“The White Queen”, episode 6 shows Elizabeth giving birth. In reality, no men would have been present and the windows, floors, and walls would have been covered.
Elizabeth Woodville’s marriage to Edward IV produced ten babies in fourteen years. Edward’s own mother, Lady Cecily [Neville], had thirteen children of whom only seven survived to adulthood. Lord Warwick [father of Queen Anne Neville] and Lady Alice FitzHugh’s [great-grandmother to Queen Katherine Parr] mother, Lady Alice, Countess of Salisbury [sister-in-law to Lady Cecily], also gave birth to no less than twelve children herself. So how dangerous was it to have a royal baby in the 15th Century? Historian Dr. Jeremy Goldberg assesses what childbirth would have been like for the White Queen [and other women].
Edward: See my shiny cardboard crown!
Anne: Yes, I was married to the Prince of Wales. But I didn’t like him.
Edward: That’s all right, then.
Elizabeth: I still hate you!
Isobel: I’m going to be a bitch, now. I’m over the limping gazelle thing.
Anne: Where’s Mummy?
Isobel: Forget Mummy!
Clarence: Look at me, pretending to be nice.
Isobel: Bitch fight!
Margaret Beaufort: Give me a sign.
Messenger: Your mother’s dying.
Margaret Beaufort: *high fives God* Yesss!
Elizabeth: Jane Shore! The name of doom! She’s going to make everything go in slow motion, just you watch.
Margaret Beaufort: Dear Jasper, do you still want me?
Anne: I want Mummy!
Jaquetta: I’m dying. You’ll be senior witch soon, Elizabeth. Can you handle it?
Anne: Can I have my healing shag, now?
Gloucester: Soon, I promise.
Anne: George wants to keep my stuff! Gloucester: I want your stuff as well, but…
Margaret of Anjou: I have ominous feet.
Edward: I’ve just appeared out of nowhere and snuck into London while no-one was looking.
Elizabeth: My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble!
Edward: Now let’s fuck!
Isobel: I’m a limping gazelle.
Warwick: Suck it up, Duchess!
Margaret Beaufort: I’m the centre of the universe and so is my son.
Stafford: You’re not, but I love you anyway. You selfish cow.
Margaret of Anjou: Come here. Anne, and let me insult you.
Jaquetta: Come. my witchy daughter. Bring the baby witch and we shall raise a mist!
George: Warwick’s got three times as many men as we have.
Edward: Well, I counted 15, so that puts his army at 45. And where did this bloody mist come from? I can’t see my hand in front of my face!
Messenger: Message for you, my lord.
Warwick: Who from? Messenger: He didn’t say…
Warwick: You’re my prisoner, Edward!
Edward: I’m your King, cousin!
Warwick: Where did he go?
Elizabeth: Off with their heads!
Edward: No, I’ve decided to forgive them.
Elizabeth: Off with their heads!
Edward: I’m your King, wife!
Isobel: I’m still a pawn.
Gloucester: Shouldn’t I be taking a ring to Mount Doom?
Margaret Beaufort: I had sex. Didn’t enjoy it.
Elizabeth: I need a son, mother.
Jaquetta: Sorted.
Welles: I’m confused.
Jaspeer Tudor: You’re confused?!
Elizabeth: I want Warwick’s ship to sink, mother.
Jaquetta: Sorted.
Elizabeth: Edward, Warwick hates you!
Edward: No, he loves me.
Warwick: No, she’s right. I hate you now.
Isobel: Anne! I’ve just found out I’m a pawn!
Henry VI: I could be wrong, but I think I might be Jesus.
Elizabeth: I’ve just been told my father’s dead.
Audience: So have we.
Margaret Beaufort: My son will be king!
Gloucester: Hang on, I’m pretty sure I just foreshadowed that I’ll be king.
Elizabeth: I’m going to put a curse on a bunch of people.
Audience. Knock yourself out. I think we’ve lost interest.
Edward: I want you. Elizabeth: You can’t have me. Jaquetta: I see dead people. Warwick: Edward! Edward: Let’s get married. Secretly. Elizabeth: Cool! Anthony: He’s lying to you. Elizabeth: No, he’s not. Edward: No, I’m not. Warwick: Edward! Elizabeth: Curtsey, scum!
All I can do now is hope I get to catch the rest of it on youtube.
The night before the coronation, like monarchs before her, the Duchess of Gloucester stayed in The Tower of London.
For the procession from the Tower to Westminster on the eve of the ceremony, she wore a kirtle and mantle made from 27 yards of white cloth-of-gold furred with ermine and miniver, and trimmed with lace and tassels of white silk and gold (Laynesmith, p. 92).
Queen Anne
On 6 July 1483, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were crowned King Richard III and Queen Anne of England. The couple shared a joint coronation. Not since the days of Edward II and Isabel of France had England seen such a magnificent event. The coronation day began at 7 am with a procession on foot from Westminster Hall to the Abbey. For that day, Anne dressed in a robe, curtle, “surcote overt”, and mantle, all of rich purple velvet, furred with ermine, and adorned with rings and tassels of gold; and another suit of crimson velvet, “furred with pure minever”. Her whole purple velvet suit had a fifty-six yard train. (Lawrance)
Both King and Queen had their own separate attendants and train. The Dowager Lady FitzHugh (born Lady Alice Neville) and her daughter, Lady Lovell (born Anne FitzHugh) along with the new Lady FitzHugh (born Elizabeth Burgh or Borough) were three of the seven noblewomen to ride behind the new Queen. Lady Elizabeth Parr (born Elizabeth FitzHugh) was also present. Lady FitzHugh was an aunt to Queen Anne and a cousin to King Richard. The Dowager Lady FitzHugh and Lady Parr were of course great-grandmother and grandmother to another queen consort, Katherine Parr. Both were dressed in fine dresses made by cloth that the King himself had given them. Lady Parr received seven yards of gold and silk while her mother received material for two gowns, one of blue velvet and crimson satin as well as one of crimson and velvet with white damask. As befitting of a Baroness, eight yards of scarlet cloth was given for mantles on the occasion. Lord Parr (Sir William Parr) chose not to attend the coronation despite being given a position as canopy bearer. Lord Parr had been a staunch supporter of King Edward IV through whom he rose.
In an attempt to conciliate with the Lancastrians, the trains of both the King and Queen were carried by the two lineal representatives of the house, the Duke of Buckingham and the Countess of Richmond (Lady Margaret Beaufort). (Lawrance)
An account from “The National and Domestic History of England“:
Queen Anne’s arms as Queen of England.
After the procession of the king followed that of his Queen. The Earl of Huntingdon bore her sceptre, the Viscount Lisle the rod and dove, and the Earl of Wiltshire her crown. Then came the queen herself habited in robes of purple velvet furred with ermine having on her head a circlet of gold with many precious stones set therein. Over her head was borne a cloth of estate. On one side of her walked the Bishop of Exeter and on the other the Bishop of Norwich. A Princess of the blood, the celebrated Margaret, Countess of Richmond and mother of the future King Henry VII, supported her train. After the Queen walked the King’s sister Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk, having on her head a circlet of gold and after her followed a train of highborn ladies succeeded by a number of knights and esquires. Entering the Abbey at the great west door the King and Queen took their seats of state staying till divers holy hymns were sung when they ascended to the high altar where the ceremony of anointing took place. Then the King and Queen put off their robes and there stood all naked from the middle upwards and anon the Bishop anointed both the King and Queen. This ceremony having been performed, they exchanged their mantles of purple velvet for robes of cloth of gold and were solemnly crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury assisted by the other bishops. The Archbishop subsequently performed high mass and administered the holy communion to the King and Queen after which they offered at St Edward’s shrine where the king laid down King Edward’s crown and put on another and so returned to Westminster Hall in the same state they came.
Richard III with his queen Anne and son, Edward, Prince of Wales.
The banquet, which took place at four o clock in the great hall, is described as having been magnificent in the extreme. The king and queen were served on dishes of gold and silver. Lord Audley performed the office of state carver. Thomas Lord Scrope that of cupbearer. Lord Lovel, during the entertainment, stood before the king, “two esquires lying under the board at the king’s feet.” On each side of the queen stood a countess with a plaisance or napkin for her use. Over the head of each was held a canopy supported by peers and peeresses. The guests consisted of the cardinal archbishop the lord chancellor, the prelates, the judges, and nobles of the land, and the Lord Mayor, and principal citizens of London. The ladies sat by themselves on both sides of a long table in the middle of the hall. As soon as the second course was put on the table, the king’s champion Sir Robert Dymoke rode into the hall; his horse being trapped with white silk and red and himself in white harness the heralds of arms standing upon a stage among all the company. Then the king’s champion rode up before the king asking all the people if there was any man would say against King Richard III why he should not claim the crown. And when he had said so all the hall cried King Richard with one voice. And when this was done anon, one of the lords brought unto the champion a covered cup full of red wine and so he took the cup aud uncovered it and drank thereof. And when he had done anon he cast out the wine and covered the cup again and making his obeisance to the king turned his horse about and rode through the hall with his cup in his right hand and that he had for his labour. Then Garter king at arms supported by eighteen other heralds advanced before the king and solemnly proclaimed his style and titles. No single untoward accident marred the harmony or splendour of the day. When at length began to close the hall was illuminated by great light of wax torches and cressets apparently the signal for the king and queen to retire. Accordingly wafers and hipocras been previously served Richard and his rose up and departed to their private apartments in the palace. (Aubrey)
Aneurin Barnard as King Richard III and Faye Marsay and Queen Anne. Fictional portrayal in Philippa Gregory’s “The White Queen” (2013).
Sources
William Hickman S. Aubrey. “The National and Domestic History of England,” 1878. pg 193-4.
Hannah Lawrance. “Historical Memoirs of the Queens of England from the Commencement of the Twelfth Century,” Volume 2, Moxon, 1840.
Lady Anne (Faye Marsay) and Lady Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson) in “The White Queen”.
“To anyone who has any interest in these two women: Please stop writing about Isobel and Anne Nevill as if they were weak women who had no control over their lives. Please stop using their early deaths as a sign that they were Doomed From the Start. Please read something about their father. (Both Hicks and Pollard have done a bang up job here.) Oh, and can we consign the overused, tired and meaningless word pawn to the dustbin of history? Let’s stop the nonsense. It’s starting to get depressing.”
To those of you watching “The White Queen”, please take some time to read this blog about THE REAL Ladies Isabel and Anne. You would be surprised that they are NOTHING like the show has portrayed them. They also didn’t constantly get b’ed out by the queen.
I stumbled on this while I was on the hunt for information for an upcoming post.
I feel that it needs a response, something to balance the books a little. I know, it’s an uphill battle – the view that poor Isobel and Anne were mere pawns (oh, and Doomed) is so entrenched that it’s going to take a miracle to shift it by so much as a millimetre.
Just to set the tone, here are some of the words used to described Warwick and/or his actions:
”political conniving”; “charismatic”; “self-centered”; “arrogant”; “man of moderate military skill”; “merciless”; “exploit”; “had no need to hold [his daughters] in esteem”; “hankering for supremacy and clout”; the only loyalty he held was to himself”; “enmesh in his pursuit for power”; “ego”; “narcissism”; “heedless”; “used his youngest daughter”; “spider web of intrigue”; “hopeless machinations”; “fanaticism for prestige and importance”.
Redrawn effigy of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford and Lady Margaret before it was destroyed; original illustration was by Daniel King, Colne Priory Church, destroyed c. 1730.
Margaret Neville, Countess of Oxford (c.1443[1]-after 20 November 1506/1506[1][2]) was the daughter of Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Lady Alice [Montague], suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury [in her own right]. Margaret was born in her mother’s principal manor in Wessex.[1] She was the last of six daughters and ten children.[1] Margaret’s godmother and namesake may have been after Margaret Beauchamp (1404 – 14 June 1468), eldest daughter of Sir Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife Elizabeth Berkeley. Beauchamp was wife to John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury [a brother to Mary Talbot, Lady Greene, the maternal 3x great-grandmother to Queen Katherine Parr and thus a 4x great-uncle]. Margaret Talbots’s sister, Anne, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick would marry Margaret Neville’s brother, Richard, and he would inherit Anne’s title through marriage making him the 16th Earl of Warwick.
The Neville family was one of the oldest and most powerful families of the North. They had a long standing tradition of military service and a reputation for seeking power at the cost of the loyalty to the crown as was demonstrated by her brother, the Earl of Warwick.[5] Warwick was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, with political connections that went beyond the country’s borders. One of the main protagonists in the Wars of the Roses, he was instrumental in the deposition of two kings, a fact which later earned him his epithet of “Kingmaker”.
By her paternal grandmother, Lady Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, Margaret was the great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Lady Joan Beaufort was the legitimized daughter of Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Aquitaine, and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Roët Swynford. As such, Margaret was a great-niece of the Lancastrian King Henry IV. Margaret’s paternal grandfather was Sir Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, the second husband of Lady Joan. One of their daughters (Margaret’s aunt), Lady Cecily, became Duchess of York and mother to the York kings, Edward IV and Richard III. Margaret’s mother, Lady Salisbury, was the only child and sole heiress of Sir Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury by his first wife Eleanor Holland [both descendants of King Edward I]. Margaret’s grandmother, Lady Eleanor, was the granddaughter of Princess Joan of Kent, another suo jure Countess (of Kent) and Princess of Wales. Princess Joan was of course the mother of the ill-fated King Richard II making Eleanor Holland his niece. Princess Joan herself was the daughter of Prince Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent; son of Edward I by his second wife, Marguerite of France.
Margaret married to John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard. Oxford was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses. Margaret was the last of the sisters to marry. It was her brother, Warwick, who secured the marriage between Margaret and Oxford.[3] Margaret had 1000 marks to offer as a dowry which had been settled upon her in her father’s will in 1460. The financial gain for Oxford was important, but with Margaret he gained a whole family of political advantage; as Margaret was the sister of Warwick. Oxford’s family had been on the Lancastrian side. His father had been executed after trying to replace Edward IV with Henry VI.
At the battle of Bosworth and Stoke, Oxford is recorded as fighting beside the Stanleys’ (husband and son of Oxford’s sister-in-law, Eleanor Neville) on behalf of the House of Lancaster.
As for the wives of rebels, Richard III did indeed give the Countess of Oxford, Margaret Neville, £100, but this was a continuation of a grant from Edward IV, who is not given any particular credit for generosity. In any case, as David Baldwin notes, Richard had been given the Earl of Oxford’s estates following the Battle of Barnet and could presumably afford to part with £100. Back in the 1470′s, the young Richard had bullied Margaret Neville’s mother-in-law, Elizabeth de Vere, the dowager Countess of Oxford, into giving him her own estates for an inadequate consideration, but this inglorious episode doesn’t find its way into Kendall’s biography.
Sources:
David Baldwin. The Kingmaker’s Sisters: Six Powerful Women in The War of the Roses, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2009.
Douglas Richardson. “Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families,” 2nd Edition, 2011. p. 274. (“She was living 20 Nov. 1506.”)
Anne Crawford. “The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty,” Continuum International Publishing Group, Apr 15, 2007. p. 78, 98, 108.
James Ross. “John de Vere, Thirteenth Earl of Oxford (1442-1513): The Foremost Man of the Kingdom,” Boydell Press, Mar 17, 2011. p. 51.
Linda Porter. “Katherine the Queen; The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII,” Macmillan, 2010.
“The White Queen: romance, sex, magic, scowling, social snobbery and battles” by Amy Licence
How important is authenticity when filming historical dramas?
Terribly important! You should see the notes I sent to the series producers waxing lyrical about the use of horses, clothes, how people travelled, and so on. That sort of thing really matters. However, there are a number of compromises you do have to make when working in film, which can be very frustrating – that’s why I’m a novelist, I suppose.
Historical fiction, when written well, can teach you these things without you having to study it. (Philippa Gregory, BBC History Magazine Interview)
“It is a little more Romeo and Juliet than accurate medieval protocol.” (Licence)
Elizabeth and her mother Lady Rivers meet the King’s mother in ‘The White Queen’, episode 1.
Sunday nights episode of ‘The White Queen’ in my opinion was great. Put a woman screenwriter together with the BBC and bam! However there was something that really made me angry about the episode and surprise, surprise — I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE who had a problem with it.
Lady Cecily, Duchess of York portrayed by Caroline Goodall.
Amy Licence, author of the latest biography of Queen Anne Neville and Elizabeth of York reviewed the first episode. Licence and I agree on this both — she basically sums up that they (screenwriter or Gregory herself) REALLY screwed up on behalf of Lady Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (grandaunt of Anne Neville); thank you Lord!
Jacquetta Rivers portrayed by Janet McTeer and Lady Cecily portrayed by Caroline Goodall
“It was in the exchange with Duchess Cecily (Caroline Goodall) however, that Jacquetta, as her daughter’s mouthpiece, really overstepped the historical mark. The disapproving Duchess, who was known in real life as “proud Cis,” is too easily overcome by her social inferiors when they whip out her apparent “secret” affair with a French archer. Lost for words, she is silenced within minutes, almost cowed by them. While contemporary notions of “courtesy” dictated extreme forms of submission to the queen, this is a Cecily straight from the pages of a novel rather than the actual proud aristocrat who asserted her own right to rule.”
I’m going to be brutally honest here — are you kidding me?? I don’t like Jacquetta’s “holier than thou” attitude that is emerging. This was obviously a horrid and tasteless attempt to boost Jacquetta’s influence and “power” over the Duchess. It’s more than obvious that Gregory has become obsessed with Jacquetta and her daughter. In my opinion, if they REALLY wanted to boost Jacquetta SO much — they could have done it in a different way. They didn’t have to insult the King’s mother, the daughter of a powerful Earl and Countess Lady Joan Beaufort, granddaughter of a royal Duke of Lancaster and titular King of Castile [son of King Edward III of England], and widow of the Duke of York [double descendant of Edward III]! I know it didn’t happen in history, but still — that scene should have been cut or done differently. If they had been at court and the Duchess had been sitting with her son, I do not think the two would have addressed each other as such and Elizabeth wouldn’t have pulled the Queen card after letting her mother b***h out her mother-in-law. It’s rather ironic that Elizabeth comes in flabbergasted, but after her mother calls her mother-in-law a whore she has the nerve and guts to demand the Duchess bow down to her; then gloats to her husband how everyone is “great friend’s” now. Yeah, sure — Elizabeth is now best friends with “Duchess Cecily”. I don’t think Gregory thought about court etiquette when writing these books and whoever approved the scene has not read any history books lately.
Margaret Beaufort portrayed by Amanda Hale and Lord Warwick portrayed by James Frain
“James Frain, recently lauded for his performance as Thomas Cromwell in The Tudors, may well emerge to steal the show alongside Margaret Beaufort and the other York brothers…” Even Licence applauds Lady Margaret Beaufort early on.
tudorqueen6 by Meg McGath 