Actress becomes accidental detective by decoding a 100-year-old mystery behind museum portraits

Sometimes, all we might need is the internet and a witty mind to solve a long-standing mystery. Recently, a London-based actor and filmmaker named Andreane Rellou solved a century-old mystery that had been puzzling the curators of Brighton Museum in the UK for years. Rellou, who goes by @andreaneoftheisland on TikTok, shared a video about her venture as an "accidental detective" and it gained over 530K views. When Rellou spotted a couple of Fabergé artifacts, photographs of two unknown women, she felt the urge to investigate who they were. Surprisingly, her efforts paid off in solving the mystery. 

Rellou began her video by expressing her excitement over making headlines for her investigative endeavors. It all started when Rellou visited the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery this March with her sister. The actress was thrilled to visit the museum for the first time as she was keen on checking out the exhibition about designer Edward Burne Jones. When the "beautiful" display of the two Fabergé photo frames caught her eye, Rellou learned that it was discovered in the museum's storage rooms by antique expert Geoge Munn. The artifacts were displayed along with a sign that said that the museum curators couldn't find the women's identities and sought help from visitors to identify them.

"I was never very good at school but I had all those Egyptology books and naturally loved research and solving mysteries," the actress explained. When she was back in London, Rellou put on her "detective" hat and turned the pages of history.  She found one of the women in the photo frame within four hours. "I'm a big fan of fashion history so I used her hair and clothes to figure out where the photo was from," Rellou mentioned. By guessing the woman's age and the time she must've gotten married, Rellou found that it was Marie de Rothschild, wife of Leopold de Rothschild. Finding the other woman took the actress a few days. Using borrowed forensic techniques, she compared the woman's face with the upper-class women of those times and found that it was Sophia of Prussia, the Queen of Greece.

Turns out, Sophia of Prussia was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria who loved to holiday in Sussex every year. Rellou was elated to have uncovered the women's identity as many royal or upper-class ladies have been forgotten in history. She thanked the museum for letting her live her "Sherlock Holmes" fantasy. The Brighton Museum historians were awestruck by the actress' incredible investigative prowess. However, Rellou feels otherwise. "I'm not a professional detective or researcher in any way- my main work is as an actress and screenwriter," she told Newsweek. "I'm endlessly fascinated by women whose achievements have been forgotten, and the kind of historical and detective work it takes to bring them back," she added.

"Funny that the professionals weren't able to do this especially since these women were so well known. Well done," @wilmaflint7 commented in her video. "I feel like our education system failed you if you’re saying you’re not good at school. You’re brilliant!" lauded @ayayx91. 

You can follow Andreane (@andreaneoftheisland) on TikTok for fashion and lifestyle content.