I Am Now Margaret Regina!…
The White Queen has finished with a strong episode, where Lady Margaret finally achieves what she set out to do, see her son crowned King of England. This isn’t a spoiler free review by the way, as this is well known historical fact. Well, some of it is factual. King Richard hasn’t exactly had an easy time of it, thanks to suspicions surrounding the princes disappearance, but he makes matters worse for himself by flirting with princess Elizabeth. I believe in reality he had proposed to her at one time, but here it’s all rather vague. It appears they had a fling but he suddenly becomes a good husband again. A bit late mind you.
Prince Edward has been unwell, on and off for a while now, but things take a turn for the worse and he dies. A distraught Queen Anne is at the abbey where her son lies in State, but instead of comforting her husband it’s princess Elizabeth who takes his hand. Because Henry is betrothed to Elizabeth, the King wants to sow the seeds of doubt in the Tudor camp and for a while it does indeed work. We’re meant to believe it was the princess who pestered the King into an affair, but I find that hard to believe.
Queen Anne is taken seriously ill and is haunted by nightmares of the dead princes, as she believes herself to blame, and now her son is dead. The family was cursed by the White Queen and the White Princess, but who knows how much of this is true. Anne is coughing up blood and now seeks redemption. Lady Margaret is now in charge of the princess but Elizabeth proves herself a worthy opponent to the overly pious woman, who calls her all manner of names. Lord Stanley also stands up to Margaret, especially now that he owns everything that was once hers, but they appear more interested in the wine that he’s drinking. Henry Tudor, along with his rag-tag army of french convicts land in England, but all lies with the ever undecided Stanley brothers, for both Henry and the King need their support to win the campaign with any certainty. We get to see a solar eclipse at one point, and of course all take it as an omen, especially Margaret, who obviously takes it as a religious experience. Who will Stanley finally support, and does it match up with Wikipedia?
Grade: A
Review by E. Blackadder, special to Influx Magazine
Scripted by Emma Frost from Philippa Gregory’s ‘The Cousins’ War’- Directed by Colin Teague.
The Cast: Rebecca Ferguson as Elizabeth Woodville, Max Irons as King Edward, Janet McTeer as Jacquetta Woodville, Amanda Hale as Margaret Beaufort, Faye Marsay as Anne Neville, David Oakes as George Duke of Clarence, Aneurin Barnard as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, King Richard III, Ben Lamb as Anthony Rivers, Tom McKay as Jasper Tudor, Rupert Graves as Lord Thomas Stanley, Caroline Goodall as Duchess Cicely.
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