Saucy royal quip they tried to censor

An archivist was not amused by a revelation of high spirits between Victoria and her gillie
A young Queen Victoria, whose closeness to John Brown after the death of her husband was no secret
A young Queen Victoria, whose closeness to John Brown after the death of her husband was no secret
UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/UIG VIA GETTY IMAGES

The lifting of royal skirts and hoisting of a kilt in a moment of frivolity might not seem much of a scandal today but an incident involving Queen Victoria has caused outrage among the guardians of the Royal Archives.

Archivists have been accused of censoring historians after a row about Victoria and her relationship with John Brown, the gillie with whom she developed a close relationship after the death of Prince Albert.

Julia Baird faced opposition to parts of her account
Julia Baird faced opposition to parts of her account

Julia Baird, an Australian author and journalist, claims that a senior archivist asked her to remove passages from her new book, Victoria: The Queen, that related to a saucy encounter between the gillie and his employer. Baird submitted her manuscript to the senior archivist, Pamela Clark, a requirement under a contract she