became hypothermic after filming the scene in which he and Billy Connolly (John Brown) run naked into the ocean.

The actresses who play the Ladies in Waiting to Queen Victoria (Mrs Brown), are also her Majesty's (Queen Elizabeth), Ladies in Waiting in Shakespeare in Love.

When the Prince of Wales recovers from typhoid, the Queen commands that a Mass of Thanksgiving be held at St. George's Chapel. The Queen was a devout low-church Anglican/Presbyterian in England and Scotland and would have never ordered a mass. In reality, a Church of England Service of Thanksgiving was held at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Disraeli speaks from notes in Parliament and again at the end of the film. The real Disraeli made a point of delivering all of his speeches - including those several hours long or involving complicated statistics - from memory, and he warned younger politicians against using notes as a crutch.

In one scene, a reference is made to Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin was not formed until 1905, four years after Victoria died.

Queen Victoria: No one should think themselves wiser than me!

Henry Ponsonby: I have sent for a Mr. John BROWN from Balmoral. Her majesty has mentioned him, on one or two occasions, as being a most devoted outdoor servant to Prince Albert during his last days there. The depths of the Queen's sorrow remain impenetrable. She has now restricted herself to a regime of such ferocious introspection that we are all at our wits' end. The Household continues, at her instruction, to observe the rituals now so familiar to her, in a vain attempt to render vivid that which can never be revived. It will not surprise you to hear that she continues steadfast in her refusal to accept any public engagements, however trivial. Family and staff expend all their efforts endeavouring to draw her out of this state of unfettered morbidity, but to no avail. Indeed, Doctor Jenner will not undertake to vouchsafe her sanity, unless some remedy is found. We must hope, therefore, that this Mr Brown will appeal to the Queen's sentimental, though deeply-held, view that all Highlanders are good for the health. If she can at least be persuaded to take the air, the prospect of further recovery may seem less remote. He is arriving by boat this afternoon, by which time it is hoped Her Majesty will be in a fit state to consider riding out. As to that decision, along with all others, we remain, as ever, prisoners of the Queen's grief. Ever your devoted husband, Henry.

John Brown: You could buy that lot for garden ornaments and still see change from ten guineas.