The London Times - January 02, 2002
(Our thanks to Linna Martel)
JACK MALVERN
QUEEN VICTORIA, once the Empress of the Empire on which the
sun never set, is fighting a losing battle for recognition in the eyes of
the British public against Frank Spencer. Although the results of the
BBC’s Great Britons survey have not yet been published, an article in
Ariel, the Beeb’s in-house magazine, reveals that Queen Victoria has
polled fewer votes than Michael Crawford, whose career highlights
include singing Music of the Night in The Phantom of the Opera and
saying “Ooh, Betty, the cat’s done a whoopsy” in Some Mothers Do
’Ave ’Em.
Victorian academics are not amused. “I’m absolutely
gobsmacked,”
exclaims Dr Sarah Richardson of Warwick University,
a leading
19th-century historian and the only person we could get hold
of
on New Year’s Day. “I don’t mind Michael Crawford’s work, but
this is very surprising. I guess it reflects people’s historical knowledge.
I’d go for someone like the Pankhursts — they effected far greater
change than Victoria ever did.” But not as much, perhaps, as
Frank Spencer.