It’s 1485, England, Henry VII and the House of Tudor have defeated the forces of the House of York bringing an end to the bloody War of the Roses. Princess Elizabeth of York has been promised to Henry in marriage in an effort to unite the country by uniting the Houses of York and Tudor. There’s just one small problem neither wants to marry the other, in fact, one could say they despised one another. And thus, you have the premise of The White Princess, an eight-episode series which premiered last week on Starz. Based on the Phillipa Gregory novel of the same name, the series is a sequel to The White Queen which aired in 2013.
While Henry (Jacob Collins-Levy) may be King, but it’s the women who hold the power in this series.
Jodie Comer was a wonderful choice to play the defiant young Prince Elizabeth, “Lizzie” to her mother and family. She carries herself with a regal bearing throughout and while others around her are fearful the new King will punish them for remaining loyal to the House of York, she revels in her defiance. After having been brought to the palace to prepare her for her wedding, she stands stoic refusing to bow in his presence at their first meeting, even refusing to attend when he is crowned King. She is willing to do her duty for God and country and marry Henry, but her heart will remain loyal to her lover Richard, whom Henry killed in battle.
When the King’s manipulating Lady Margaret Beaufort (Michelle Fairly), tells Lizzie she has chosen what her motto as Queen will be, “Humble and Penitent”, Lizzie remains unbowed. Underneath she is seething, determined this upstart and his family will not destroy hers, a trait she inherited from her mother, Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville (Essie Davis).
At their first private dinner, she enrages Henry by reveling in an allegory about making love with her true love. The timing in their verbal sparing is impecible. It’s one of the best scenes of the episode, and Collins-Levy and Comer are wonderful in it sniping at one another. They have a good chemistry and one could see that while these two characters hate one another now there is an electricity between them. Henry grabs her and drags her into a bedroom, taunting her about being a whore and thus proceeds to treat her as one, impregnating her as she stares off into space looking bored during the act.
Now pregnant and resigned to carrying a child she wishes was her dead lovers’, she demands a wedding. She puts her defiance on public display after emphatically stating she will choose her own wedding dress and she does. She chooses to be married in a black and red gown as befits she harlot, sold into marriage she considers herself to be, also telling her mother not to worry, while publicly appearing to be the dutiful wife and Queen she will continue the fight to restore the House of York to the throne, living by the motto she has chosen for herself, “Hidden and Patient.”
While Henry and Lizzie may rule as the King and Queen of England, it is their mothers who are pulling the strings. The confrontations and verbal battles between these two provide the spark and meaty conflict of the series. Watching Fairly and Davis trade thinly veiled barbs throughout the premiere were highlights of the episode.
Lady Margaret and Queen Elizabeth have a common goal, they both want their sons on the throne of England and are willing to do anything put them there. Seeing Henry as King has been Lady Margaret’s life-long goal and now that he has the throne she intends to see to it he stays there. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth is desperate to find her young son, Richard, the last Prince of York and in her mind the true heir to the throne, whom she sent into hiding when Henry’s men arrived to escort the Princess and her family to the palace.
These are two dangerous and devious women and there is absolutely no love lost between them. The stakes between them are raised to a dangerous level when Queen Elizabeth learns that the King’s men had ransacked and destroyed their home after their departure. She was upset that her son had not arrived at the safe haven she had arranged for him, and now fears for his life after learning that the King’s men were also told to slaughter any young boys they found in the area that were the same age as her missing son. But when she learns that the order to slaughter the young boys came from the King’s mother, Lady Margaret, all bets are off. Using the root of the mandrake plant, and seemingly mystical powers she invades the dreams of Lady Margaret haunting and taunting her with the ghost of a young boy. In the meantime, Lady Margaret plants the seed that Lizzie is perhaps too attached and reliant on her mother, and makes plans to have Queen Elizabeth removed after the child is born.
The battle lines are drawn, Lady Margaret and Queen Elizabeth have set their plans in motion, Lizzie and Henry wed, but theirs is not a happily ever after wedding, yet Henry surprises Lizzie with an act of kindness on their wedding night. More deception is sure to come in future episodes. Who will be victorious in the continued battle for England? Is the young prince Richard still alive? Discuss in the comments below.
