I may be mistaken but it's been my understanding that the woman is Nancy's sister Eliza so the baby would be Nancy's niece. Some cryptic dialogue earlier in the series gave me the impression that Eliza was perhaps the one who was supposed to get the job Nancy has but circumstances (the baby?) prevented it. I'm not sure though.

Anyway, I'd think if Nancy were the baby's mother she probably would've accepted Francatelli's offer, which could help to legitimatize the child. In any case Nancy hasn't seemed like a mother who's forlorn due to separation from her child, so I doubt it's hers.

Something keeps seeming, to me, like there's something "off" about that whole baby situation. Nancy once, when she was talking with one of the young household males, who was saying sympathetic things to her when she was, I believe crying, I think she mentioned to him something about having had to give something up that was or is so difficult, and I think she may have stated that she's lonely. Then, in the season finale, she rebuffed Francatelli's marriage proposal (in order to avoid intimacy, perhaps, so as to be able to maintain the secret of having given birth out of wedlock?), that clearly she seems like she would have liked to accept. (Of course she told him marrying him would keep her down, though that sounded like just an excuse.) Also, when we first "met" the woman who has the baby, it seems like the woman has an almost "blackmail" sort of hold over her. I don't mean that the woman is a literal blackmailer or at all Nancy's enemy, but like she had the power to command and demand of Nancy that she HAD to come through for her and the baby - or else.

If the baby is Nancy's, I fully think she's a "good girl," but that she wound up in trouble somewhere along the line, particularly considering the rough tenements world she sounds to have come from. And earlier in the series, wasn't it stated by Francatelli, to her, that he thought he recognized her from the brothels district, or something like that? Multiple times during Season 1, different things seemed, to me, like Nancy is hiding a huge secret other than solely just having come from an impoverished background. It's spoken of, at least a couple times, that she's moved up inexplicably fast for someone of her background.

I suspect there's some "story to be told" that we haven't yet heard. I wonder what Season 2 will hold?!

You've made a lot of great points genplant29 and I agree there seems to be something mysterious about Nancy's background, and/or her relationship with Eliza. The fact that she almost took the extreme risk of stealing one of the queen's jewels to help support Eliza and the baby proved there's a very strong bond between them. And her high anxiety about their health during the quarantine showed the degree of her concern for them. So you may be right that she's the baby's mother. Whenever I get around to watching the episodes again I'm going to pay closer attention, and maybe turn on the captions too so I don't miss anything important! Nancy's definitely a compelling character.

I hope we haven't seen the last of Mr. Francatelli, but it remains to be seen if the plot stays fairly true to actual history or if it strays for dramatic purposes. I seem to recall reading somewhere that a Miss Skerrett really was one of the queen's maids. It seems like "service" at that rare and exalted level is almost like a calling in life, with accompanying personal sacrifices being requisite.

It's amazing that a former tenement dweller, who's a recent addition to the household staff, could move up to I guess Nancy's considered the Queen's dresser, as you'd think there would have been a sort of pecking order system of who would be "good enough" to interact that closely with the queen. I don't mean that Nancy's "not good enough," but instead mean I would have thought they'd select a dresser (or whatever Nancy's specific position is) from within existing royal household lady's maid staff ranks - vetted ladies deemed "tried and true" over time and who have gradually moved up in position. Nancy seems to have come out of essentially nowhere.

Yes: I'd like to catch a rerun round of Season 1, to at least selectively be able to watch certain scenes here and there. I had forgotten all about that one scene where Nancy temporarily lifted the jewel - though then soon enough secretly returned it.

Ok. something has got me thinking that she and Eliza switched roles. We still don't know who recommended her for service to the queen, but that person could have been recommending Eliza instead. I can't remember what she said her name was at first. I think Eliza must have been the one who was in a position to serve the queen but couldn't because of her baby. And so she traded the job with the less experienced Nancy who in return is caring for Eliza and her baby financially. It seemed to me she had decided to change her mind about going with Francatelli when she ran down and mistook the man in white coat for him. Either way Francatelli is dreamy...

In I believe it was the 3rd or 4th episode of Season 2, it was clarified and outright stated, by "Nancy", that she, indeed, earlier switched places with her cousin who's the bitter woman with the baby. The cousin was who was actually supposed to become employed at the palace, but then had the baby, so "Nancy" (who I guess may actually be named Eliza?) took her place without letting anyone know that she was working under an assumed name/identity.

Something I don't quite understand is, if it was the cousin who was supposed to work at the palace, how long beforehand was she (cousin) interviewed by someone that "Nancy" could eventually show up and no one in charge of staff realize she's not anyone they had ever either seen before, interviewed, or hired?

Yes, in Ep. 4 while Nancy confessed to the queen that her cousin Eliza sold the story about the thief-in-hiding to the press, she also admitted it was the same cousin who was supposed to fill the original job at the palace but that her pregnancy prevented her and so Nancy took her place.

DON'T ASK ME WHY OR HOW this could've happened since the cousins don't resemble one another at all!!! Maybe Mr. Penge interviewed Eliza but Nancy came on board in the transition period during which his power struggle with Baroness Lehzen over who exactly would rule the household staff took place. Just a guess...

Another guess: as far as the names go, maybe since certain female household helpers are always referred to as Mrs. [So and So] whether they're married or not, or else they're simply called by their surnames, the differences in the two girls' first names were able to go unnoticed.

Most likely though this plot point wasn't well-thought out or written with enough explanatory detail to make perfect sense to the viewers.

You are ahead of me in the series..!

skeeter, I hope we didn't give away too much. In the US, Season 2 has been airing on Sunday nights since beginning a few weekends ago. So far five episodes have been broadcast.

Hello in 2018, merry! Yeah: I suspect it's probably going to be a detail that conveniently gets bypassed by the writers, offering any explanation of how "Nancy" was able to start working at the palace when she isn't actually the person who was supposed to become employed.

There still seems to be something(s?) we don't know, that would answer other questions we had earlier in this thread.

No, I am way okay with spoilers. I don't know why but I like knowing what is going to happen. I am smitten by this show. I just finished the 2 hr Season 2 pilot. When I saw pictures of Albert I was thinking, wow, he is not going to be fun to watch but he is my favorite. He IS handsome, very - just didn't look handsome in the pictures. And I love his acting it is so authentic. But my most favorite part is the chemistry between the two leads. Why can't all movies cast leads with such chemistry - it is a make or break issue!

@skeeter38 said:

No, I am way okay with spoilers. I don't know why but I like knowing what is going to happen. I am smitten by this show. I just finished the 2 hr Season 2 pilot. When I saw pictures of Albert I was thinking, wow, he is not going to be fun to watch but he is my favorite. He IS handsome, very - just didn't look handsome in the pictures. And I love his acting it is so authentic. But my most favorite part is the chemistry between the two leads. Why can't all movies cast leads with such chemistry - it is a make or break issue!

Might be because they are dating in real life. Although that isn't always a given. A lot of actors have had relationships with their co-stars that didn't translate well to the screen.

I'm glad to see, from the Wikipedia article, that the series was renewed, in Dec. 2017, for a 3rd season. Also that Season 2 was followed by a Christmas special (that I guess we, in the States, won't see till end of this year, rather than soon after the completion of Season 2's airing).

Still three more episodes to go, on PBS, of Season 2.

Well, I am a financial supporter of my local PBS station in Houston and as a result, I can stream all of the remaining episodes including the Christmas one. I am watching ep 5 "The King over the water" currently.

Hello to you too genplant! I'm very happy to read there will be a third season! Between this show and The Crown, I've developed an addiction to just about anything that features royals. There are lots of documentaries about Elizabeth II apparently because of the popularity of The Crown, and it would be great if there were also some about Victoria since it was such an eventful period during her reign (expansion of empire, industrial revolution kicking into high gear, etc.).

I've always been very interested in books/articles, documentaries, and series about royals. Especially about the British and Russian royal families, but also about European royal families (pretty much all which were/are interrelated) in general. There's certainly lots to capture the imagination, not only regarding the regalness, privilege, etc., but so much association with fascinating history of throughout the generations.

Victoria easily captures the imagination because of how extremely long she reigned, bridging such a huge span of time, and how much lingering impact and influence she had. Too how many children she and Albert had, and the major houses of Europe they (the children) or their children married in to, and who wound up a king, queen, emperor, empress, or tsar/tsarina in their own right.